Archive of Our Own ^beta

Our Open Doors are now opening wide to at-risk archives! The first generation mass archive importer is now ready for testing: this importer will allow us to import archives built on the popular 'Automated Archive' software. Many archives were built with this software over the last 15 years and some are now slowly sinking into the sea: four years ago, one of the things that brought the initial wave of fans together to work on the OTW was the desire to save these archives from extinction. We're really excited to have finally developed the infrastructure and functionality needed to move this work forward.

Here at the OTW, we love the plurality of fandom! There are many individual fannish archives with their own unique flavour and community, and we hope this will always continue. However, fannish archives disappear for a whole host of reasons: sometimes maintainers move on to pastures new, or real life concerns mean they can no longer support the archive. Sometimes a database becomes corrupted through simple use, and the archivist doesn't have the resources (or the technical knowledge) to fix it. Sometimes the money for servers and bandwidth runs out. Sometimes copyright holders launch legal challenges which the maintainers are unable or unwilling to act against. Often it is a combination of all of these things. When archives run into difficulties, they often disappear entirely, taking with them the wonderful creative works created by the fans who use them. Our Open Doors initiative aims to preserve these pieces of fannish history by allowing archivists to import their at-risk archives into the Archive of Our Own.

Our test case for the importer will be the Smallville Slash Archive, which was hosted by fannish legend Minotaur. Minotaur sadly passed away in 2009, and his fannish executors approached us to see whether we would be able to help ensure the site he supported did not disappear with him. They've waited patiently: we're thrilled to finally be able to give them the backup they need.

Imported archives will be set up as collections on the Archive of Our Own. This means that they will have their own profile page and header (if desired by the maintainer), and all works imported will be identified as part of that collection. Collections can be browsed independently of the main Archive, and works in collections are also accessible via the main Archive. If you have work on an archive which is scheduled for import, or you are just generally interested in how this will work, check out the Open Doors FAQ.

The SSA will be imported next week, on Sunday 3rd March! Our second test case will be the Yuletide archive, one of the newest and most complex iterations of the Automated Archive code. Once we've done these two archives and figured out any bugs, we'll be looking to import more at-risk archives: if you have an archive that uses the Automated Archive software and want to transfer it to the AO3 or to back it up in the AO3, please contact Open Doors! (You can continue to moderate or run your archive, which will be set up within AO3 as its own collection. Find out more at our short guide to Open Doors imports and the Open Doors FAQ.)

Our next step will be to try to build a version of this archive importer that works with e-fiction archives, which are also database-backed. If you are a coder who is familiar with e-fiction archives and wants to collaborate on customizing our next importer, please contact Volunteers and Recruiting: please mention specifically your e-fiction experience!

The good news!

Shed your skin! We're about to have a massive deploy of new code that will bring us - among other things - radically new skins! The underlying code for the Archive has been streamlined and modified to make it more accessible and maintainable, and much easier to override. This is going to allow for fantastically beautiful and awesome customizable looks for the archive; fanartists, prepare to go wild! As a bonus, we've also added some skins options for logged-out users (you'll find these in the footer)!

The bad news :(

Since we had to radically retool the underlying code to make this all work well, existing skins are not going to work right out of the box. (We did mention that this was an archive in beta, right?) We're really sorry for the inconvenience, but we had to sacrifice consistency in the short term to make the skins feature more awesome and ensure our code remains maintainable in the long term.

To make sure that no one comes to the archive and finds a broken skin, we'll be temporarily turning off the existing skins when we deploy the new code - don't be alarmed if you come to the Archive to find it looks different! You'll be able to preview your old skins to see how they'll look with the new code, so you can fix the private ones before turning them back on if necessary. We've also already upgraded a bunch of the existing public skins and added some new ones-- for instance a new light-on-dark skin, and a new plain text skin. We'll be posting a list of these skins as soon as the code deploys.

What's so great about the new skins?

