Archive FAQ

Some commonly asked questions about the Archive are answered here. You may also like to check out our Known Issues. If you need more help, please submit a support request.

Available Categories

  1. About
  2. Support and Feedback
  3. Your Account
  4. Invitations
  5. My Home
  6. Profile
  7. Pseuds
  8. Works
  9. Importing and Mass Editing
  10. Tags
  11. Comments
  12. Archive Interface
  13. Search and Browse
  14. Reading
  15. Bookmarks
  16. Viewing History
  17. Orphaning
  18. Collections
  19. Subscriptions
  20. Languages and Translations
  21. Technical Questions
  22. General / Uncategorized
  23. Conflicts With Other Users
  24. Icons

About

What is the Organization For Transformative Works?

The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) is a nonprofit organization established by fans to serve the interests of fans by providing access to and preserving the history of fanworks and fan culture in its myriad forms. We believe that fanworks are transformative and that transformative works are legitimate. The OTW represents a practice of transformative fanwork historically rooted in a primarily female culture. The OTW will preserve the record of that history as we pursue our mission while encouraging new and non-mainstream expressions of cultural identity within fandom.

You can find out more about the OTW on our main website under About the OTW.

What is the Archive of Our Own?

The Archive of Our Own offers a noncommercial and nonprofit central hosting place for fanfiction and (long-term) other transformative fanworks: i.e. it is free to use and does not make any money. It is multifannish, and built on open-source archiving software designed and built by and for fans. It is hosted on servers owned by the OTW, and therefore not vulnerable to a commercial hosting company deciding they don't like our fanworks.

Who built the Archive?

The Archive was entirely built and designed by volunteers from fandom. Many of our volunteers started out with no knowledge of coding / design / documentations and learnt their skills on the project. We think it's a pretty amazing achievement! If you'd like to join in, please volunteer via the OTW's Volunteers page.

What's the Archive's position on copyright and the legal status of fanworks?

For details of the Archive's position on transformative works, please see 'What We Believe: point 2' and 'Content Policy: section IVD' in the Terms of Service.

Support and Feedback

How can I get help and support on the Archive?

If you're looking for help, you may find the answer to your question in this FAQ. You can also check out Known Issues to see if your problem has already been reported.

If these resources don't help, then please submit a request for assistance via our Support and Feedback Form and our support team will get back to you as soon as possible. It will help if you can be as specific as possible about your problem.

How can I tell you what I think about the Archive?

We love hearing feedback and suggestions! The Archive is by fans, for fans and we want to meet your needs. Let us know what you think via our Support and Feedback Form, good or bad (we like to hear about the good things too, though!)

Your Account

How do I create an account?

To create an account, you need an invitation. Once you receive an invitation email, click the link provided in the email to go to the account creation page. If you've been provided with an invitation link by another user, clicking this link should take you to the right place.

Will my user name be publicly displayed?

Yes, so be sure to choose something you're happy for others to see! Although you can use pseuds to post under different names on the Archive, these will all be tied to your main user name, and it will be displayed with them.

What characters can I have in my account user name?

You can have letters, numbers and underscores in your user name. It must begin and end with a letter or a number. You can't have spaces or any other characters, but if you would like more flexibility, you can create a pseud.

Please note that even if you use pseuds, your user name will be displayed publically, so be sure that you choose one you're happy for others to see!

How do I verify my account?

After you have created an account, you will be sent an email with an activation url. Follow the link in the email to activate your account. If you don't do so within two weeks, your registration will expire and you'll have to go through the creation process again.

How do I change my email address?

You can change the email associated with your account on the Edit Profile page, which you'll find under My Home .

How do I change my password?

You can change the password for your account on the Edit Profile page, which you'll find under My Home. For security reasons, you'll need to enter your old password first.

How do I delete my account?

You can delete your account on the Edit Profile page, which you'll find under My Home. Please note that this is a permanent action and there is no way of restoring a deleted account.

If you'd like to delete your account but would still like people to be able to read your works, please consider Orphaning.

Can I change my account name?

You can! But there are a few things you should consider before deciding to do so:

To change your account name, go to your Preferences page (which is linked from the sidebar on your My Home page, or at the bottom of your Profile page). There is a "Change My Username" link among the options on the top right.

You will need to enter the username you would like to change your account name to, and your password for security reasons.

How can I recover my lost username or password?

You can recover a lost password via the password recovery form. If you've forgotten your user name, entering your email address will retrieve this as well as your password. Your details will be emailed to you at the email address associated with your Archive account.

How do I create an account with OpenID?

You can choose to use an OpenID instead of a password. When you're creating your account, just click the link that says 'Use OpenID' and you will be prompted to enter your OpenID.

Invitations

How do I get an invitation code?

Invitation codes will be distributed on a regular basis depending on how many new users the site can support. You can get an invitation code in two ways:

Why can't I create an account without an invitation code?

We're using the invitation code system so that the Archive can grow in a controlled manner. We need to add new users gradually so that our account numbers don't grow beyond what our hardware, bandwidth, help and support can cope with. This helps us ensure that everyone using the Archive gets the best possible experience.

How long will it take for me to get an account?

If you've requested an invitation code, you can check where you are in the queue. Just enter your email address on the Invitations page, and you'll receive an estimate of when you will receive your invitation, based on the rate at which we're sending out invitations and the number you are in the queue. Exactly how many invitations we can send out per day will depend on how well the site responds to the extra users.

