Archive of Our Own ^beta

AO3 Tag Wranglers are continuing to test processes for wrangling canonical tags (tags that appear in the auto-complete and the filters) that don't belong to any particular fandom (commonly known as No Fandom tags).

Previous Tag Wrangling updates are available on the ao3org Tumblr, and we're trialing a new system of posting some of these updates to AO3 News as well. While we plan to make No Fandom tag updates available on AO3 News going forward, this may not be true of all wrangling updates. It's likely some updates may remain solely distributed via the ao3org Tumblr, especially those that only affect one or two fandoms. In general, how we distribute updates may be subject to change as we test this new process.

We've made a number of decisions to create new canonical No Fandom tags for high-demand tags and to update the format of some of our older canonical tags. None of these updates will change the tags users have added to works; this will only affect which tags appear in AO3's auto-complete and filters, making it easier to search and filter for these concepts. You can and should continue to tag your works with any version of these tags you prefer to use.

This post will provide an overview of some of these upcoming changes.

New Canonicals

1. Degradation

We will canonize several new tags related to Degradation. These canonicals include:

• Degradation
• Degradation Kink
• Consensual Degradation
• Verbal Degradation
• Self-Degradation
• Non-Consensual Degradation

Degradation will be a metatag of the other tags—Degradation Kink, Consensual Degradation, Verbal Degradation, Self-Degradation, and Non-Consensual Degradation—so that filtering Degradation in or out will include or exclude all of the more specific concepts.

How to Use These To Filter For/Filter Out Works Tagged Relating to Degradation:

ⓧ Filtering Out:
Add Degradation to the "Other tags to exclude" field in the works filter. This will filter out all works tagged with Degradation; this will also exclude works tagged with the subtags Degradation Kink, Consensual Degradation, Verbal Degradation, Self-Degradation, and Non-Consensual Degradation. If you want to exclude any of the more specific types of degradation only, you can do so by excluding the specific subtags. For example, you could exclude only Verbal Degradation by adding it to the "Other tags to exclude" field; works tagged with other types of degradation would remain in your search.

☑ Filtering For:
Add Degradation to the "Other tags to include" field in the works filter. This will also automatically include works that have tagged any of the more specific subtags. If you wish to filter for only certain types of degradation, you can do so by including those tags only. For example, you could include only Self-Degradation by adding it to the "Other tags to include" field; works only tagged with other types of degradation would not show in your search.

2. Sensory Overload

We will create a new canonical for Sensory Overload, and all tags relating to sensory overstimulation will be made synonyms of the new canonical. This includes tags related to neurodivergent or autistic overstimulation.

To make the meaning of the current Overstimulation tag more clear, it will be decanonized and made a synonym of Sexual Overstimulation.

3. Medical Isolation and Quarantine

We will create a new canonical for Medical Isolation and Quarantine.

4. Autistic Characters

We will create a new canonical for Autistic Characters, which will be a subtag of the current canonical Autism tag.

5. Touch Aversion

We will create a new canonical tag for Touch Aversion. The existing canonical Haphephobia (i.e. fear of touch) will be made a subtag of Touch Aversion.

Renamed and Reevaluated Canonicals

When we refer to "renaming" tags in this section, this means decanonizing a previously canonical tag and making it a synonym of a new canonical tag. This means that the tags on works themselves will not change, but filters and searches for the new canonical tag will include works tagged with the former canonical. You can and should continue to tag your works with any version of these tags you prefer to use.

6. Mpreg

To improve clarity for those unfamiliar with the term, the tag Mpreg will be renamed to Mpreg | Male Pregnancy. The related tag Post Mpreg will renamed to Past Mpreg | Male Pregnancy to clarify the tag's meaning and match the format of the new tag.

We will also create a new canonical for Trans Mpreg | Trans Male Pregnancy, which will be subtagged to Mpreg | Male Pregnancy. Similarly, to allow users to tag and filter more granularly with regards to pregnancy, we will be creating a new canonical for Intersex Pregnancy, which will be a subtag of Pregnancy.

7. Found Family

The tag Families of Choice will be renamed to Found Family. We hope this new phrasing better reflects the language fans use and makes the tag easier to find.

8. Gender Themes

The tag Gender Related will be renamed to Gender Themes to clarify the meaning of the tag. We will also create a new canonical for Trans Themes, which will be subtagged to Gender Themes.

9. Nose Nuzzling Kisses

The tag Eskimo Kisses will be renamed to Nose Nuzzling Kisses.