LOTS OF STUFF! \0/ One major improvement is that you'll no longer have to use the dreaded !important for most of your overrides to the default skin. In fact, if you want to you can strip away our default skin altogether and write your styles without using any of our CSS at all. But that's only the beginning! There are a whole bunch of new features:

• Modular system so you can make your skin a 'child' of another skin. This means that when you find that skin which has a perfect layout but a color you hate, you can apply that skin for your layout, then add another one on top which just changes the color. (And that's just the beginning of what you can do with the modular skins - we'll have more in a future post explaining the cool possibilities.)


• Make different skins for different devices (this is courtesy of the modular skins) - you'll be able to make a custom skin for when you're browsing on your computer, and another one for when you're browsing on your phone, and have them kick in automatically when you're logged in to your account (providing your phone respects mobile stylesheets). Customization wherever you are!


• An array of images you can use to customize your skins! You can already use images hosted offsite in your own skins (but not in public ones because we need to be sure the images won't change or break). Now you'll be able to pull from a bunch of stock images on the Archive to make your skins even prettier.

Essentially, the new system is aimed at giving you control of ALL THE THINGS! We'll be posting a list of pre-loaded skins as well as loads of shiny new skins over the coming days. We'll also post tutorials and examples so you can get to grips with the new shiny!

O NOES MAH SKINS ARE BROKEN

All may not be lost! If your skins are broken or you think they're likely to be, you can do some things to prepare. We'll be holding a Skins Open House in a week or two where we'll go over how to make new skins and fix old ones - watch this space for news on that.

Accessible skins

One last note - one reason it was important to us to make this change is that it makes it MUCH easier to customize skins to meet specific accessibility needs. If you are using one of the public skins geared towards particular accessibility needs (e.g. low contrast, plain text, etc), then we have either fixed this to work right out of the box under the new system or (where that wasn't feasible) added a new skin to do the same job. We're adding new accessible skins for logged-out users too - you'll be able to access a Low Vision skin and a Light on dark Small Text skin in the footer even when you are logged out. If you need a customized skin for accessibility reasons and our existing skins don't meet that need, please get in touch with support and let us know what you need - we'll do our best to help! (Also, if you run up against an accessibility issue anywhere on the Archive, please let us know - we're committed to keeping the site as accessible as possible, but inevitably there's stuff we miss!)

Stay tuned for more info about skins!

In preparation for hosting fanart on the AO3 (that is, you will soon be able to upload art directly to our servers and not just link it from elsewhere), we are revising the official Terms of Service and our FAQ!

As always, we actively seek and very much appreciate feedback on all archive policies. The coding for fanart is still underway, and there is time to make changes, so if there's anything in this draft that concerns you, please let us know.

Here are the proposed additions to the FAQ:

* When can I use pictures I have made on the archive?

The basic rule is that a fanwork based on an existing work should be transformative. Transformation means adding something new, in meaning or message, to the original. We consider that fanart, like fan fiction, is generally transformative. Please remember that the ratings and warnings policies apply to images.

You can also use pictures you've made to complement a fanwork--so, if you are illustrating a story, you can use illustrations of the setting, the original characters, or anything else that fits with the story, as long as you otherwise follow the content policy.

We do not allow sexually explicit photos of minors, nor images manipulated so that they look like sexually explicit photos of minors (even if the manipulation is obvious). This is necessary for us to comply with US law, which has special rules for photographs and video of human beings under age 18. In addition, under Section IV.H of the Terms of Service, we may remove content, including photos or drawings, when we determine that it is necessary to resolve a threatened or pending lawsuit. We will not screen or ban images for offensiveness.

* When can I use existing (nonmanipulated) pictures in my fanworks on the archive?

The basic rule is that a fanwork should be transformative. Transformation means adding something new, in meaning or message, to the original. Existing works, including pictures, can be part of a transformative work. Please remember that the ratings and warnings policies apply to images.

