How to download stories from archive of our own

At the time, many older, smaller fanfiction archives were disappearing as free hosting sites popular in the s and early s were disappearing or going out of business. AO3 has grown slowly, as one requires an invite code to join if you request one, it can take anywhere from a month to upwards of 5—6 months to receive one, according to recent reports. The archive is now the home of the large, annual small-fandom fest Yuletide , which is how many members of AO3 have gotten accounts there by signing up to take part in the exchange.

Archive of Our Own features more than 34, fandoms, 5,, archived works, and 2,, users. The minimum age for registering for an account is The following are some of the criticisms that some have made of Archive of Our Own as a fanfiction archive. While the site has been embraced by many, there are those who are not as thrilled with the archive or have had issues with it in the past. The archive administrative team has been accused on numerous occasions of having little understanding of how other fanfiction communities operate, such as music and anime fandoms.

Everything from the site's design to category structure reflects a Western media fandom bias, particularly that of LiveJournal media fandom. As such, many outside of Western media fandoms do not feel welcomed contributing to the site nor feel like their specific community issues and needs are being addressed. Crossover stories, involving characters from multiple fannish sources in one story, are quite popular among many fanfiction readers and writers. However, some readers do not care for crossovers in general or at all, and AO3 doesn't have an easy way to filter crossover stories out of the listings returned for a particular fandom.

In comparison, FanFiction. Net has a completely separate section of their website for crossover fiction only, so it's easier to find or not find such stories as you wish. As the site's userbase has grown, some have reported increasing errors and downtime when trying to access the site.

This led some to wonder if the archive can really keep running on its current hardware, software, and financial donations to OTW alone. Writers are allowed to use however many different tags as they want to on their stories, and there is very little structure to the tagging system. Even within a single fandom, one character may have their name "tagged" in multiple different ways, making it difficult to easily filter only for stories featuring them.

The archive does employ a team of tag wranglers whose sole task is to link together related tags to be more searchable. For instance, if I search for the tag "vampire AU," nine different tags are currently returned for me to sort through including "vampire AU, "'verse: Vampire AU" "vampire!

AU" and "sherlock bbc john watson holmes vampire au. It doesn't help when you have some authors tagging everything and anything possible to an almost laughable extent.

Do we really need to know that many details about a story before reading it? Are these things people will actually want to search based upon? Many authors seem to view AO3 as a convenient "storage bin" for all of their old works, dropping stories there but rarely reading others' works.

Many fan communities even with large numbers of stories on AO3 are far more active elsewhere, such as on LiveJournal communities or smaller, fandom-focused websites. With the "Kudos" button feature, readers are less likely to leave actual feedback or interact with authors, since they can just hit "Kudos" to show that they read and at least moderately enjoyed a story. With backdating, sometimes it's hard to just find what are the newest stories posted in a particular fandom.

However, RSS feed subscriptions were eventually introduced, allowing interested readers to subscribe to not just favorite authors but favorite fandoms as well. Many users have expressed annoyance that there is no way to search on AO3 to "filter out" unwanted tags, characters, or types of fiction.

For instance, if a Harry Potter fan didn't want to read about any stories heavily featuring Severus Snape, or slash as a tag, you can't do that. In very large fandoms, this makes searching for stories a person actually wants to read rather difficult, particularly as there is also a 1, work cap on search results. Now that the archive allows for the hosting of meta posts and they are mixed in with the fiction, more users are annoyed by this inability to filter out the types of content they do not want to read.

Some feel as though AO3 has become little more than a "smut dump" see comments at bottom of this page , with certain fandom's categories completely predominated by sexually explicit material.

On June 11, , Lucy Pearson posted on the OTW news site that there were over 17, requests in the queue for invitation codes. However, since the beginning of , it appears that the wait time for invite codes has decreased considerably; it may take only a week or less to get access to a user account. You've read the basic information and examined some of the pros and cons of each—now it's time to leave your opinion.