I already have an account. How do I give an invitation to someone else?

On your user homepage (which you can get to by clicking 'My Home' when you're logged in), you'll see a new tab called 'Invitations'. You can manage all your invitations here, and if you've run out then you can request some more.

To send an invitation to someone, just enter their email address and select the invitation you'd like to use. They'll be sent an automated email. You'll be able to keep track of which invitations have been used on your 'Manage Invitations' page.

If you want to share a code without sending an email, then go to 'Manage invitations' and you'll see an option to 'Copy and use' your existing codes. Click on this to copy the invitations link - it's the link you need to share. (Just sharing the plain text code won't work.) Please note that if you don't allow your browser to access your clipboard, this automatic link won't work. However, you can still right-click on the link and copy it manually.

My Home

What is My Home?

'My Home' is (surprisingly enough) your home page on the Archive, where you can manage all your preferences, pseuds and creations (works, bookmarks and series). You get to it by clicking on 'My Home' in the top left-hand corner, or on your user name, when you're logged in.

What can I manage from My Home?

You can manage the following from My Home:

Profile

What is a profile?

Your profile belongs to your main user name (the one you log into the Archive with) and displays all the information you choose to enter on your profile page. It will always show your pseuds and the date you joined the Archive. You aren't required to show any other information unless you want to.

You can use your profile page and bio to share information about which fandoms you've been in, what kind of fic you write, and anything else you'd like.

How do I edit my profile?

You can view and edit your profile by going to My Home and choosing 'Profile'. 'Edit My Profile' displays at the bottom of the Profile page.

What does my profile contain? Who can see the information on it?

Anyone can see the information you choose to display on your profile, whether they have an account on the Archive or not, but you can decide how much information to include in it.

Your profile displays your pseuds and the date you became a member of the Archive by default. You can choose to enter your date of birth, a title, your location, and other information about you.

How do I upload an icon?

You can upload an icon by clicking on the placeholder icon visible on your profile. For more information on icons and uploading them, please see the section on icons.

Pseuds

What is a pseud?

Pseuds are additional names associated with your user account. They can be used for a number of different purposes: unlike usernames, they don't need to be unique, so you can go by any name you'd like; they allow people to engage in role-playing without having to create multiple user accounts; they allow people who've posted under multiple names over the years or in different fandoms to gather their work together under one account while retaining the author names that were originally associated with those works. Your pseuds are what will appear on works, series, bookmarks and comments.

How do I add a new pseud?

To add a new pseud, go to the 'My Pseuds' page linked in the sidebar of your 'My Home' page and choose 'New Pseud'.

What characters can I have in my pseud name?

Pseuds have more flexibility than usernames: they can contain letters, numbers, underscores, spaces, and dashes. They must contain at least one letter or number.

What is a default pseud?

Your default pseud is selected automatically when you post a new work or a comment. By default, your user name is set as your default pseud, but you can choose to make another pseud the default.

How do I set a default pseud?

When you create an account, your user name is set as your default pseud. If you'd like to change this default, go to the 'My Pseuds' page linked in the sidebar of your 'My Home' page, and edit the pseud you want to make as default. When you make a pseud your default pseud, this only affects works posted after you make the change. So, anything you posted under your previous default pseud remains under that name unless you specifically change the pseud on that work.

How do I choose which pseud to post under?

When you post a new work, you'll see an option to 'Select author/pseudonym(s)'. Simply select the pseud you want to use, and post as normal.

When you post a comment, you'll see a 'Name' field. Just select the pseud you want to use from the drop-down box, and comment as normal.

How do I edit a pseud?

You can edit your pseud and pseud description and add or change an icon by going to the 'My Pseuds' page linked from the sidebar of your 'My Home' page. If you change the pseud itself, then the name displayed on all works posted under that pseud will also change. The exception is your 'fallback pseud' - the one created from your username - which can't be changed.

Someone else has the same pseud as me! How did this happen?

Unlike user names, pseuds are not unique. This is to allow users to reflect the names they have used on different services over the years, even if someone else used the same name on a different service. It also allows for easier roleplaying - we can have many Harry Potters! To ensure that different users with the same pseud cannot be confused, user names are displayed in brackets next to the pseud.

Why does my account name display in brackets next to my pseud?

Unlike user names, pseuds are not unique. To ensure that different users with the same pseud cannot be confused, user names are displayed in brackets next to the pseud. The only exception is when the user name and the pseud are the same. For example:

What happens if I delete a pseud?

If you delete a pseud, then all works and comments left under that pseud will automatically be assigned to your default pseud. You will be offered the option of assigning your bookmarks to your default pseud, or deleting the bookmarks under the deleted pseud.

What is a pseud description?

A pseud description is a short explanation identifying your pseud. For example, you may want to note which other sites you have used that name on, or which fandoms you write under that pseud. If you'd like to give more details about yourself, you can put these under your user profile. You can add or edit your pseud description on your user dashboard under 'My Pseuds'.

What HTML can I use in my pseud description?

You can style the text in your pseud description using html tags: a, b, em, href, i, strong.

How do I upload an icon?

You can upload an icon when adding or editing a pseud. For more information, read the section on icons.

Works

What is a work?

At the moment, 'work' on the Archive refers to individual fanfics. In the future, works will also encompass other kinds of fanwork (such as vids and fanart), which is why we use the generic term, but we haven't yet built this functionality.

How do I post a new work?