When you're using an existing picture, commentary and critique are particularly favored kinds of transformativeness. A use that highlights the way that framing, angle, or other pictorial elements affect the pictures’ meaning; a use that draws attention to the roles of different people in the pictures; and a use that contrasts different pictures are all examples of potential transformation. Humor can also be transformative: unlikely subtitles may change the meaning of the picture substantially. Commentary can be explicit or implicit, as when it’s done by pointed contrasts between images, where the use of a picture recontextualizes it and gives it new meaning.

The number of pictures should be appropriate to the purpose: if you’re illustrating the relationship of a character’s costumes to her story arc, then you are likely to need more pictures than if you merely want to introduce the character so your audience knows what s/he looks like.

Where possible, credit or attribution to the original source of your image is also helpful.

We have drawn on the American University Center for Social Media’s Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video in our discussion here. You may find a full copy of the code here http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/fair-use/related-materials/codes/code-best-practices-fair-use-online-video if you want to see more detailed discussion and examples, though they are focused on video.

* When can I use pictures in my skins on the archive?

We generally consider skins containing pictures to be fanworks, so please follow the guidelines in the sections above. In addition, since skins are created by individual users, the OTW does not endorse particular skins in any way. We do screen public skins for technical compliance, to limit the proliferation of public skins in order to keep the public skins feature usable for other people, and for obvious violations of the content policy, but it's the user's responsibility to make sure a skin complies.

You can use pictures you've made for skins, even if they aren't fanworks, as long as you otherwise follow the content policy--e.g., you can use a picture of the view from your window.

You can put attributions for images in your skins into a comment like this:

/* This image comes from SOURCE and is used here for INSERT TRANSFORMATIVE PURPOSE */
header { background: url(http://url/of/image.jpg); }

Here is the current text in the Terms of Service about user icons, which are the only artworks currently on the archive:

J. User Icons

User icons should be appropriate for general audiences. They should not contain depictions of genital nudity or explicit sexual activity. For more information, please refer to the ToS FAQ.

Here is the proposed new text of the Terms of Service for our new expanded set of artwork:

J. Images

A. User icons

User icons should be appropriate for general audiences. They should not contain depictions of genital nudity or explicit sexual activity. For more information, please refer to the ToS FAQ.

B. Other images

Other images are subject to the general content policy, including the ratings and warnings policy. No sexually explicit photographs of minors (people under age 18) or sexually explicit photomanipulations that appear to be pictures of minors (people under age 18) are allowed. For more information, please refer to the ToS FAQ.

Relatedly, we propose to delete the last paragraph of Section IV.D, which currently reads:

Please note that the first version of the Archive will only host text and user icons. Future policies will focus on other media.

Mirrored from an original post on the OTW Blog.

In common with most sites out there, we were keen to offer an OpenID login option when we started out, to ease the burden of juggling yet another username and password. Unfortunately, also in common with other sites, we found that OpenID created as many problems as it solved. We regularly receive Support requests from users who can't log in because of some problem with their OpenID provider, or because their provider has changed their authentication code unexpectedly. We've also had ongoing problems persuading OpenID logins to persist (the 'Remember Me' option often doesn't), as well as a lot of confusion from users about exactly what an OpenID account on the Archive actually was.

Not many of our users are taking advantage of the OpenId option: out of 16,119 users, only 383 have an OpenID set. Of those, only 73 use OpenID as their sole login option (the rest have a password as well). Despite the small number of users involved, OpenID issues are one of our most regular types of Support request! We feel that the amount of work involved in keeping our code functioning with OpenID and in supporting users with it outweighs the amount of added value it brings to our users, and we're strongly considering phasing out OpenID logins for accounts altogether. (This is in line with other sites such as 37 Signals.) If you have concerns or questions about this, then please do comment to this post.

If you're currently using OpenID and you want to switch to using a password login, just select the 'Forgot password' option. This will send out a temporary password - log in with your user name and this password, and you can set a permanent password.

