While I'm still a Polin fan through and through, I've mostly shifted my brainrot to another fandom called Love and Deepspace. But that also means I've still been on AO3 and still tweaking my favorite QOL upgrades as far as userscripts and skins, and there have been a lot of new additions over the past several months that have made life easier in sorting through and finding what to track on AO3. So, here are my updated list of improving life on AO3.
Site Userscripts
So I've been using userscripts for a long time now to improve my AO3 experience by filtering out tags or authors easily, improving bookmarking and tagging for myself to better track what I want to read and to help make recommendations to others quickly and generally just improve my experience on AO3 across the board.
This is done through the use of Tampermonkey, an add-on that can be implemented with most major browsers. It can also be used with some mobile browsers, such as Firefox on Android which has Tampermonkey capabilities, and the Tampermonkey app on the Apple Store for iOS. So before installing any of the following userscripts, be sure to install Tampermonkey accordingly. There are also lots of scripts for other sites, but I mostly use it for AO3.
[AO3] Kat's Tweaks: Bookmarking by Katstrel
After much trial and error with many popular bookmarking scripts, Kat's bookmarking script covers about 99% of what I've ever wanted from a script. Honestly, at this point I probably should create my own for what I want tailored for me but, for now this works for the majority of what I want. There isn't anything on the site to describe what it does though, so here's the breakdown:
Adds a preset section in your bookmark notes automatically, where you can then edit in your personalized notes but also adds the fic information under a dropdown, great for if a fic is deleted so you can know which fic it was when updating bookmarks
Adds "Last Read" comment on bookmark that can be easily updated with a button each time, with a link to the last chapter your read, to easily keep track of where you are when a fic updates
Great tagging system for bookmarks: adds work count, whether you have kudosed the fic, adds buttons to click for completed, to read/mark for later (separate from AO3's Mark for Later page, which can't be filtered), Awaiting update for fics that aren't finished. Also adds completed tag to fics that are finished
Allows customization of word count tags AND regular tags. I added a tag for "Reading" to keep track of fics I'm actively reading. Similiar to Awaiting update I guess I but I don't click awaiting update until I'm at the end of a fics chapters
Adds a special filter section to bookmarks page, adding all the unique tags within the script for easy sorting
While it's easy to edit scripts within the Tampermonkey addon (you can just click "Edit" on the dashboard next to the script), for those who don't want to mess with the scripting language and just want an easy UI to customize Kat's scripts, you can also install her Settings Manager
AO3: Chapter Shortcuts by BlackBatCat
This script adds buttons to the top of a fic work page to link directly to the first and last chapters, as well as a quick button next to the author name on other pages (designated by a symbol of your choosing) to easily click to the latest chapter. Super convenient!
Of note, for BlackBatCat's scripts, there is a "Userscripts" button that is added to the navigation bar to allow for easy customization.
AO3: Comment Formatting and Preview by escctrl
This adds a set of formatting buttons in the comment box, and lets you preview the HTML so you can see in real time what it will look like. It also works for bookmarking notes and other replies. It also has the ability to add custom "macros", for common commenting needs, like if you have a common sendoff or if you struggle to come up with something to reply with and just want a quick thank you.
AO3: Reading Time and Quality Score by BlackBatCat
This script adds the full work reading time and quality score to the stats section of the works page, and adds the reading time for the individual chapter under the chapter heading. I love this feature since the stats heading only shows the full word count of the work, not the individual chapter, and this breaks down how long it will take for that specific chapter. There are several customization options for this, and the ability to turn the Quality Score off. The Quality Score is a "smarter" way to filter works based on a ratio between Kudos/Hits that accounts for fic length (since for longer works, you can only kudo once, even when there are new chapters). I don't really use this feature myself by it is a better indicator than straight kudos or hit count for the popularity of a work.
AO3: Skin Switcher by BlackBatCat
This is AH. MAZE. ING. As I've been working on my Xavier skin, it's been super annoying to switch back and forth to check things when I make changes and compare to old layouts and what not. This makes the switch between skins SUPER easy, and it would be wonderful for someone who likes to switch it up often, making it much less cumbersome. Also, since my plan is to create skins for all the LaDS boys, that would make the ability to switch between them even easier.
FicTrail - AO3 History Viewer by serpentineegg
We all know the history page on AO3 is a hot mess, particularly because you can't search for anything. This addon allows you to filter and search through your AO3 history, and even gives you a rundown of the most common tags in your recent history. I don't use history much as I tend to bookmark what I want to read, but if I forget to, I love that this is there to help sort and find something I missed!
AO3: Replace Y/N in works with your name by escctrl
This is a personal preference, but I really can't stand when "Y/N" is used for reader insert instead of just ambiguously or not at all. It takes me right out of the fic. As a stop-gap, for fics that do use Y/N, this userscript will replace it with the name of your choosing. You can customize it under "Userscripts" on the navigation bar.
The following is more optional/usage may vary:
AO3: Fic's Style, Blacklist, Bookmarks by Schegge
While this script has other features, I only use the Blacklist feature as my needs are covered otherwise in other scripts. However, this script has a really easy to use UI for blacklisting authors, tags and content. You can click "settings" under the script when clicking the Tampermonkey button on a page it is active (at least in chrome) and turn off the bookmark and other tracker options, or you can edit the script itself.
I've replaced this with another BlackBatCat script that integrates better and is just easier: AO3: Advanced Blocker by BlackBatCat
This script allows you to lock works based on tags, authors, titles, word counts, and more. You can also easily filter by completion status, language, reading time, and primary pairings in a more permanent way (versus the filter tabs). One AMAZING feature is, if you press ALT and then click a tag, it will automatically add it to your block list. LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS.
Userscripts for Writers
The above tags can be used for readers and writers alike, but these are more geared toward those who post on AO3
AO3 Tag Reorder by Ifky_
This is a new find and it's changed my life. Reorganizing tags, especially if you have to add them later on for new content and chapters us SUCH a pain in the butt. This script allows you to reorder them ON THE FLY without copying, deleting and pasting lists of tags in order to have them in a certain order. MIND. BLOWN.
Offline Reading
So I do a lot of text-to-speech reading of my fics, as I have a long commute once a week and prefer it over music. So, I figured I'd give the rundown of what I personally use for that purpose.
I have an Android phone, so I use the app Moon+ Reader Pro. There are many apps that will use text-to-speech but this is the one that I've preferred, especially in how it catalogues and tracks fics within the app itself. I use to read regular fics as well if I'm not reading them on AO3.
I don't love the default voice for Samsung phones, so I use SherpaTTS but that's a personal preference.
You can easily download the fic by clicking "Download" at the top of a work page, then "EPUB" is typically the best for e-reader apps. Mine will then open automatically in Moon Reader and I simply am able to click the TTS button, and voila!