We apologize for originally canonizing this tag with an offensive term. We are working hard to develop a robust and sustainable collaborative discussion format for No Fandom tags to continue to correct past mistakes and avoid making similar ones in the future.

10. Mother Complex

The tag Mother Complex will be decanonized and made a synonym of the existing canonical Mommy Issues. Tags that are currently synonyms of Mother Complex will be made synonyms of Mommy Issues or Mommy Kink where appropriate.

For many years, this tag has caused some confusion for users, because there was not a clear difference between Mother Complex and the more well-known Mommy Issues tag, and the tag Mommy Kink used to be a synonym of Mother Complex. We recently canonized the tag Mommy Kink, in part to address this issue.

Reorganization of Podfic-related Canonicals

We will be reorganizing several tags related to Podfics in the coming weeks. We hope these changes make it easier to tag for works and navigate AO3.

For ease of filtering, we will be making the existing Podfic tag a metatag for all canonical tags related to podfic length (such as tags like Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes and Podfic Length: 7-10 Hours). This means that filtering include or exclude on Podfic will automatically include or exclude works tagged with a podfic length tag, even if they aren't tagged with Podfic.

We also will be creating new canonicals and renaming some existing tags:

• A new canonical will be made called Podfic and Text in the Same Work
• Podfic Collaboration will be renamed to Multivoice and Collaborative Podfic, which we hope better reflects the language fans use and makes the tag easier to find
• Read by the Author will be renamed to Podfic Read by the Author to clarify the tag's meaning

Finally, we will merge some existing canonicals that were originally created separately but have very similar meanings. To make searching and filtering for these concepts easier, we have merged the following tags:

• Podfic Desired will be decanonized and made a synonym of the existing canonical Podfic Welcome
• Podfic Linked will be decanonized and made a synonym of the existing canonical Podfic Available
• Podfic & Podficced Works will be decanonized and made a synonym of the existing canonical Podfic

Reorganization and Additions to Gender Transition Canonicals

In our last Tumblr post, we announced the newly renamed canonical Changes to Gender or Sex. To make it easier for users to tag and filter works, we will also clarify related tags and create new canonical tags related to gender transition.

The current canonical Sex Change has been used for both medical gender transition and forced sex changes; this tag will be decanonized and made a synonym of Changes to Gender or Sex. To allow users to better tag and filter for these concepts separately, we will also be:

• Renaming the current canonical tag Transitioning to Gender Transition
• Creating a new canonical for Medical Gender Transition, which will be subtagged to both Gender Transition and Changes to Gender or Sex
• Creating a new canonical called Forced Gender Transition

We also plan to make the following new canonicals relating to medical transition:

• HRT | Hormone Replacement Therapy
• Gender-Affirming Surgery, which will be a subtag of both Surgery and Medical Gender Transition
• Top Surgery, which will be a subtag of Gender-Affirming Surgery
• Bottom Surgery, which will be a subtag of Gender-Affirming Surgery
• Top Surgery Scars

Finally, we will be creating the following new canonicals to help users better search and filter for whether characters have had gender-affirming surgeries:

• Character Has Had Top Surgery
• Character Has Not Had Top Surgery
• Character Has Had Bottom Surgery
• Character Has Not Had Bottom Surgery

In Conclusion

These are just some of the changes we are making to No Fandom canonical tags. Some of these changes have already been implemented, while others are currently underway. Creating and renaming tags requires a lot of work from wranglers to implement, so large changes will likely take some time to complete after this post has been published.

While we won't be announcing every change we make to No Fandom canonical tags, you can expect similar updates in the future on the tags we believe will most affect users. If you're interested in the changes we'll be making, you can follow AO3 on Twitter @ao3_wranglers or Tumblr @ao3org for future announcements.

You can also read previous updates on tags updated and created through this process: Update on "No Fandom" tags and Another Update Regarding "No Fandom" tags.

Learn more about how the AO3 tag system works in our Tags FAQ. ​​In addition to providing technical support, Support also handles requests related to how tags are sorted and connected. If you have questions about tags not on this list, which were first used over a month ago, please contact Support instead of leaving a comment on this post.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Isis C, who volunteers as a wrangler and Support liaison for the Tag Wrangling Committee.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

My volunteer work fits into three closely-related bins. As a tag wrangler, I connect users' character, relationship, and freeform tags to our canonical tags, and I make new canonical tags as needed. I wrangle about 70 fandoms, mostly historical and SFF book and TV fandoms, with a few video games and RPF fandoms thrown in there.