You must have an account on the Archive and be logged in to post a new work. You can click on the 'Post New' link at the top left-hand corner of the screen, or you can select this option from your dashboard at 'My Home'. This will bring up the 'Post New Work' form - just fill in the required information and hit post!

How do I import a work?

If you already have your work posted on another site, you can import it rather than copying and pasting. You can read more about importing in Importing and Mass Editing.

What information can I include on a work?

You can include a wide range of information on a work. If there's not a specific field for the information you want to add, remember you can use the summary and notes to enter anything you want.

How do I edit a work?

How do I delete a work?

How do I save a work as a draft?

How do I control who can see my works?

How do I make a link to another work in the Archive?

What is the Rich Text Editor? What is the HTML Editor?

There are two options for posting works and chapters on the Archive:

Please note that if you paste in a work in HTML mode, then switch to the Rich Text editor, then your line breaks will be lost unless you hardcoded them in. This is a known bug - we're working to fix it, but it's tricky, so it's a long term fix.

What HTML can be used on works?

You can use HTML tags to style text on works. The allowed HTML is as follows: a, abbr, abbr, acronym, address, alt, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, cite, cite, class, code, col, colgroup, datetime, dd, del, dfn, div, dl, dt, em, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, height, hr, href, i, img, ins, kbd, li, name, ol, p, pre, q, samp, small, span, src, strike, strong, sub, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, title, tr, tt, u, ul, var, width

How do I add a chapter to a work?

Once you have created a work, you will see an 'Add chapter' link on the top right-hand corner when you view or edit that individual work.

How do I indicate that a work will have more than one chapter?

When you create a new work, you can choose to mark it as a chaptered fic by ticking the box next to 'Does this work have multiple chapters?' This will give you the option to say how many chapters the work has (if you know already) and enter a title for your first chapter. The total number of chapters will be displayed on the work, and until you have posted all your chapters it will be marked as a work-in-progress.

How do I add a coauthor to a work?

You can list another Archive account holder as a coauthor on your work. On the 'Post / Edit Work' form, you'll see an option to 'Add coauthors'. Just type the name of the user you want to add as coauthor (it will suggest names as you type). You can only add an existing Archive account holder as a coauthor - sorry! You can still list any other coauthors in your notes.

When you're coauthoring a work, what does each author have permission to do?

Any author of a work can edit or delete the work and add new authors. You can't remove someone else as a coauthor, though, or orphan the entire work. When you add a new coauthor, that person will receive a notification email and have the option to take her name off the work.

Can I post my artwork on the archive?

You can't upload images to our server at the moment, with the exception of your user icon, but you're welcome to embed images hosted elsewhere.

Can I post my vids on the archive?

Sadly, neither video embedding nor uploading of videos is enabled right now. A vid archive is planned as a future project, but this is some way in the future.

Importing and Mass Editing

What is importing?

Importing allows you to automatically upload works which are already posted on another site. It will fill in title, summary and other metadata, although this isn't a perfect process, so it's best to check the results afterwards!

Importing is in the early stages of development, so it may be a bit buggy. Results will vary with different sites: if you find it doesn't work well then please submit a support request letting us know what url you're trying to import from.

How do I import a single work?

Your imported work is posted automatically under your default pseud. Once the import is complete, you'll be taken to a preview of the imported work. You should check to see that the import hasn't introduced any oddities and make any other edits that you'd like, then hit 'Post' to publish the work to the Archive.

How do I import a chaptered work?

Your imported work is posted automatically under your default pseud. Once the import is complete, you'll be taken to a preview of the imported chapters. You should check to see that the import hasn't introduced any oddities and make any other edits that you'd like, then hit 'Post' to publish the work to the Archive.

How do I import multiple works in one go?

Your imported works are posted automatically under your default pseud. Once the import is complete, you'll be taken to a list of the newly imported works. You should check to see that the import hasn't introduced any oddities and make any other edits that you'd like. If you prefer, you can edit multiple works at the same time, either from this list or from your works page.

How do I edit multiple works at once?

When you import multiple works at once, you'll be taken to an edit page listing all the newly imported works.

If you want to edit multiple works at any other point, go to 'My Works' on your User Home and click 'Edit Multiple Works'. You'll be taken to an edit page listing all the works under your pseud.

Check the boxes next to the works you want to edit and hit 'Edit Checked'. You'll be able to edit the basic metadata for these works.

Please note that making edits in this form will replace all the old data.

Tags

What is a tag?

A tag is a keyword or phrase that you add to your works to make them easier to find. On the Archive, we use tags for the majority of the information (metadata) attached to works. Category, Warnings, Rating, Fandom, Characters, Pairings, and what is actually shown as Tags are all treated as tags.

If you click on a tag, the Archive will automatically search for all Works and Bookmarks which use that tag.

Tags on the Archive work a little differently to those you may have encountered on other sites: for more information please see 'How do tags work on the Archive?'

What format can tags have?

How do tags work on the Archive?

The tags are a bit more organized than you'll find on sites like Delicious. For those of you who are metadata-inclined, we're using a sort of hybrid of folksonomy (user-defined tags) and classification. What this means is:

What is a tag wrangler?

Tag wranglers are the team on the Archive who organize and categorize ('wrangle') tags behind the scenes.

What is tag wrangling?

Tag wrangling is the process of categorization and organization which takes place behind the scenes. It builds a structure which adds extra meaning and helps make tags as useful as possible to all users.

What is a 'common' tag?