Which fanfiction archive do you prefer, and why? I use them both frequintly to read but what irritated and conserns me the most is that you van never see if someone is still on fabrication.

I don't know if someone has already pointed this out but ao3 now allows you to sort crossovers out. I just applied to get invited yesterday and I got accepted next day easily unlike it says in the article the only thing that's still true in the article is the excessive tagging. What they said is true but I think this feature is funny and unique.

Honestly, what it really comes down to in my opinion is your fandoms. I definitely appreciate the community on FFN as well and I have never been the least bit confused about how to post, so I'm not entirely sure where that part came from. The fandoms that I dabble for writing in really don't suffer from the FFN cons listed above. I definitely appreciate all the tagging and the longer summaries allowed on Ao3, but, as was mentioned above, people who tag every little thing are really annoying and so are the uber long summaries.

I would personally prefer if there was a limit on tags and summary length, but obviously one that is much higher than FFN's. I definitely prefer reading fandoms that mostly use canon characters on Ao3, but when I looked fairly briefly, I'll admit into posting on Ao3, I was confused.

Being a person with some social anxiety, though, I definitely appreciate the pseudonym option. I wish there was much more of a community though. All in all, like I started out with, I think your experience mostly depends on your fandoms, and mine and their communities have led me to enjoy FFN more overall. The knly downside to the site is the inabity to private message. I started out on FF. After a couple year I tried AO3 again and at this point have completely moved over to the site.

A lot of the complaints against AO3 have been fixed there is exclude option and crossover options and once you learn the tags you like is much easier to handle, I will say however that not all authors tag the same so you have to be wary of being overly dependent on tags. There is need to explore to make sure that you find everything that you want.

Now when I go back to FF. Archive of our own seems to have a weird mindset. They don't allow debates in reviews and only 'Yeah! Also I was just seeing a fanfic that suddenly required users registration the next day. I mean like WTF? It seems nobody complains about stuff or errors anymore. Whenever I do look for complaints it's all old stuff and everyone seems afraid to be critical of AO3.

The tinestamp says thia eas updated in but it obviously wasn't, as half the AO3 complaints no longer apply. It does have exclusion filters now, for pairings and characters and explicit works.

That's three of the bullet points right there. It also now has inclusion and exclusion options for crossover fics. You can keep them in, or toss them out, or choose ONLY those. I started in FF. Honestly I just prefer to wait for updates in my subscribed inbox. I really believe that the author of this post has outdated information about the way Ao3 functions. I suggest that they revise this content or remove it all together because this has pretty misleading information that can put readers off using Ao3.

First of all, there IS a filter out tag now and it has been there since I first started using Ao3 about more than a year ago. You can filter in or out adult content, any tag, ship, or crossovers in general if you want to. The dating system of Ao3 has the newest fics on top. So really, it is very easy to keep up with the new content of a particular fandom or ship. Please, I beg this site to update this post.

It is very misleading and I personally feel that it is giving Ao3 a bad name. I use both but seriously thinking of getting away from Fanfiction. I've been a member there since and in the last few years have noticed the site going downhill. They used to give authors the option of disallowing guest reviews very helpful as trolls can flame or spam authors that way with no consequences.

For some unknown reason they removed that option, and now authors can only delete the guest reviews. I joined Archive of Our Own in after a recommendation from a friend, and I definitely prefer it over Fanfiction. It's not only due to the fact you have more control over the types of reviews and moderation, but more options like adding pictures, listing more than 3 or 4 characters, more genres, etc.

I still update my stories on both sites, but I'm thinking seriously about deleting my account on Fanfiction after having been flamed in guest reviews since this unfortunate policy had started. I started out as a reader on FF. N, then moved on to AO3 as a reader and eventually a writer on AO3. I do post my work on FF. N as well, but I don't read there anymore. I had no problems with FF. N until I started at AO3 and got used to the system. Then I started seeing what was missing for me personally on FF.

