#ao3 feature

[sak-supernatural]

There is not a bad selection of archive warnings to choose from. But I was just thinking I personally would like to see 'Suicide/Self-Harm' added as one of the major archive warnings. I was wondering about this because I might be writing a fic dealing with the topic and was just thinking about how to categorise it. Technically it could be 'No Archive Warnings Apply' but that just doesn't feel right, and the scene I have in mind does not warrant 'Graphic Depictions Of Violence' and no 'Major Character Death' but it would most definitely be triggering to someone sensitive to the topic. I'll probably end up with 'Chooes Not To Use Archive Warnings' and super plus tag it in the additional tags section. But it feels bigger than that, something heavy enough to be deserving of its own specific archive warning. What do you think? Should we get a new archive warning? Do you think it's deserving? I certainly do!

@ao3org

[longlivefeedback]

Hello! If I delete a comment I sent, will the author be notified of the deleted comment? Sometimes I feel super cringy when I go over-the-top and I regret I didn't tone down. And I thought maybe deleting the comment was a good solution (not if the author knows it though).

Yes, if they have left the "Turn off emails about comments" option unchecked. See this post for more details.

Also, I understand sometimes you feel the cringe, but I think that authors might find your unbridled enthusiasm and emotions a flattering response to their writing :) If you've deleted your comment, they can't tell you that though. In any case, hugs and thanks for commenting!

[sak-supernatural]

AO3 should have an anonymous comments feature!!!!!

I know you can go in as a guest to leave a comment, but that doesn't really work a lot of the time when so many works are archive locked and only accessible when you're signed in to ao3. It would be cool if at the menu where you can choose from your pseuds there was also the option of 'anonymous' like in the tumblr ask box, where it removes your user and makes it unclickable (it would only work for account holders). It would be an optional feature that creators could turn on for specific works 'allow anonymous comments'. @ao3org

I understand if people wouldn't want this (why it would be a completely optional feature) the potential for it to turn into something used for harassments is quite high. But I definitely feel like it could really boost engagement for some types of fics (spicy/dark/e.c.t...) where people are scared to comment or just don't want their account to be tied to. With more and more works being archive locked and guest comments being off by default, people can't log out and leave an anonymous comment like they used to. I have really felt the hit in engagement of not having guest access to my fics (fuck ai scraping) and I understand the wish not tie your username to something (I have used the 'anonymous' collection for my works before). If this would be a feasible thing, I just thing it would be a neat feature on ao3!

[longlivefeedback]

Is there any way to make an anonymous series on AO3? I publish my works anonymously on there and have had requests to make another two parts to a story I posted, but if I create a series then it removes the anonymous function and shows that I am the creator of the series and the individual works. Is there a workaround for this?

Hi Anon,

I am not sure what method you’re using to post your works anonymously on AO3, but if you’re posting works to this Anonymous Collection or your own self created anonymous collection, there shouldn’t be a problem posting an anonymous series.

Note that the Collection has the following blurb:

Your name will not be on work posted to "Anonymous".

Surprise your friends with gift work without a name attached!

Publish crack or explicit works or badworks and retain control, without having it directly connected to your username!

Just for fun, this collection is not a substitute for orphaning your work. People looking at your profile will be able to see that you have a work or works in the "Anonymous" collection, and they will be able to deduce the fandom from your list of fandoms.

(Open, Unmoderated, Anonymous)

Regarding this part “People looking at your profile will be able to see that you have a work or works in the "Anonymous" collection, and they will be able to deduce the fandom from your list of fandoms,” I actually found this to not be the case as the works I posted anonymously do not appear under my Works page.

Any collection you create will appear in your Collections page.

Here’s the Anonymous series I made as a test:

Series

Works page

Hope your issue with posting anonymously was just a bug and you’re able to post your series anonymously, Anon!

[longlivefeedback]

I recently realized that I forgot to mark a fic as "Inspired by." If I edit the fic to include this, will it send a notif to the original writer or will I need to contact them and let them know I goofed and that this fic is inspired by theirs?

- OopsieDaisy

Hi OopsieDaisy,

I ran a quick test and it seems that regardless of whether you mark a fic as inspired by another work before you first post it or edit it after posting, the author who wrote the original fic that inspired your work does not get notified in the form of an email.

What does happen is that your inspired work now appears in the Related Works part of the user’s profile:

The works pop up as soon as they are linked and goes away if you undo the "inspired by” flag or delete the fic.

So, if you go in and edit your already posted fic, it will pop up in the other author’s Related Works section but they will not get further notification.

I would recommend contacting them outside of ao3 to let them know that their fic inspired yours because I have a feeling that most people do not look at the Related Works section very often and the counter ticking up form (0) to (1) is not very noticeable :)

~Mod dragonling

[longlivefeedback]

Hello, I was wondering if there is a way to mark multple works as source of my inspiration? I know that there is the option for 'Inspired by' for a fic, but, it seems that I can only mark one work as my source of inspiration, and not multiple works. So, if I want to show that my work "X" is inspired by work "A", as well as "B", and "C" - is there a way for me to do this?

Hi,

Yes, there is a way! If all the inspired works are on AO3, this is the way I did it:

Update the ‘...inspired by...’ option by pasting in the URL for work “A.”

Preview/Post the work. Work “A” should show up as “Inspired by...” with a link to it.

Edit your work again.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the URL for work “B”

So, I went back and forth the Preview and Edit pages and got this:

This is how the notes look when posted

There’s probably a more elegant solution somewhere. Feel free to reply to this post or send another ask if the method above doesn’t work!

[longlivefeedback]

I have a series and a few months ago I decided to streamline it and I removed about five fics from the series. One of the fics I removed was a collab with an added co-creator but the series is still showing the co-creator as an author of the whole series, even though their work isn’t in it anymore. How do I remove them as a co-creator of my series? Is there an option to request they remove themselves? Hoping you or one of your followers might know

Hi Anon,

You cannot remove them as a co-creator. According to ao3′s FAQ on removing series co-creators/co-authors:

...you cannot remove co-creators from a series. The only way to remove a co-creator is for that person to remove themselves, as described in How do I remove myself as a creator of a series?

Even if they were only a co-creator for a single work:

After you select "Preview" or "Post", you can no longer remove them. They will need to remove themselves. Refer to How do I remove myself as a creator of a work? for instructions on removing yourself.

If for some reason, you are not able to contact your co-creator to have them remove themselves, you can use the Support and Feedback form to ask for help.

[alex-wolfdragon]

Look, I don't really like Wattpad. However, if I had the choice, I'd add the feature of being able to comment on every paragraph to AO3. There's been so many times I wanted to comment on just one line or make a joke or theory or something and forgot by the time I reach the end of the fic. Plus, I remember quite a few fun conversations back during the small period I was on there.