A common tag is a tag which we use to build our search and browse features. Common tags are the fullest, most universal version of a tag, and all other versions are linked to it as synonyms. Common tags show up in our browse filters.

I tagged my fic as 'HP' and in the search filters and tag cloud I can only find 'Harry Potter' - why?

In order to make searching, browsing and posting as easy and efficient as they can be, we're associating and streamlining tags (particularly fandom, pairing and character tags) that refer to the same things. The 'common' tag is the one which will display on the Archive tag cloud and be used in browse filters, but the tag you entered will always display on your work and will still be found in searches.

Why do some tags appear with 'freeform' or 'character' after them?

Each tag belongs to a category - Pairing, Character, Fandom, etc. Tag names must be unique, so if a tag already exists in one category, then when it is used in another category, the Archive will automatically add the name of the category.

For example:

Result:

I just posted a work with a new fandom tag and it's not showing up under the category I expected on the 'Fandoms' page - why?

When a new fandom tag is added to the Archive, it is automatically added to the category 'Uncategorized Fandoms'. If your fandom tag has not yet been 'wrangled', it should show up under there.

If your tag isn't under 'Uncategorized Fandoms' and it's not under the category you expected (for example, you think it should be under 'TV Shows' and it's under 'Movies', it may mean that our tag wranglers made a mistake (they're only human!). Please contact the tag wrangling team via our Support Form and give them details of the problem and the url of the fic you used the tag on.

What's the best way to tag my fic on the Archive?

You can tag your fic however you want! Feel free to use the tags that show up in the dropdown, but if you use terminology not listed, use that instead! The idea of our tag wrangling system is that it embraces all the varieties of fannish descriptions but creates a bit of structure in the background.

If you want to make life a bit easier for tag wranglers (and other users), then adding more information when things might be ambiguous is a good idea.

How should I tag Real Person Fiction?

Real person fiction is definitely welcome on the Archive! However, it presents our tag wranglers with a few problems in terms of categorizing it. Do we use fandom name? Network name? What about general groups of people, like "Canadian Actors", or historical figures? We have a plan for how to deal with these issues in future, but it requires some quite complex code. In the meantime, please do upload your RPF and tag it with whatever makes sense to you - but please bear with us if we aren't able to 'wrangle' it quite as well as you'd like.

How should I tag crossovers?

If your work is a crossover between two different fandoms, then please just enter both fandom names into the Fandom field, separated by commas. Don't separate with slashes, as this creates a tag which we can't wrangle into our search structure. Feel free to add Crossover as a freeform tag, though.

I have another question about how to tag my fic.

In general, if you're not sure how to tag your fic, just go with what makes sense to you and let the tag wranglers worry about how that fits into the Archive structure. You are the expert for what makes sense in your fandom - it's our job to worry about the technical details!

Comments

What are comments?

Comments are replies to a work. A link to add a comment and read any existing comments appears at the bottom of all works.

How do I post a comment?

You can use the 'Add comment' link to post a comment on any work. This link opens a form with a text box where you can enter your comment.

As well as adding new comments directly to a work, you can reply directly to someone else's comment by following the appropriate link in the comment. This link is labeled Reply by default. Comments on the Archive are threaded, so replies to comments will display immediately below the relevant comment.

How do I identify myself when I comment?

If you're logged in to the Archive when you post a comment, then your comment will be posted under your default pseud. If you'd like to post under another one of your pseuds, just select from the drop-down list. (Read more about Pseuds.)

If you don't have an account on the Archive, or you don't want to log in, then you just need to enter a name and a valid email address to post a comment. Your email address will not be published on the site, but we use it to make sure that you're a human being. If anyone replies to the comment you left, a copy of their comment will be sent to the address you used.

How does comment threading work?

You'll probably recognize comment threading from other sites such as Livejournal and Dreamwidth. Each reply to an entry starts a new thread, which may contain one comment or a group of them. If you reply to other comments, your replies will display directly below them. This means that a large collection of comments will appear as a tree, with several different branches indicating different parts of the conversation.

The Thread function on each comment lets you view all the replies starting from that comment.

What are the limits on comments?

The maximum length for a comment is 4300 characters. If you try to enter a longer comment, then it won't be posted and you'll get an error message. You'll need to split the text up into two or more shorter comments.

Can I use HTML in comments?

You can use a limited range of html tags to style your text in comments. The allowed html for comments is: a, alt, b, big, blockquote, br, center, cite, code, del, em, href, i, img, ins, p, pre, q, small, src, strike, strong, sub, sup, u

Can I edit or delete my comment?

When you're logged in to your Archive account, you can delete any comment you left under that account. You can also edit any comment you left, unless someone has replied to it. An Edit and Delete link will automatically display on all comments you have control over.

Can I get comments sent to me by email?

By default, any comments left on your works will be emailed to you. You can turn off comment notification emails in your Preferences.

If you leave a comment anywhere in the Archive while you're logged in, then you will receive an email notification any time someone replies to your comment. If you turn off comment notification emails in your Preferences, then replies to your comments will no longer be emailed to you.

If you leave a comment while logged out, then replies to your comment will be emailed to you at the email address you provided when you left the comment.

Can I edit or delete a comment made on one of my works?

You cannot edit other people's comments. However, you can delete comments made on your works. When you are logged in, Delete links will automatically display on all comments you have control over.

What is a spam comment? What can I do about spam?

A spam comment is a comment automatically posted by a machine, often containing links to other websites or advertising. The same comment posted many different places where it isn't wanted can also be spam.