As a tag wrangling supervisor, I do all sorts of administrative and management tasks related to wrangling. For example, I help manage all phases of wrangler recruitment and training: I evaluate applications, send out acceptances, monitor training progress, and set up training schedules. Sometimes I mentor new wranglers or new supervisors, and there are always random administrative tasks to do.

As a Tag Wrangling/Support Liaison, I ferry user requests for tags to be canonized or re-wrangled to the wranglers of those fandoms, and I answer user questions about wrangling guidelines and processes. (If you ask Support why a search on Trans Danny Fenton returns a few Hawaii Five-O works, or how to find works with a particular AU Sans when they are all merged to Sans (Undertale), I'm probably the person who will answer.) There’s a lot about wrangling that isn’t obvious until you see it from the inside, but I like answering user questions because if users understand the process better, they’re more likely to tag in ways that will accomplish what they want.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

I have a very flexible schedule and a lot of free time, and I'm online a ridiculous amount of that free time! I find wrangling very relaxing, especially when it's easy - synning misspelled character names to the canonical tags, making relationship tags for characters that already have character tags, and other things that don't need research or a lot of thought - so I like to wrangle for a while before tackling real life things I don't like doing, like taxes or phoning for appointments or vacuuming, or even before writing fic or doing other things that require more brainpower.

Supervisor tasks require a bit more attention, so I like to do them when I have enough free time that I can concentrate on them. Of course I always warm up with a little easy wrangling!

Most of the Support tasks I take on require coordination with other wranglers, and Support requires communication with users to be beta-read by another volunteer before sending out, so I tend to do these in batches as well when I have a block of time. We have a lot of older wrangling-related tickets that have not yet been handled because there was too much work and not enough liaisons, so whenever I feel particularly motivated I try to answer the people who have probably given up on getting answers.

What made you decide to volunteer?

I'm old :-) and have been in mainstream science fiction and fantasy fandom for a very long time, although I didn't get into fanfiction-type fandom until 2002. (Which I realize is probably before many of the people reading this were born!) I get super enthusiastic about my hobbies and like to help organize things, so for example in 2002 and 2003, when fandom was mostly on mailing lists and fandom-specific forum sites, I coordinated an effort to help get fandom going on LiveJournal by collecting invite codes, which were required at the time, and distributing them to fanfiction writers and fanartists. I used to edit various fandom newsletter communities, back when that was a thing, too. Anyway, a fandom friend who was a wrangler encouraged me to apply during a recruitment, and that was all it took! When I became a supervisor, one of the tasks I enjoyed the most was helping out with support tickets, so when I got the chance to be a Support Liaison I immediately said yes please!

What has been your biggest challenge doing work for the OTW?

As I mentioned, I'm old, and I started out on mailing lists where tags were fandom, characters, and pairing, and that was it. I never managed to get into Tumblr, which I suspect is where the use of descriptive tags started. Often I look at freeform tags that reference memes, or Gen Z slang, or newer terms for sexual identity, and I am completely baffled! Fortunately, the wrangler chat is a wonderful research source, and other wranglers are always kind about helping this little old lady across the street decipher tags.

What fannish things do you like to do?

I write and read fic, although not so much these days as way back when. (But I still get a smile on my face when my old works get kudos or comments!) I used to vid a little, too, but even though I haven't participated in Festivids for many years, I still enjoy watching the vids people create for small fandoms, and recommending the ones I love best. I also really like to beta read fic, because that way I can help good stories become great stories.

But my most intensive fannish involvement these days is being a fanwork exchange moderator. I moderated a number of small single-fandom exchanges pre-AO3, and wow, AO3 makes it so much easier. I love small fandoms, and I participated in Yuletide nearly from the beginning, so I was super excited to be invited to become part of the moderation team some years back. I also co-mod the current incarnation of the Worldbuilding Exchange, and sometimes I help out with other exchanges.

Now that our volunteer has said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in the comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Gloria L, who volunteers as a Tag Wrangling supervisor.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

I’m one of the supervisors for the Tag Wrangling committee. We wrangle tags and tag wranglers, lol. Joke aside, we are responsible for inducting, advising and assisting/supporting our shiny Tag Wrangling volunteers and maintaining our guidelines and tutorials. It’s also our job to communicate with and help other OTW committees on matters related to tagging: for example, contacting tag wranglers and helping answer Support requests related to tag wrangling; doing tag mapping for Open Doors requests to help them import works from other archives/fan-sites with appropriate tags; helping AD&T on testing tag wrangling related features and so on. ;D

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

It depends on whether we’re recruiting.

