AO3 News

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[transformativeworks]

Updates to "No Fandom" Additional Tags, May 2026

AO3 tag wranglers have canonized some new "No Fandom" additional tags and revised subtag and metatag relationships of existing "No Fandom" canonical tags. Check out the latest news post for details: https://otw-news.org/y8pvnu7j

[transformativeworks]

Manacles Press’s Fanzines are Moving to the AO3!

Manacles Press, publisher of various fanzines including Nudge Nudge Wink Wink (Professionals), McPikus Interruptus (Wiseguy), and Consupiscence (multifandom), is importing the zines’ fanworks to the AO3! Read all about it at: https://otw-news.org/bdfvy74u

[transformativeworks]

2026 OTW Election Timeline & Membership Deadline

The OTW Elections committee is pleased to announce that the timeline for the 2026 election for new members of the Board of Directors has been posted!

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[ao3org]

Releases 0.9.462 - 0.9.468: Change Log

AO3's March code releases included a slew of collection, bookmark, and history bug fixes, as well as several improvements for site admins.

Read more at https://ao3-news.org/v-0-9-468

[transformativeworks]

The OTW is Recruiting for Fanlore Chair Track Volunteers, Communications Social Media Moderators (English and Chinese), and Open Doors Import Assistants

Do you have experience in managing or leading people? Are you a frequent Bluesky, Twitter | X, or RedNote user who enjoys helping others? Are you interested in the rescue and preservation of fanworks? The OTW is recruiting! Learn more at: https://otw-news.org/mrx56zjn

[transformativeworks]

Applications for Communications Social Media Moderators (especially if you speak Chinese) and Fanlore Chair-Track Volunteers are still open, check out our volunteering page for more information: otw.org/volunteer!

[ao3org]

AO3 Minor Degraded Performance

AO3 is currently experiencing some slowness. We’ve resolved the issue and are monitoring. Some users on older devices may still encounter errors as we continue making adjustments. For more updates, please refer to our statuspage. Posted: 12:00 UTC, 16 May 2026

[ao3org]

We have resolved the issue that was causing slowness. AO3 should be back to functioning normally for all users! If you are still experiencing any issues past this point, please let us know. Thank you for your patience!

For more updates, please refer to our statuspage.

Posted: 18:12 UTC, 16 May 2026

[ao3org]

AO3 Minor Degraded Performance

AO3 is currently experiencing some slowness. We’ve resolved the issue and are monitoring. Some users on older devices may still encounter errors as we continue making adjustments. For more updates, please refer to our statuspage. Posted: 12:00 UTC, 16 May 2026

[ao3org]

Wrangling Update - Avatar: The Last Airbender 

Hello ATLA fans! With the recent changes to Fandom Metatags, a new change is coming to the way the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise fandom on AO3 is structured! Don’t worry, the existing fandom tags will remain as they are - this change will not impact your ability to search for works in specific fandoms (i.e. Legend of Korra, The Chronicles of the Avatar novels, etc.). 

What is changing is that we are creating a new metatag for the fandom! 

What is a metatag, you ask? Great question - think of metatags (and subtags) like file folders on your computer or in your Google Drive. In this analogy, the metatag is the top-level folder and the subtags are sub-folders that live inside that top-level folder.

New ATLA metatag: Avatar: The Last Airbender & Related Fandoms

All current and future ATLA-related fandoms will be sub-fandoms ("subtags") of the new Avatar: The Last Airbender & Related Fandoms fandom metatag. Currently, this includes: 

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005)

Avatar: Legend of Korra

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Chronicles of the Avatar Novels - Various

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Live Action TV 2024)

Avatar Legends (Roleplaying Game)

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Video Games 2006 2007)

Avatar: Realms Collide (Video Game)

There is no 2010 movie in Ba Sing Se The Last Airbender (2010)

As new ATLA franchise canon is released, those will be added as subfandoms as well. For more information on the hows and whys, keep reading below the cut!

Why are we making this change? 

In short, to make it easier to filter and search for what you’re looking for! 

Franchise-wide searching: Don’t care which part of canon is included in your search? No problem! Filter/search using the new metatag (Avatar: The Last Airbender & Related Fandoms) and all the fandoms listed above will be included in the results. 