If you receive a spam comment on one of your works, click the 'Spam' link to report it to us. This will screen the comment from other users. You need to click the 'Delete' link to delete it altogether.

Archive Interface

Can I change the fonts the Archive is displayed in?

It is not currently possible to choose a different font for the Archive, but adding more display options is high on our priority list. Please bear with us in the meantime. (If you think you could write a great skin for the Archive, we'd love to hear from you!)

Can I change the Archive interface?

It is not currently possible to choose a different interface for the Archive, but adding extra skins is high on our priority list. Please bear with us in the meantime. (If you think you could write a great skin for the Archive, we'd love to hear from you!)

What are you doing to make the Archive accessible?

Accessibility is a top priority for us, and we've done our best to make things work well for all users. We try to write clear, well-validated code which will respond well to different browser settings and play nicely with assistive technology. That said, we know that there is still a lot to be done, and we definitely intend to do it! We'll be helped in this by the Accessibility Research Centre, Teesside University (UK), who are kindly conducting an accessibility review for us. In the near future we'll be introducing skins for the Archive, which will offer more display options.

If you encounter accessibility problems on the site, please let us know via the Support form. To help us understand and reproduce your problem, please be as specific as possible about the problem and your setup (browser settings, any assistive technology that may be relevant).

Our philosophy is that the Archive of Our Own is for ALL fans, so we welcome feedback if we're not meeting your needs.

Search and Browse

How can I search the Archive?

You'll find the search box at the top right-hand corner of every page. Search automatically searches across all fields, including the full text of works. If your search returns more than 1000 results, you will be asked to enter more specific search terms before any results can be displayed.

In future, we plan to refine our search function more so that you can choose to search across specific fields.

How can I filter works on the Archive?

Whenever you view a list of works, you'll be offered options to help you filter those results down to just the ones you want. Just select the options you want in the grey browse filters on the right-hand side of the page, and click filter works. This will find works which include all the options you checked.

How can I find works or bookmarks by a particular user?

If you click on a user's name anywhere in the Archive, you'll be taken to their homepage, where you can see their works and profile.

You can go to the 'People' page (in the main navigation of the Archive) to see a list of all users. Click on the name you want to see their works and profile.

You can use the search box at the top right-hand corner of the page to search for a user's name.

How do I find works or bookmarks for a particular fandom?

If you click on a fandom name anywhere in the Archive, you'll be shown works under that fandom (if there are more than 1000, you'll be asked to add some more search criteria). You can click on the 'Bookmarks' link at the top of the page to see bookmarks for that fandom instead.

You can go to the 'Fandoms' page (in the main navigation of the Archive) to see a list of all fandoms which currently have works or bookmarks in the Archive. Click on the fandom you want to see works for that fandom.

You can use the search box at the top right-hand corner of the page to search for a particular fandom.

What do the little boxes next to each work represent?

They indicate the work's rating and category, whether or not it has any warnings, and whether or not it's complete. You can find out the full range of meanings by looking at the Symbols Key.

How can I avoid certain types of fic on the Archive?

All fics on the Archive have lots of metadata, including ratings and warnings (see more about our policies on Ratings and Warnings in the TOS FAQ. This means you can find out lots about the fic before you click into it. You will still see summaries for these fics, however. In the future, we'll be introducing more ways to filter works so you see only what you want to see.

How can I avoid seeing warnings or tags for works?

By default, the metadata for works includes warnings and any tags the author has included. We know that some people would prefer not to have this information before they read the fic, so we've introduced an option to hide warnings and/or tags by default. You set this in 'Preferences'. When it's enabled, warnings will be replaced by a link saying 'Show warnings' and tags by a link saying 'Show tags'. You can click on the link if you want to see the hidden information (requires javascript to work).

You will always see warnings and tags on your own works, even if you have this option enabled, as we figure you won't have any surprises there!

Reading

Can I read multi-chaptered works as one long document?

Yes! If you're viewing a work chapter-by-chapter, click on 'View Entire Work' at the top of the page to display all chapters on one page. If you prefer to always view an entire work on a single page, you can set this as your default in your Preferences.

Can I read multi-chaptered works chapter-by-chapter?

Yes! This is the option currently enabled by default. If you're viewing the entire work on a single page, click on 'View Chapter By Chapter' to enable this option. You'll then get a new set of options to navigate from chapter to chapter.

Can I print from the archive?

We have a stylesheet for printing, so just hit print and it'll take care of the rest for you!

Bookmarks

What is a bookmark?

A bookmark is a record of a work you want to remember, similar to bookmarking sites like Delicious. You can add notes to remind you what you thought about the work, along with your own tags. You can tag works hosted on the Archive of Our Own, and works hosted on other sites.

What things can I bookmark on the Archive?

You can currently bookmark works and series on the Archive. In the future you will also be able to bookmark individual authors. You can also bookmark works hosted outside the Archive.

How do I bookmark a work on the Archive?

When you're logged in, anything which is bookmarkable on the Archive (currently works and series) will display a 'Bookmark' link at the top right-hand corner. Clicking on this link will bring up a bookmark form where you can fill in the details you want. You don't need to include any of the author's metadata (fandom, characters, etc) as this will be grabbed from the work and displayed automatically on your bookmark.

You can choose to bookmark works under different pseuds (maybe to keep all bookmarks for one fandom under one name, for example). Just choose the name you want in the bookmark form. You can add a new pseud under 'My Pseuds'.

