FYI AO3 WRITERS
Tl;dr: don't post fic between 12-5AM UTC and if you do, make sure to edit the date
This is relevant as of July 2021
Thanks for contacting Support! Works published [today] might show up below works published [yesterday] due to an issue that occurs when a work is posted between 12:00 AM and 5 AM UTC - works posted during this time frame cause the system to believe the work has had a posting date set manually. (Normally this happens when a creator selects "Set a different publication date" in the posting form.) This also applies to works that were initially saved as a draft on a date previous to the day they are posted. Works that have been backdated are assigned a default time of day, which may be earlier than the actual time the work was posted.
This can also affect chapters being added to works, because once the system thinks a work is backdated, it will treat it as being backdated forever. If you have any works affected by this issue, you can go in and edit the chapter to update the date to the current day you’ve posted it. It may not put it all the way to the top of the fandom list, but it should get it much closer.
Our coding and design team plans to overhaul and simplify our date system, but unfortunately, this is a complicated issue and they're always busy keeping things running, so it will be a while before they have time. If you have any other questions, please let us know.
