When we’re not recruiting, I do lots of tasks on Friday and the weekend. As a supervisor I focus on administrative tasks, like handling hiatus/retirement requests from tag wranglers and doing check-ins for new wranglers to make sure they’re on the right track in training, or for returning wranglers to make sure everything is fine.

We usually do four rounds of recruiting in a year, but we have cut it to three now. When recruitment is coming, I do the tasks whenever I have free time to help the team to recruit and induct new wranglers.

I also help the Support committee with tickets related to tag wrangling when other tasks are not too urgent. Recently I’m learning to do the tag mapping for Open Doors requests. :D

What made you decide to volunteer?

I have done some volunteer work in fan communities, but I hadn’t thought about volunteering for OTW at first. In fact, I had no idea what the OTW was and what was the relationship between the OTW and AO3. Besides, English is not my mother tongue.

Back in 2019, I noticed that the Tag Wrangling committee was specifically recruiting Chinese-speaking volunteers, so I decided to give it a try. Luckily, Tag Wrangling said yes to me. As time goes on volunteering, I know more and more about AO3 and OTW, and I learned lots of things that I hadn’t learned from real life. I'm more than happy that I’m part of it. :-)

What has been your biggest challenge doing work for the OTW?

The communication. Our volunteer pool contains people from all over the world, and not everybody speaks English as their first language. Also, unlike English, my first language is a high-context language, and I lived many years in a high-context cultural environment, not to mention other cultural differences. Sometimes I’m worried that I step on others’ toes, and sometimes I’m not that straightforward, which makes people confused. I have to say, being an OTW volunteer and supervisor has honed my communication skills on and off work :D

What fannish things do you like to do?

Enjoying fanworks and reviewing the canon when I found something new in fanworks. I do write some fanfics, but most of them are short one-shots. Hope I can write a longer fic one day XD

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in the comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy.

Today's post is with Novic, who volunteers as a tag wrangler. This post was originally released in Chinese on the OTW's Weibo account and contained a little extra information. It is presented here in its original form as well as an English translation (thanks to our Weibo moderators!)

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?
AO3每天会收到大量来自世界各地、各种语言的同人作品，涉及到各种可能的作品圈、配对、和角色。AO3就像一个藏书量每天都在增长的巨大图书馆，必定需要一套整理系统，而我们作为标签管理员就像是图书管理员，以标签（tag）为工具将作者们发布的同人作品进行分类、管理，目的是让网站更便于用户检索，让大家能轻松看到自己想看到的作品。作为一名中英志愿者，还需要把中文标签翻译成英文，方便其他不会中文的志愿者查看。

Everyday, large numbers of fanworks from every corner of the world, in different languages get uploaded to AO3 and they can be of any fandom, pairing and characters. AO3 is like a huge library that’s growing day by day and there must be a system to organize the works. We tag wranglers are just like librarians, using tags as the tools to categorize and manage the works published by the creators to make it easier for users to search and allow everyone to find the work they want to read easily. As a bilingual(English/Chinese) volunteer, I also translate Chinese tags into English to make it easier for other English volunteers to check.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?
我管理着大大小小十几个作品圈，不过并没有固定的工作时间和时长，学校比较忙的时候就周末抽时间出来工作，碰到wrangling party还可以一边工作一边和其他志愿者讨论；如果不太忙，每天晚上都会看一看有没有新的tag需要处理。之前假期负责了一个比较活跃的中文圈子，刚接手的时候有上千个tag需要翻译和整理，那个时候几乎每天都会匀出一小时以上的时间来工作。不过总的来说标签管理员的工作还是很灵活的，而且可以自由调整工作量，不会有什么压力。

I assigned myself to a dozen fandoms of different sizes but there is no set work schedule. When I am busy with school, I will use my weekend time to do some wrangling work. When there is a wrangling party, I can also work while chatting with other volunteers. When it is not too busy, I will check in every evening to see if there are any new tags that need to be sorted. Last time I was off from school I was responsible for a hit Chinese fandom. In the beginning there were thousands of tags needing to be translated and wrangled. At that time I spent about an hour or more to work on that fandom. Overall, work as a tag wrangler is very flexible and I can adjust how much work I take on. There's not much pressure.