How do I bookmark a work hosted outside of the Archive?

On 'My Bookmarks' on your user dashboard, you'll see a link called 'Add a new bookmark'. This will take you to the form to add a bookmark for an 'external work'. You must include a fandom tag, and we ask that you add as much other information as possible.

Where can I see my bookmarks?

Click the link for 'My Bookmarks' on 'My Home' to see all the bookmarks you have made.

Where can I see other people's bookmarks?

You can click on 'Bookmarks' in the main navigation of the Archive to see the most recent bookmarks.

You can see bookmarks by an individual user or pseud by going to their user page and clicking on 'Bookmarks'.

How do I edit a bookmark?

When you view a bookmark you created, you'll see an 'Edit' link on the bottom left-hand of each bookmark. Just click to return to the form.

How do I manage who can see my bookmarks?

You can choose to make bookmarks private or public. If you'd like to keep a bookmark private, simply tick the box for 'Private bookmark'.

What is the difference between a bookmark and a rec?

You can choose to mark your bookmark as a rec by ticking the 'Rec' box on the bookmark form. This will make the bookmark display with a heart icon, so other people know you recced it, and it will show up when people filter their bookmarks for 'recs' only.

How do I limit my search to recs only?

When you're viewing a list of bookmarks, you'll see a tab at the top of the page marked 'View Recs Only'. Click on this to see only those bookmarks which are also recs.

Viewing History

What is my Viewing History?

Viewing history is a way of keeping track of what you've viewed on the Archive. Maybe you read a great fic about tentacles but you forgot to bookmark it - if you look under your viewing history, it will show up in the list! It lists all fics you clicked into, in date order. (You can turn the option off if you prefer.)

Where can I find my Viewing History?

Under 'My Home', you'll see the option for 'My History' in the left-hand navigation box. Click here to view your viewing history.

Who can see my Viewing History?

Only you can see your viewing history. It is not visible to anyone else on the site, including admins.

How can I turn off my Viewing History?

Go to 'Preferences' to turn off your Viewing History. Anything you view after that will not be recorded, and your past history will not be displayed. If you turn Viewing History back on, your old history will reappear. In future, we'll be adding a way of deleting your viewing history without turning it off altogether, but we haven't finished the code for this yet.

Orphaning

What is orphaning?

Orphaning is an alternative to deleting a work that you no longer want to be associated with. It permanently detaches the work from your account and re-attaches it to the specially created orphan_account. Please note that this is permanent and irreversible; you are giving up control over the work, including the ability to edit or delete it.

Orphaning is a way to remove your connection to your works without taking them away from fandom altogether. We hope this account will be used by people who wish (for whatever reasons) to retire from fandom but are willing to allow their works to remain in the Archive. Works orphaned in this way will be maintained by the Archive to be enjoyed by future fans; existing bookmarks and links will not break. This function means that users can continue to share their contributions to fandom while having their privacy respected.

What information is removed when a work is orphaned?

What options are available?

There are a number of orphaning options available. You can choose to:

Once you have decided which work(s) you wish to orphan, you have two options:

Can I orphan a work which I have co-authored with someone else?

You have the choice of either removing yourself as a co-author, or orphaning your part of the work (with the same pseud options as above). Your co-author will not be affected and will remain a co-author of the work.

What happens if I want to orphan a single work in a series?

You can orphan the work normally, and the byline will be changed to reflect the new author name. Please note that the work will not be removed from the series - if you want it to be removed, you should do this before orphaning the work. If the work is kept as part of the series, the orphan_account will be listed as one of the authors of the series.

Collections

What is a collection?

A collection is a group of works collected together under one heading: for example, all works which have been written for the 'Yuletide' challenge form a collection.

Who can add a work to a collection?

Only the author of a work can add it to a collection, although there are plans to add a mechanism allowing collection owners to invite users to submit a work.

What does it mean that a collection is Open, Closed, Moderated, Unmoderated, Anonymous or Unrevealed?

Collections can have a number of statuses, which are listed in their description (or blurb) on the main Collections page, and on their Profile pages. These statuses give you information about the collection:

How do I add a work to a collection?

If you are posting a new work, the easiest way is to go to the collection's Dashboard or Profile page, where there is a "Post To Collection" link. That will take you to the Post New Work form with the collection's name already filled in.

Otherwise, you can fill in the name of the collection manually. When you view a collection's Profile, you will see a section titled something like 'About Flufftastic (fluffy_fics)'. In this example, 'fluffy_fics' is the name of the collection, 'Flufftastic' is its display title; it's important to bear in mind that you need to know the name when adding a work to a collection.

To add a work to a collection when posting, enter the collection's name in the 'Post to Collections/Challenges' field of the 'Post New Work' form. To add the work to more than one collection, enter the names of all the collections you wish to add the work to, separated by a comma and a space, for example: 'fluffy_fics, angst_and_emo'. If the collection is a gift exchange, you can also enter the name of the recipient of your work in the 'Recipient(s)' field.

You can add a work which has already been posted to a collection by editing it to add the name of the collection.

How do I browse within a collection?

When viewing the collection you will see certain pages in the sidebar. These may include:

How do I create a collection?

You can create a new collection from your 'My Collections' page, which you'll find under My Home. There is also a link on the Archive's main Collections page. You will need to supply the following information:

You can also choose to supply the following optional information:

What settings are available for collections?

When creating a collection, there are six available settings:

What membership levels are available for collections?