One reason so few users have OpenID logins for the site is that the way our accounts work mean it's only really a password replacement (you still have to give us an email address and a user name, and we can't really offer the kind of OpenID features adopted by sites such as Dreamwidth). So, OpenID accounts aren't offering anything super useful compared to regular accounts. However, we do like the idea of offering more flexible ways to use the Archive, and retiring OpenID account logins doesn't mean we've abandoned this aim.

One area where more flexible authentification options would be useful is comments. We know that some people don't have much use for the features of an Archive account, but do want to use the Archive for reading and commenting. We think it would be very handy for them to be able to leave comments without creating an account or leaving a name and email. So, we're currently looking into the omniauth plugin, which would allow people to sign in via other sites such as Twitter, Foursquare, Google apps, etc in order to leave comments. This isn't a change we'll make immediately - we want to do some more research into different options and the privacy implications first - but we think something like this would offer our users more flexibility going forward.

As always, we welcome feedback from users about features you would like to see on the Archive! Feel free to comment on this post or get in touch via our Support and Feedback form to let us know what you think!

Our upcoming release includes a small change in the terminology we use in work headers. We'll be changing from referring to 'Pairings' to using 'Relationships'. If you're posting new works, you'll see this change on the work form. If you're browsing the Archive, you'll see it on individual work headers.

We've made this change in order to better reflect the diversity of romantic configurations (threesomes! moresomes! polyamorous relationships!), and to make it clearer that this field can also be used for friendships.

Friendship tags work the same as pairing tags have worked in the past and, once the wranglers have wrangled them, take the canonical form "Sha Gojyo & Cho Hakkai" - this is what your friendship tags will look like in filters!

We chose the term 'Pairings' originally because many fandoms use this in headers as a generic term for all relationships. However, in view of the fact that this does not apply across all fandoms, we think the new terminology is both clearer and more inclusive.

Like many of the decisions made about the Archive, this small change involved consultation with lots of people. We thought our users might appreciate a little glimpse of how different committees work together to develop the Archive:

1. Our volunteer tag wranglers, always looking for ways to increase fannish inclusiveness, pointed out that 'Pairings' is not a universal fannish term. They also raised the matter that while friendship tags were already in use within the AO3, most users didn't realise that the 'Pairings' field was the place we intended to hold those as well. They discussed the issue on the tag wrangling mailing list and recommended that a change to the name of the field to 'Relationships' would make its use clearer.


2. The Tag Wrangling Committee (who manage the volunteer wranglers) examined the recommendation and discussed it with Support and International Outreach to get their feedback on the proposed change.


3. Support agreed that the change would increase clarity for users, and pointed out that 'Relationships' is a more inclusive term which helps to avoid privileging a certain type of relationship over others, giving equal value to different configurations of romantic relationships and to non-romantic and non-sexual relationships.


4. International Outreach discussed the issue and agreed that 'Relationships' would be more neutral and easier to translate more directly into the many different languages we hope to introduce to the archive.


5. The Tag Wrangling committee summarised this discussion for the Accessibility, Design and Technology Committee and presented the proposed change.


6. AD&T discussed the proposal with reference to the technical issues involved. Even though this is a very small change from the user's point of view, it involved changes to more than 70 different files in the project - the kind of tricksy change that can easily lead to an error creeping in. However, AD&T agreed that the change was worth making and passed the issue to the team of volunteer coders to implement.


7. Senior coder Sidra made the change for the whole site. \0/

This change ended up involving lots of our teams - the majority of Archive development only involves one or two committees and is correspondingly faster. We think this is an excellent demonstration of the value we place on our ability to discuss issues from diverse points of view, allowing us to draw on a variety of experience and expertise. Our diversity is our strength, and it reflects the diversity of our users and supporters. We wouldn't have it any other way.

We believe that paying attention to issues like this, that seem small but have numerous implications, helps us to make the Archive accessible, inclusive, and welcoming to everyone. We welcome user feedback on all aspects of the Archive - just drop us a line via our Support and Feedback form.