What made you decide to volunteer?
在成为志愿者之前也是一名AO3的读者和作者，一直觉得AO3的tag系统非常方便强大，但是当时没有想过背后的运作原理，也不知道有标签志愿者这个工作，后来OTW在微博开博之后才系统地了解到了tag的作用，一方面觉得很感谢和佩服志愿者们，另一方面作为一名同人爱好者觉得能为自己喜欢的事物工作也是一件很开心的是事情，所以之后看到招募信息就毫不犹豫地申请了。

Before I became a volunteer, I was a reader and writer on AO3. I've always known the tagging system is very convenient but I never thought about how it all worked and didn't know about the existence of the tag wranglers. I gradually learned more systematically about the tags after OTW had a Weibo presence. I was very grateful for and admired the volunteers. I also believe, as a fan, working on things I enjoy can be a joyous experience, so I applied immediately when I saw the recruitment post.

What do you feel is the most often misunderstood part about your role as tag wrangler or tags on AO3 in general?
你觉得大家对标签管理员或者AO3上标签最常见的误区是什么呢？
我认为可能一部分的用户误解了标签的作用，认为标签是网站的规定/规则，但事实上它是AO3为用户服务的一个途径，最终的目的是为了让大家更方便检索，在这一目的的作用下，会有一些标签的建议使用方法（比如OTWComms发布的教程），但他们都不是强制的，因为标签也是同人作品的一部分，是大家可以尽情发挥想象力和创造力的地方（尤其是附加标签），因此标签管理员是不会也不能对任何标签进行修改的。严格来说并没有“正确”或“错误”地使用标签的方法，但确实有“能与更多人分享你的作品”和“让同好更方便检索”的方法，希望所有人都能很开心地使用AO3和OTW的其他项目。

I think some users have some misconceptions of how tags work: they believe tags are rules and policies imposed by the site. In reality, tags are a tool for AO3 to be useful to the users, and the end goal is to make searching easier for us. With this goal in mind, there are suggestions on how to use the tags (like the tutorials posted by the Weibo mods for Chinese users). They are not compulsory, since tags are a part of the fanwork, technically there isn't the "right way" or the "wrong way" to tag, but there are ways to tag that "can better spread your work" and "make the searching experience better for fellow fans". I hope everyone can enjoy AO3 and other projects supported by OTW.

What's the most fun thing to you about volunteering for the OTW?
有很多，最惊喜的是我发现OTW志愿者是一个很多样的庞大组织，在志愿者交流平台上能认识很多很有趣的其他志愿者，我们会建各种各样的频道来聊天，网球、手工、音乐剧、数学、会计……从正经到不正经，从小清新到重口味，什么都能聊。但同时大家又有着一个最大的共同点，这也正是所有志愿者相识的契机，那就是大家都分享着对同人的喜爱，我们会讨论各地的同人/饭圈新闻，会分享优秀的同人作品，会分享funny tags，甚至有的还会线下聚会等等。成为志愿者之后真的接触到了很多一样又不一样的可爱的人。

There are lots! The most wonderful surprise is that I learnt the OTW volunteer base is such a huge network and I met a lot of interesting volunteers through our communication platform. We have chatrooms for all sorts of topics, tennis, craft, musicals, mathematics, accounting... You name it. From professional topics to hobbies, from art and literature related topics to things not appropriate for a young audience, we chat about everything! We are connected by our love for fanworks and the community and it's how we met. We talk about fandom news from around the world, share fanworks we like, the funny tags we saw, and sometimes even meet up in real life. I got to know a lot of lovely people after becoming a volunteer.

What fannish things do you like to do?
应该是看同人文了吧哈哈哈，也因为做志愿者的关系看了更多的文章，有时候整理tag的时候看到有意思的tag就会点进去看完全文（经常看长篇看上头，然后忘了自己本来在工作XD）。然后自己偶尔也会产粮，也喜欢和朋友聊梗啊什么的。

That would be reading fanfics. I read more works because of my volunteer work now. When I see an interesting tag when wrangling, I would click in there and read the whole story. (I often can't stop myself from reading a long story and totally forget I'm supposed to be working. XD) I sometimes write fanfics as well and enjoy brainstorming plots with friends.

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

The Tag Wrangling Committee is pleased to announce that we have reached the milestone of 40,000 fandoms on Archive of Our Own!