You can be the owner, the moderator or a member of a collection.

Non-members can also submit works to a collection, but if the collection is moderated, the works will need to be approved first by a moderator.

How do I manage members of a collection?

On the collection's Dashboard and Profile pages there is a link to the Membership page. Here you can assign specific roles to members, for example make them maintainers. You can also add new members.

How do I manage works in a collection I own?

On the collection's Dashboard and Profile pages there is a link to the Manage Items page. Here you can see all the works which have been submitted to the collection, approve them, reject them, remove them, reveal or hide them, make them anonymous or lift anonymity.

How do I reveal works or lift their anonymity in a collection I own?

You can choose whether to do this for all the works in the collection at once, or only for certain works at a time. To change the revealed/unrevealed or anonymous/non-anonymous settings for all works at once, go to the Settings page for your collection, and untick the relevant boxes. To change these settings for a single work or only certain works in the collection, go to the Manage Items page and untick the boxes for the relevant works there.

Subcollections

What is a subcollection?

A subcollection is a collection or a challenge within a collection. For example, Yuletide is an upper-level or parent collection, and each year a new subcollection is added for that year's challenge: Yuletide 2009, Yuletide 2010, etc. This would also be the case for flashfic groups, for instance: 'fluffy_flashfic' could be the parent collection, with a new challenge added every week as a separate subcollection.

How do I create a subcollection?

You can create a subcollection via the normal New Collection form, by including the name of the collection it is to be a subcollection of in the Parent Collection field. There is also a link to create a new subcollection from a collection's Subcollections page. Please note that the parent collection must be one you control; you cannot create a subcollection of someone else's collection.

Challenges

What types of challenge can be run on the Archive?

At the moment we only have specific settings coded for gift exchanges; we plan to add more types of challenge in future.

How do I set a collection or subcollection to be a gift exchange?

When creating the collection, select "Gift Exchange" from the drop-down box for the type of challenge. You can also edit an existing collection or subcollection to change this setting.

How do I run a gift exchange?

First you will need to set up the collection or subcollection which will serve as the gift exchange. After defining it as a gift exchange, you will be taken to a page where you can define settings for your gift exchange. Here you can define the schedule for your exchange; please note that the dates you define are currently for informational purposes only (they will be shown on the collection's profile), and will not cause signups to be opened or closed automatically. You should also define your timezone if the times are affected by that, so that users can work out what time that will be for them. The "Signup open?" box should be left unchecked until you have finished setting up your signup form and are ready to open up signups.

You will also need to define how many requests and offers users are required and allowed to make. The default is one request and one offer. If you can stick to that, it will make the matching process much easier! Bear in mind that a single request/offer can include multiple fandoms and other tags. Unless you want to do fairly complicated requests, you probably don't need more than one request/offer.

Then you should define what options are available for requests and offers; these need not be identical. This will depend very much on what kind of exchange you are running. For example, if you are running a single-fandom exchange, you needn't include Fandoms at all, as users will not need to specify a fandom. Instead you might want to ask them to specify a certain number of characters from that fandom, for example. In addition to the Archive's tag categories, you can set your form to include a URL field (for example, if participants are to write a message to the person assigned them to write for, or specify a work), a Details/Description field (if they are to supply more specific prompts or other information), and/or an Optional Tags field (if you wish to allow users to specify supplementary tags beyond the fields or options you're allowing on the form).

After defining how many fandoms, characters etc participants can specify, you can choose whether to define Tag Options. If you define tag options for fandoms, for instance, participants will have to choose from those fandoms when signing up, rather than being able to specify any fandom. If you are running a challenge that is specifically for a given fandom or pairing or character, just leave that set of tag options set to no tags required or allowed - don't put in that one tag as the only choice. Tag options should only be used where you want users to have a choice.

You should also add instructions to help your participants understand how they are meant to fill in the signup form; because you can customise the form so much, we can't provide detailed instructions for you! You can provide general instructions, which will be displayed at the top of the form; request instructions, which will be displayed above the requests section; and offer instructions, which will be displayed above the offers section. If it would be useful, you can also define more informative labels for URL and Description fields, to give users a better idea of what they are supposed to enter in those fields.

Once you are satisfied with your form (owners can view the signup form at any time, but it will not be visible to other users until signups are opened), you can choose to open signups from the Challenge Settings page. This will make a Signup Form link appear on the sidebar for other users too, as well as a Signups link where you can view who has signed up so far and what they have offered and requested.

We are planning to add the ability to automatically match participants in a gift exchange in the very near future - please stay tuned!

How do I sign up to participate in a gift exchange?

Go to the collection's Profile page. It will indicate whether signups are currently open; if they are not, the owner may have added dates to show when signups will open. Once signups are open, you can access the Signup Form from the sidebar or the Sign Up link at the top of the Profile page.

Exactly what information you will be required to fill in on the signup form will depend on the individual challenge; challenge owners have a lot of freedom to define what appears on it. They can also add custom instructions, which should hopefully provide guidance on how to complete the form correctly.

Normally you will have to supply information about what you would like to have written for you - your Requests - and what you are willing to write for someone else - your Offers. You may be allowed to make one or more of both.

You may be asked to choose from a pre-defined list of options - for example, a predefined list of fandoms - or to type in your requests/offers yourself. Required fields will be marked in red. If there are numbers next to the fields - for example, "Fandoms (1 - 5)", this indicates how many you can specify, in this example between one and five.