Specific sub-fandom searching: Only interested in works tagged as Legend of Korra or one of the other sub-fandoms? We’ve got you covered, too! Simply filter/search using the subfandom, and you’ll only see results that have the sub-fandom tagged. And if you want to exclude works where some or all of the other sub-fandoms are tagged, you can still do that as well! Just add those fandoms under the exclude filter.

Crossovers: Don’t like crossovers with external fandoms? Or maybe you LOVE crossovers? Either way, this change is good news for you! By organizing all the ATLA subfandoms under the overarching metatag, works that are tagged with multiple ATLA fandoms will no longer be treated as a crossover work by the filtering/search system! This means that:

When you exclude crossovers from your search, works tagged with multiple ATLA-related fandoms will now show up in the results (since the system no longer considers them to be crossovers since they are now all part of the same fandom tree). 

When you include crossovers in your search, works tagged with ATLA fandoms and non-ATLA fandoms will still appear as usual.

Other ATLA Wrangling Tips

Beware the blue people Avatar! While you’re always welcome to tag your works however you like, we recommend selecting your preferred ATLA fandom directly from the dropdown or using phrasing specific to ATLA. If you tag your work’s fandom just using the word "Avatar" or something similar, you run the risk of your work being listed under the James Cameron Avatar franchise instead of ATLA. Tags are wrangled based on what they've most been used for, and many "Avatar" tags have already been made synonyms of James Cameron Avatar fandom tags.

Speaking of the dropdown - mind the dropdown! Because AO3’s dropdown prioritizes results that list a word multiple times, the first result may not always be the result you’re looking for. For example, the fandom for the ATLA novels is Avatar: The Last Airbender: Chronicles of the Avatar Novels - Various, which includes the word "Avatar" twice. We recommend double-checking what tag you select from the dropdown to make sure it's the fandom tag you intended! 

Happy tagging! If you have questions or need help, please contact Support, who will be happy to offer any necessary guidance.

(From time to time, ao3org posts announcements of recent or upcoming wrangling changes on behalf of the Tag Wrangling Committee.)

[transformativeworks]

The OTW is Recruiting for Fanlore Chair Track Volunteers, Communications Social Media Moderators (English and Chinese), and Open Doors Import Assistants

Do you have experience in managing or leading people? Are you a frequent Bluesky, Twitter | X, or RedNote user who enjoys helping others? Are you interested in the rescue and preservation of fanworks? The OTW is recruiting! Learn more at: https://otw-news.org/mrx56zjn

[transformativeworks]

Five Things Whatsit Said

In FiveThings, OTW volunteer Whatsit discusses what brought her to the OTW, why tag wrangling is right up her alley, and what makes AO3 one of the modern wonders of the world! Read more at https://otw-news.org/35hzn2rx

[transformativeworks]

April 2026 Newsletter, Volume 210

April's OTW newsletter spotlights our attendance at Supanova con in Melbourne, our Membership Drive raising over $360,000, and Fanlore hosting a public domain-themed editing month. Check out our latest news post for details: https://otw-news.org/yckkvxa2

[transformativeworks]

World Password Day: Keeping Your Account Secure

Today is World Password Day and AO3's Policy & Abuse volunteers have some advice for you on keeping your account secure.

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[transformativeworks]

Mediafans and Futures Without End are Moving to AO3

Mediafans, a multifandom fanfiction archive, and Futures Without End, a Duncan/Methos zine it hosted, are being imported to AO3 via Open Doors. For more details, check out our latest news post: https://otw-news.org/2p8r3a2j

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[transformativeworks]

Updates to "No Fandom" Additional Tags, April 2026

AO3 tag wranglers have canonized some new "No Fandom" additional tags and revised subtag and metatag relationships of existing "No Fandom" canonical tags. Check out the latest news post for details: https://otw-news.org/avmusbtb

[transformativeworks]

April 2026 Membership Drive: Thanks for your Support

The OTW April 2026 Membership Drive has concluded! We raised US$362,171.85. Thank you to everybody who donated and shared! For additional stats, read more at https://otw-news.org/2p9e3phv

[transformativeworks]

April 2026 Membership Drive: Behind the Scenes of AO3

The OTW April Membership Drive has begun! Check out the new donation gifts for this year and learn a little bit about what AO3 is like behind the scenes.

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[transformativeworks]

OTW Finance: 2026 Budget

The OTW's Finance Committee has released the 2026 budget, reporting on donation income and expenses for all our projects! Read more at: https://otw-news.org/2r886de9