Over the years, we've reached several fandom milestones:

• 5,000 fandoms around New Year's Day 2010
• 10,000 fandoms in September 2012
• 15,000 fandoms in April 2014
• 20,000 fandoms in December 2015
• 25,000 fandoms in June 2017
• 30,000 fandoms in October 2018
• 35,000 fandoms in December 2019

This time, we’ve chosen to celebrate with this post, which explains more about the ways that our Tag Wranglers organize the tags that make AO3 easy to navigate even as it grows. We’ve also included some tips to help you tag your own works in ways that will benefit both you and the other people using the AO3 filters.

What is a Fandom, anyway?

We’re glad you asked! In regards to tagging on AO3, a fandom is defined as the source media where your characters, relationships or other concepts originate. For example, you may be in a fandom for the pairing Hán Wénqīng/Yè Xiū, but wranglers would consider this part of the 全职高手 - 蝴蝶蓝 | Quánzhí Gāoshǒu - Húdié Lán fandom, since that’s where those two characters originally come from.

Fandoms on AO3 include things you might expect like television shows, books, podcasts, video games, movies and bands, but thanks to our wonderfully creative users, we also have fandoms for things like commercials, anthropomorphism, tabletop games, theme park rides and plenty more.

Sharing 40,000 Fandoms with over 2.5 Million People

Even though there is tremendous variety in the types of fandoms on the Archive, all these fandoms have a surprising number of things in common when it comes to the names of characters, events and concepts. On AO3, characters, events and concepts are all represented with tags! With such a large community of fans and more joining us daily, we felt that this was a good time to explain what this growth means as we work to make all these fandoms easier for users to navigate.

Tags on AO3 are shared. On their own, they don't have any context or relationship to any other tag. For example, if you enter the tag Chester in the character field, tag wranglers may not be able add it to the filters for Chester the Dog (Stranger Things) or Chester Campbell, even if they determine that's who you mean. There's only one "Chester" tag, no matter how many times it's used or the number of works it's used on. Any user could tag their work with Chester when they mean Chester the Dog, but they might end up sharing that tag with another user who has already used the Chester tag to refer to Chester Campbell.

Tag Wranglers cannot separate works using the exact same tag—that’s the main reason why wranglers try to make filterable (or ‘canonical’) tags as specific as possible. Unambiguous, fandom-specific canonical tags help everyone find works about the fandoms, characters, relationships and additional concepts they want in the filters where they expect to see them.

If you discover your work is listed in a different filter than what you expect, you can try editing the tag on your work to be clearer. For example, Penny Parker is a character on the TV show MacGyver, and also a common fan name for female Peter Parker (better known as Spider-Man). Tagging your work about female Peter Parker with just “Penny Parker” in the character field will land it in the filters for the MacGyver character, because Tag Wranglers can’t separate uses on plain “Penny Parker” for the MacGyver character from uses for female Peter Parker. Not ideal for MacGyver fans or fans of female Peter Parker!

To make sure your work about female Peter Parker ends up in Peter Parker’s filters, where other Spider-Man fans can enjoy it, consider using a modified character tag like “Penny Parker (girl!Peter)” instead. You could also add a Female Peter Parker tag to the additional tags on your work to help other users find it.

If it’s your first time posting with a tag, why not check out what other works are in its filter? You might discover that another fandom has a different meaning for a tag from a fandom you know and love.

How To Make the Most of Tagging

In 2019, Tag Wranglers collectively wrangled approximately 2.7 million tags. Tag Wranglers work very hard to connect your tags and help make your works findable so other users can enjoy them as much as you enjoyed creating them.

To that end, we have a few tips and tricks that may help wranglers get your works or bookmarks into the filters where you want them to appear. (Please don't comment on works to ask other users to do this - this is for your own works only!)

Enter your tags in the correct tag categories when posting your works. That is, fandom names go in the Fandoms field, relationships listed in the Relationships field, and character names in the Characters field. For anything that doesn't fit well into those categories, use Additional Tags.

Add minor roles in the Additional Tags field. If a fandom, character, or relationship is only a passing reference in your work, you can put that in the "Additional Tags". This includes tags like Ru Pauls drag race references, Yagi Toshinori Is Mentioned, and Small Mention of Flynn/Yuri.That way, other users know your work isn’t primarily about Ru Paul’s Drag Race, Yagi Toshinori or Yuri Lowell/Flynn Scifo (which they might think if you put these tags in the fandom, character, or relationship fields instead).

Ensure your tags are correctly separated. When you enter a number of tags, they can be separated by commas or you can use "Enter" on your keyboard. Since commas separate tags in the database, you won’t be able to create a tag that has a comma in it (it will be split into two tags at the comma instead). (Please note: Chinese and Japanese commas may not work as separators.)