Once you have filled in the form, click the Submit button. If you wish to view, edit or delete your signup at any point after signing up, you can access it from the My Signups page linked in the sidebar of your My Home page.

How do I specify the recipient of a work I've written for a gift exchange?

When posting a work as part of a gift exchange, you can specify the recipient's name on the Post New Work form in the "Recipient(s)" field. This will ensure the gift shows up on their Gifts page.

How do I find a work that has been written for me as part of a gift exchange?

If you participate in a gift exchange and a work is written for you, there are several ways to find it.

Subscriptions

What is a Subscription?

A subscription will be a way of tracking particular users, tags or works on the Archive. This functionality is not available yet, our coders are still working on building it. Stay tuned!

Languages and Translations

Is the Archive available in languages other than English?

Not yet, although it is coming in the future! We are absolutely dedicated to translating the Archive interface (that is, everything from the 'Post new work' button to error messages) into as many languages as possible. We envision a multilingual archive where, say, native Bulgarian speakers feel as at home as native English speakers.

Please understand that this will take a while, though: like everything on the archive, the translation tools are being hand-coded with love, and all translators are volunteers dedicating their free time. If you would like to help us make it happen, or have any questions or suggestions, please drop us a note.

Can I post works in languages other than English?

Yes! We welcome fans from all over the world and want you to be able to post works in your own language. To indicate what language your work is in, choose the appropriate language from the drop-down list on the 'Post New Work' form.

We've tried to include a broad range of languages, but we couldn't include them all right away. If your language is not in the list, please send us a message via the Support and Feedback form and we'll add it on. It will help us if you tell us the local name of the language (e.g. Italiano, Deutsch) and its name in English. We haven't been able to test posting works in every language, so if you encounter any problems, please let us know.

How can I find works in languages other than English on the Archive?

Works in all languages are displayed on the Works and Fandom indexes. If you're looking for works in a specific language, then go to the Languages list to see which languages we're currently supporting and how many works are posted in each. Clicking on the name of the language will show you works posted in that language.

This is very much a work-in-progress - in the future you'll be able to search more easily, set default preferences, and more. Please bear with us while we build this functionality.

Some characters or language names aren't displaying properly for me, what can I do?

The display of different characters depends on the fonts you have installed on your computer. If you're seeing weird little boxes in among the regular characters, or some language names don't display, then you may need to configure your system to support the missing characters. The Unicode website offers some advice on how to do this.

There is a known bug with Gecko-based (Mozilla, Camino, etc) browsers on Mac OS 10.5. These browsers may have trouble displaying Cyrillic and Devanagari scripts even when the required fonts are installed, though they display correctly in Web pages.

For Cyrillic, this problem only occurs if you are not using a Cyrillic language (such as Russian) as your default system language and can be corrected by adding

select {
font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important;
}

to a CSS Firefox extension such as Stylish or to your UserContent.css file. We have not currently been able to find a similar resolution for Devanagari scripts; if you know of one, please let us know. In both cases, the scripts display in the drop-down if you use Safari.

If you experience difficulties following any of the advice here, please submit a support request and we'll do our best to help you.

Technical Questions

What browsers is the Archive compatible with?

The Archive is currently optimised for Firefox 3.0 and above. We also support Internet Explorer 7 and above, although we're still optimising for IE7 and you may notice some discrepancies between IE and Firefox. We're doing our best to support a range of other browsers and welcome your feedback on any bugs you encounter, but at present we need to prioritise fixes in Firefox and IE. If you'd like to help us improve support for your browser, consider volunteering!

What else do I need to use the Archive?

Some features of the Archive will not work without javascript enabled. You should still be able to browse, but the 'delete' function currently relies on javascript, and some other features may not function. If you're having difficulties, you should check javascript is enabled. Building fallback options for people with no javascript is a top priority, please bear with us while we work on it.

General / Uncategorized

What HTML can I use on the Archive?

Conflicts With Other Users

How do I report a violation of the Archive's Terms of Service?

If you think that another user has violated the Archive's Terms of Service, please submit an Abuse Report.

Where can I find out about the Archive's Terms of Service?

You'll have been asked to read the TOS when you signed up. If you'd like to revisit them, please see the TOS page. We also provide some extra explanations and answer common questions in the TOS FAQ.

Icons

What is an icon?

An icon is a 100 by 100 pixel image which helps to represent you on the Archive. It is shown on your My Home and Profile pages, your Pseuds page, your blurb on the People page, and next to any comments you leave under that pseud.

How many icons can I have?

You can upload one icon for each pseud you have.

How do I upload an icon?

  1. Go to your "My Home" page.
  2. Click on the icon; if you haven't uploaded one yet, the standard Archive placeholder icon will be shown instead. This will take you to the edit page for your default pseud.
  3. At the bottom of the form you can see what icon is currently in use (if you haven't already uploaded one, it will be the AO3 placeholder icon), and there is a field for you to specify the image you would like to upload. You should also specify alt text for the icon: a brief description of its purpose which is used if the image isn't showning - for example by people browsing with images turned off or visually impaired people using screenreaders.
  4. Once you've specified the image and alt text for it, click the "Update" button.
  5. Admire your shiny icon! \0/
  6. If you have more than one pseud, you can upload icons for them too. Your sidebar contains a link to your "My Pseuds" page, which lists each of the pseuds you have created, with "Edit" links to the page where you can upload icons for them.

What restrictions are there on icons?

There are a few restrictions you should bear in mind when uploading icons.