The OTW's Content Policy is pleased to put the following updates to the Archive's Terms of Service forward for two weeks of public discussion. The full Terms of Service can be found linked on the archive page, but for clarity, all emendations and new policy items are listed below the cut.

Summary of Changes: aka: the Bottom Line!
The TOS updates are based on a revision and clarification of the system for ratings and warnings on the Archive (Section IV.K), and the expansion of policy on Collections in response to new functionality (Section V.A). In particular, we are trying to make the warnings more intuitive in response to user feedback, though we remain committed to the basic policy that creators get to decide whether and how they want to use warnings. For more information on the new system and how it will affect users, please see our post on Changes to the Archive Warnings System.

These TOS changes are not yet final: we are currently offering them for a comment period of at least two weeks before the board votes on them, as per section I.A.2 of the TOS. We are soliciting feedback during this time. Comments must be received by January 1, 2010.

Specific TOS updates below the cut!

Section IV.K.1.b. Revision to wording about warnings and tags, to reflect the new system on the Archive.

By default, all users will see the archive warnings and tags the creator has selected. Any logged-in user who wishes to avoid archive warnings and tags may set preferences to hide them by default. Logged-in users who set their preferences to hide information are proceeding at their own risk and may be exposed to content they would otherwise wish to avoid. Such users may change their preferences, or reveal information for specific stories, at any time.

Section IV.K.2.b. Removing definitions on Ratings, to allow for user discretion.

The Archive uses the following ratings:

1. General audiences.
2. Teen and up audiences.
3. Mature.
4. Explicit.
5. Not rated.

Section K.3. Revision to information on warnings, reflecting wording changes on the Archive.

1. General description:

   There are two components to warnings on the Archive.

   1. Archive warnings: Creators can select from a list of archive warnings. The list also allows creators to select "choose not to use archive warnings" and "none of these warnings apply," or equivalent text as specified on the creator upload form."
   2. Secondary (optional) tags, including warnings: Creators can define their own tags, as seriously or as humorously as they like. These can include specific content warnings. The warnings policy only covers archive warnings.

2. As a rule, the creator controls the warnings.

   Selecting "choose not to use archive warnings," or the equivalent text as specified on the creator upload form, satisfies a creator's obligation under the warnings policy. If a fanwork uses this option, we will not sustain any failure-to-warn complaints. If the abuse team receives a failure-to-warn complaint in other circumstances, the abuse team may decide the absence of a specific archive warning is misleading. In such cases, the creator may be asked to add a warning or to select the choose not to warn option. If the creator declines or fails to respond, the abuse team may set the warning to indicate that the creator has chosen not to warn. The abuse team's authority extends only to changing a warning to "choose not to use archive warnings" or equivalent text, not to selecting any other warning.

3. The meaning of "choose not to use archive warnings" or equivalent text :

   The fanwork may contain any of the subject matter on the archive list. Users who wish to avoid specific elements entirely should not access fanworks marked with "choose not to use archive warnings." A creator can select both "choose not to use archive warnings" and one of the archive warnings in order to warn for some but not all of the archive warnings.

4. Consequence of failure to use an appropriate rating or archive warning

   In general, failure to use an appropriate rating or archive warning is not a violation of the abuse policy.

   It is our policy to defer to creators' categorizations, but we reserve the right to recategorize a fanwork in two situations. (1) When we determine that a complaint about a "general" or "teen and up" rating is valid, we may change the rating to "not rated." (2) When we determine that a complaint about a failure to warn for content on the archive warning list is valid, we may add "choose not to use archive warnings" or equivalent text. The abuse team will not pick a more specific rating or warning for a fanwork.

Section V.A. Expansion of policy on Collections, to reflect new functionality.