Ensure each tag contains just one concept (one fandom, one character, one relationship, one trope, etc.)

Ensure tags can stand alone (that is, no additional context is required to understand what the tag refers to). Try using the full name for characters in your works, and if they don’t have a surname, consider adding the fandom name to distinguish them from any other characters with the same given name, like this: Undyne (Undertale).

Use the Additional Tags field to include any themes, genres, tropes, squicks, triggers etc. that you think a user might want to know when deciding whether to access your work or not.

Spell-check and double-check your tags before posting.

For tips on tagging Real Person Fiction (RPF) and platonic or non-romantic relationships, check out the advice on our last celebration post or consult the Tags FAQ.

Please note that these tagging suggestions aren’t meant to deter you from tagging creatively for various topics! Tag Wranglers love clever tags, and sometimes we can even canonize the concepts. Erik Lehnsherr's Terrible Fashion Sense is just one of many enjoyable tags that makes us giggle.

If you have any questions about wrangling, please consult the Tags FAQ. If that doesn't answer your question, the FAQ also explains how to contact Tag Wranglers directly.

Please don't leave comments on this post with questions or requests about specific tags. They won't be answered, since Tag Wranglers can't easily track requests from here. Instead, please use the options listed above to contact us. Thanks!

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Julia Santos, who volunteers as a Tag Wrangling staffer.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

As a Tag Wrangling volunteer, I help sort through and organize tags so it is easier for users to find what they want to read or filter out what they don’t want to read! This means making tags canonical (filterable), connecting tags to already existing canonicals, checking on the growing number of tags that express the same fandom concept, and discussing the best formats to canonize tags. \o/ Wranglers always try their best to make tags intuitive so Archive users have an easy time browsing through fics and finding what they are looking for.

As a Tag Wrangling supervisor, I also help with recruitment and training of new Tag Wrangling volunteers, check in on progress, and lend a hand and/or help coordinate other Wrangling projects when needed.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

I’m usually able to wrangle 2-3 days a week, so I like to divide my time: one day for fandoms I wrangle alone, one day for co-wrangled fandoms, one day for megafandoms as they get lots of tags! I’m usually listening to podcasts while I wrangle so that makes wrangling even more fun. Weeks when recruitment is on, or check-ins need to be conducted, means one of my days is dedicated to that work instead of checking on my fandom bins.

What made you decide to volunteer?

I had just graduated from university and was looking for something to keep me occupied until I found a job. I've always loved reading fic and, at the time, was modding a couple of fic rec blogs so I was very used to browsing endless tags on AO3. I came across the recruitment post on Tumblr and it seemed like the perfect way to 1) give back to the community that has been one of my major sources of entertainment for years and 2) keep myself busy.

What’s the most fun thing to you about volunteering for the OTW?

Interacting with people from all over the world, who are just as excited about and invested in fandom as me! My fellow volunteers are some of the kindest, sweetest, and funniest people I’ve met online. They’re all wonderful to work with and are always up to exchanging recs or flailing about new fandom content. I’ve discovered so many new TV shows/books/movies/podcasts through our talks and my life is definitely better for it.

What fannish things do you like to do?

I read all the fic in about 20 different fandoms and I love yelling about them whenever I can. I’m also a fic writer and have written fics for Teen Wolf, How To Get Away With Murder, and MCU and have also participated in and helped run a few fandom challenges. I’m currently in my feelings about MDZS/CQL, where I cry about the characters every day and write soft Wangxian fics to soothe my heart.

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Chelsea Eidbo, who volunteers with the Development & Membership and Tag Wrangling Committees.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

As a staff member of Development & Membership, DevMem for short, I help with the Membership Drives and fundraising; work with users to resolve issues surrounding donations; and brainstorm for fundraising ideas, future drives, drive graphics, and gifts for donors. As a Tag Wrangler, I help to organize user-created tags in a variety of fandoms to make them searchable and make all creators’ works easier to find.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

In a typical week, there is a weekly meeting with DevMem staff to discuss any upcoming projects, plan for any upcoming changes that might affect or interest users and work on graphics, banners and posts for the next Membership Drive. I wrangle in any spare time I have. I work with other wranglers on several mega fandoms as well as maintaining about twenty-five fandoms solo.

What made you decide to volunteer?