Some of the limitations off FF. N for me are the complicated system for uploading a story - on AO3 I just copy-and-paste, the end. N's limits on the amount of characters only 4 and pairings, genre only 2 , etc. N I have to go the doc, change it, re-upload it etc. The fact that AO3 now has the option in its filters to "include" and "exclude" certain tags is beautiful. But I also prefer not to read Modern Era - so exclude them as tags. One big thing that I also found in my switch from FF.

N to AO3 was the story quality. N to find something, especially since it lacked a good tagging system. And I actually find the community to be much better on AO3 - through challenges and exchanges, and the fact that comments aren't reviews, so it can be a discussion of sorts etc. And though over-tagging is a thing, you don't have to read all the tags, just skim them to see if there are any you don't like and read the summary.

And I must admit that even the way people tag can almost be an indicator of what to expect in the story. And some freeform tags are quite hilarious. It's true that sometimes it isn't easy to avoid crossovers in AO3 but it takes only a second to see that a story is a crossover. I use both, and a lot of other platforms, such as Qutev is that how you spell it? I love both, my only complaint for FF.

I'm waiting for Knighty to patch up Fimfiction and release a sister site for everything, because it just feels far more modern than either of the two above. I personally think that the Archive is a much better website. Of course, they both have their pros and cons:. I think FFN is an easier experience for readers since the reading part of the site's a lot easier to use, you can edit how the text looks, etc, without having to deal skins of Archive I think having to create mandatory in-site documents is a pain in the ass, because every time I want to post a chapter of a story I need to do a ten-minute workaround of the site in order to get it up- and the stupid little copy-paste box on the site is so teeny-tiny that it's super annoying to use.

The sites a little ugly, but I think that I biggest con to the site. I actually don't mind the tagging system since Archive seemed to have updated so that you can filter things out, now- , and i find soem of the "meaningless" tags that authors put in to eb quite halrious. Its just another form of expression for the story, and if you don't care for it then you don't have to pursue the tags.

You can just read the summary or skip the story. I don't mind the adult content, either I find that the openness to adult content also causes more mature, older authors to come to the site, which allows me to have better discussions in the comments.

Not to mention that the story quality is ultimately higher on Archive than it is on FFN, and you can far more easily post and find Orginal Work, which is something I'm interested in reading. Archive also has some reading options like reading the whole work on a single page that aren't available on FFN. I primarily use a laptop while using these two sites, so the mobile issue doesn't really affect me. I think it's really up to personal preference on which site is better since everyone is looking for different things from the sites.

When I'm looking for something to read, I go to Archive first a foremost. I will say that, as things currently stand, and as someone who has used both sites, I definitely prefer AO3 nowadays. In all honesty, the only reasons I post things back to FF.

AO3 has even improved on several of the things that were listed as complaints here, like the ability to filter whether you see crossovers, or to filter out certain tags entirely. Uploading and even editing is easier than on FF, because the AO3 uploading system is copy-and-paste-text based.

If you need to go back and edit a bad wording or detail, you don't have to edit the original file and reupload. Additionally, individual chapters' Author's Notes don't bump up the word count, because there's an actual separate "Notes" field for every chapter!

I was thinking about joining AO3 for my ideas that don't belong on my Tumblr, I have an account on FFN but I can't use the writing software that they tell me to use so I can't write there at all. So I was thinking about joining Ao3 since I enjoyed many fics from there as well but the invitation thing has me worried and I have no idea if AO3 wants me to use some writing software like FFN wants.

Or is it like Wattpad which I don't use anymore where I can just go and start writing right away, which was the only I liked about Wattpad. As a reader, the features are simple and easy to use. It does get frustrating when some of the fics aren't ''good,'' but everyone has to start somewhere, especially when it comes to Mary Sues and beginner's writing.

Review are meant to give constructive criticism, and if some authors tried hard enough, they can get a beta to help them. It does get annoying when you clearly see that the author didn't proofread or use spell check.

I think the good stories out number the bad. You can try to guess when seeing the summary, the number of favs, follows, and reviews. That's not saying that everyone else has your tastes, but it gives a good idea to what's popular and most of the time, the quality. I constantly comb through the site to find some gems, and if you look hard enough, you can too. Most authors give warnings to M rated content, especially smut, and have trigger warnings if their stories need it.