A. Collections, Challenges, and Exchanges

1. Archive users may create collections and encourage other users to submit fanworks to those collections. The collection maintainer can set any constraints she or he wants on the collection, including rules about anonymous works (see A.4 below) but must otherwise follow the content policy (e.g., if the collection content is explicit, it should be marked as "explicit" or "choose not to rate"). The collection maintainer may be able to ask users for suggestions for new fanworks ("prompts"), collect prompts, match participants with prompts (including contacting them via the contact information provided to the Archive or to the collection maintainer), and show the prompts on the Archive, following the general rules governing works on the Archive. Where collection rules allow, prompts may be anonymous or limited-visibility, as detailed in A.4 and A.5 below.

2. To be part of a collection, the fanwork creator has to affirmatively submit the fanwork to the collection. The collection maintainer will be able to remove the fanwork from the collection, but not from the Archive.

3. If the collection maintainer has specified in advance in the collection rules that submissions cannot later be removed from the collection, the user who submitted the fanwork will not be able to delete it, but will be able to orphan it so that the user's identity is no longer associated with the fanwork.

4. In order to implement certain types of collections, the Archive may allow works to be posted without making the creator generally visible (which we call anonymous works).

   1. Anonymous works are not orphan works, though they can be orphaned.
   2. The creator's pseudonym will not be publicly associated with the story while the anonymity is in place. For non-orphaned works, the creator's pseudonym will be visible to administrators (including members of the abuse team for purposes of resolving complaints), co-creators (if any), and the maintainers of any collection of which the work is a part.
   3. If the collection of which a work is a part specifies rules regarding anonymity, such as a designated time for revealing authorship, the collection maintainer may be able to control the work's anonymity consistent with those rules. In other situations, creators may be able to choose anonymity.

5. In order to implement certain types of collections, the Archive may allow works to be posted which will not be generally visible until a time set by the collection maintainer.

   1. Once posted, the work will be visible to administrators (including members of the abuse team for purposes of resolving complaints), co-creators (if any), and the maintainers of any collection of which the work is a part.
   2. If the collection of which a work is a part specifies rules regarding time of general visibility, the collection maintainer may be able to control the time at which a work becomes generally visible to archive users.

6. In the absence of an independent violation of the abuse policy, the Archive will not intervene in decisions by the collection maintainer.

We choose that you can no longer choose to choose not to warn for--wait, I'll come in again.

Based on your feedback, we've decided to eliminate one of our previous Archive Warnings: "Choose Not To Warn for Some Content." While it was meant to give users additional flexibility, feedback revealed that it was just too confusing. So there will now be only one opt-out tag, represented by a new icon, (which combines and clarifies two previous ones): "Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings."

But what are Archive Warnings exactly? There are two answers to this question.

1) There are six in all. Four designate particular content: major character death, underage, rape/noncon and graphic violence; the other two are "No Archive Warnings Apply" and "Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings". All stories in the AO3 must carry at least one of these descriptions.

2) They are enforceable; that is, if a story in the AO3 features major character death, underage, rape/noncon, or graphic violence without being labeled as such (or without you being told that the author has chosen not to warn for these tropes in this story), you can report that story to Abuse.

So why this system? To allow users to roam the AO3 with reasonable confidence that they will not encounter these four things if they don't want to. (But click on a story labeled "Author has Chosen Not To Use Archive Warnings" at your own risk!)

Q & A:

"How does this affect stories I've already posted to the Archive?"
If you warned for Rape/Non-Con, Graphic Violence, Major Character Death or Underage, then those warnings will stay exactly as they are. If you chose Choose Not To Warn or Choose Not To Warn For Some Content, these will be merged into Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings. We hope this makes the choice easier for the author and more comprehensible to the reader; we also hope that it makes clear that this field doesn't represent all warnings: just the four the AO3 enforces.