FFN also has some of the best crossovers I have ever read. The filtering is helpful even though you can only tag four characters, but you can search for 'Completed' stories so that you don't have to worry about it being abandoned or on hiatus.

As this release has brought the subject back into the spotlight, we wanted to take this opportunity to share the current state of official AO3 app development. Apps need to be built for different mobile platforms -- Android, iOS, and Windows Mobile being the top three -- and for the many versions of those platforms still in use. Before we could even start developing an app that would allow you to do anything more than browse unrestricted works, we would need to develop a public API -- definitely on our roadmap , but several major releases away.

Then, we would need to build different, responsive user interfaces for both phone and tablet. What seems like a small, straightforward project evolves very quickly into something needing many resources, dedicated ones, with diverse skill-sets. While we have said in the past that we'd like to release a mobile AO3 app, the required resources just aren't available.

For more information, refer to How do I add or remove co-creators? Some frequently asked questions about the Archive are answered in other sections of the Archive FAQ , and some common terminology is defined in our Glossary.

You may also like to check out our Known Issues. If you need more help, please submit a Support request. Main Content While we've done our best to make the core functionality of this site accessible without javascript, it will work better with it enabled.

Get an Invitation. Series What is a series? What's the difference between a series, a multi-chapter work, and a collection? How do I find other works in a series? How are warnings, tags, and ratings determined for a series? Who shows up as a creator of a series? How do I create a new series? How do I add works to a series? Can I add a work to multiple series? Can I post an incomplete series? How do I remove a work from a series? How do I edit a series?

How do I mark a series complete? How do I delete a series? How do I change the order of the works in a series? How do I orphan a series? How do I remove myself as a creator of a series? What is a series? Once on the series page, you can navigate to any of the works in the series.

You can add a new work to a series as you're posting the work: Go to the Post New Work page by selecting "Post" and choosing "New Work" from the menu towards the top right of the page in the default site skin. Under the Associations section on the Post New Work page, check the box "This work is part of a series". You can add the work to an existing series by selecting it from the "Choose one of your existing series" menu, or create a new series by entering a new title in the "Or create and use a new one" field provided.

Series titles can be up to characters long in any language script, and can include punctuation, spaces, and any diacritics.

When you're ready, select "Post" at the bottom of the page. You can also select "Preview" to preview the work before you select "Post".

To add an existing work to a series: Go to your works by selecting the greeting "Hi, [username]! Select the "Edit" button below the blurb of the work you'd like to add to a series, or above the work summary on the work's page.

Under the Associations section on the Edit Work page, check the box "This work is part of a series". You can add the work to an existing series by selecting it from the "Choose one of your existing series" menu, or create a new series by entering a new series title in the "Or create and use a new one" field provided. To remove a work from a series, go to the Edit Work page: Go to your works by selecting the greeting "Hi, [username]!

Select the "Edit" button below the blurb of the work you'd like to remove from a series, or above the work summary on the work's page.

Under the "This work is part of a series" field in the Associations section, find the series that you want to remove the work from. Select the corresponding "Remove Work From Series" button.

To edit the series using the series page: Select the series title link to go to the series page. You can find this link in the blurb , work summary, or bottom of the last chapter.

Select the "Edit Series" button found towards the top right of the page on desktop or below the series title on mobile. To edit using the "Series" link: Go to your dashboard by selecting the greeting "Hi, [username]! Select "Series" from the menu found at the side of the page or at the top on a mobile device. Select the "Edit" button underneath the series you'd like to edit. Check out the following pages for more information: How do I delete a series? How do I change the order of works in a series?

To invite someone to be a co-creator: Go to your dashboard by selecting the greeting "Hi, [username]! Select the "Edit" button underneath the series you'd like to add a co-creator to.

All fans and fanworks are welcome! Read more November was a busy month for Open Doors!