"Why these four 'Archive Warnings' and not others?"
We chose those four for a mix of practical, historical, and technical reasons, but the bottom line is enforceability. The AO3 allows for an infinite number of customizable warnings through additional tags, which allow users to search for content they want and avoid content they don't want. But Abuse can't be responsible for the accuracy of all those tags. By limiting the number of Archive Warnings to four--major character death, underage, rape/noncon, and graphic violence--we can provide broad categories of content for people to seek out or avoid. We think it's better to have four than none, since we can't have all warnings be Abuse-enforceable.

"And if I don't want to warn for anything?"
We've got you covered: you can choose "Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings" when you post. Readers who absolutely must know if a story contains major character death, underage, rape/noncon, or graphic violence might avoid your story.

"What if I don't have major character death, underage, rape/noncon, or graphic violence in my story?"
Choose "No Archive Warnings Apply." Please note that this doesn't mean that the story is "safe" or that there's nothing to be warned for. It just means that there are no Archive-enforceable warnings: i.e. no major character death, underage, rape/noncon, or graphic violence. But there could be additional author-added warnings in the tag field, or listed in the summary or notes of the story, or there could be something else that offends or squicks you. But there shouldn't be major character death, underage, rape/noncon, or graphic violence; if there is, please report the story to Abuse.

"I want to warn for something beyond those four things."
Please do! You can add any other warning you want to any story, either in additional tags or in the summary or notes. We also encourage everyone to develop their own warning (or "don't wanna warn") policy and post it to their profile page.

"What about dubcon?"
Dubcon, or dubious consent, is probably the number one additional warning requested by users, and while we've discussed it many times, we just don't think it's enforceable. The label "dubcon", by definition, is applied to dubious cases and blurry situations, and we don't think it's possible for Abuse to judge if a story fits the criteria. That being said, a story's author tends to know if her own story is dubcon, and so we encourage authors to warn for dubcon when appropriate through the tag system. Readers can also use bookmarks, or comment to the author, but we don't feel comfortable potentially subjecting the author to a penalty over the definition of dubcon.

Mirrored from an original post on the OTW blog.

We're pleased to officially announce that the popular multi-fandom holiday fanfiction exchange Yuletide is coming to the Archive of Our Own! As those of you who follow our AD&T meeting reports will know, this is something we've been working towards for a while, and we're excited to finally have the code written and everything in place! \0/

The Yuletide mods will be running the challenge for 2009 on the AO3. Some time after posting closes for this year, they'll also be uploading the existing Yuletide archive (all the stories from previous years). This means that if you are participating in Yuletide, or have participated in the past, you will be offered an Archive account \0/. (If you already have an account, you'll be able to link uploaded stories to that existing account.)

Yuletide 2009 will be the first outing for our shiny new Collections and Challenges code, which will be enhanced and expanded in future. It's a great test case for us, because Yuletide mod astolat is one of our senior coders and has done most of the heavy lifting for this new code (which has meant VERY good communication between challenge mods and coders!). The Yuletide challenge is also fairly large and complicated to run, which gives us a good starting baseline of features for other fic-exchange-style challenges. Another reason we chose Yuletide first is that the Yuletide archive is at risk: the challenge has outgrown its existing code, and the mods needed to find another home or take the archive down altogether. We know it's one of the most popular multi-fandom challenges out there, and we're really pleased to be able to ensure that fandom can continue to enjoy it for many years to come.

This is the very first version of Collections and Challenges on the AO3 and lots of enhancements are planned for the future. Feel free to let us know your thoughts about the design and any future features you'd like to see via our Support and Feedback form.

Although Yuletide will be hosted on the AO3, it is still elynross and astolat's party! (We just built the dancehall.) If you have questions about Yuletide itself (how it will work on the AO3, what to do if your story is late, etc), please drop over to yuletide_admin. Lots of common questions are answered on their Yuletide on the AO3 info post.

We hope that this will be the first of many challenges to run on the Archive of Our Own. We're looking forward to welcoming lots more fandoms to the Archive and enjoying even more fannish creativity \0/.

Mirrored from an original post on the OTW blog.