It’s not overly exciting. I had just quit my job and planned to spend the next two months living with my grandmother to help her out. I needed something to do in my downtime and wrangling seemed perfect. I joined DevMem two years later because I’d done fundraising as a teenager and was interested in doing it again and I was, and still am, highly motivated to make sure the OTW gets donations.

Plus, it’s fun!

What's the most fun thing to you about volunteering for the OTW?

Walked right into that one. There is so much fun to be had! Watching the Membership Drives happen from the volunteer side of it is awesome because all the volunteers are in a positive mood and excited to see how much users care about the OTW and AO3, and that they want to donate to keep us up and running. In the October 2018 Drive, we introduced the AO3 heart-shaped stress balls which were a huge hit and I’m psyched to have one, even though my cat has co-opted it as his favorite toy.

What fannish things do you like to do?

So many things. I read and write fanfiction on AO3 endlessly. Lots of crack fic and fluffy, fluffy romance. Lately, I’ve been letting my OTW friends inspire me for the most crack-filled ships to write about. I also listen to and record podfic, and get my fill of drama by reading the Fanlore pages. Most of my free time is either volunteering or meandering through my favorite AO3 tags.

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer's personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today's post is with Nrandom, who volunteers as a staffer in our Policy & Abuse and Tag Wrangling Committees.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

As a member of the Policy & Abuse Committee, I respond to tickets sent in by users about issues like plagiarism, harassment, non-fanworks (works like prompt lists, fic searches, requests for a beta, or roleplay ads), as well as other violations of the Terms of Service. As a team, we do our best to help users with any issues they have while also ensuring that the values AO3 was founded on are upheld. I also get to do a lot of work with the Accessibility, Design, & Technology Committee (AD&T), particularly in situations like last year, when the archive was experiencing a spam epidemic.

In addition to Policy & Abuse, I volunteer for the Tag Wrangling committee. This involves organising and linking tags together for easier filtering, often working with a team to get everything done. It’s a lot of fun to work with the other wranglers, and it’s always interesting to see how people are tagging their works! I get quite a few fic recommendations from this - my “Marked for Later” list is always substantially longer after a couple of hours spent wrangling. I also serve as a volunteer manager for the Tag Wrangling committee and complete some of the administrative tasks, such as training new wranglers and writing new guidelines and documentation where needed.

In general, I love that I can help the OTW behind the scenes through my work with the Tag Wrangling Committee, but that I also get the chance to work with our wonderful user base as a Policy & Abuse Volunteer.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

When I’m working on things for the OTW, I tend to start curled up in a blanket with a laptop, a cat, and a cup of tea. If I’m working on P&A cases, first I’ll check if there were any updates in my ongoing cases, before perusing the ticket queue and grabbing a few to work on that day. Each case is investigated and weighed equally, regardless of the number of tickets sent in, so we always have plenty to do. The P&A team is very friendly and collaborative, it’s a pleasure to work together to help users and to maintain the archive as a space where creators can post a variety of fanworks.

On days I’m working on wrangling tasks, I check my to-do lists to see if I have any tasks in progress or if there are any I would like to pick up, before choosing a couple of fandoms to work on and opening AO3 to look at new tags. I’m lucky enough to be on teams with other volunteers for some of the fandoms I wrangle, and it’s always fun to chat about everything as we work.

What made you decide to volunteer?

I started volunteering 2 years ago when I saw an advertisement for Tag Wrangling on the AO3 homepage, realised that I had the time, and thought it might be fun to help with the archive I frequented so often. Little did I know what a difference that decision would make in my life today. I’ve met some of my closest friends while volunteering, and have found an amazing fannish community to be a part of. A year ago I joined Policy & Abuse as well, drawn to the committee by the chance to be able to interact with and help users directly. Through that I’ve learned a lot about fandom, but I’ve also had the chance to work with a great team and develop customer service skills.

What's the most fun thing to you about volunteering for the OTW?

I absolutely love the community of volunteers. In addition to our volunteer work, we often do things together like play games, share recs, and just generally flail about fannish things. I’ve made so many amazing friends.

Before I joined I never really engaged in fandom, but since joining I’ve learned quite a bit about fandom and the people in it. It’s exciting to be a part of a fannish community, and to be able to do my little part in keeping AO3 running.

What fannish things do you like to do?

I’ve always been primarily a reader of fanfic, which is what drew me, like many others, to AO3 in the first place. Some of my frequent fandoms are Harry Potter, Marvel, Yuri!!! On Ice, and Star Wars, but I tend to jump from fandom to fandom quite frequently. I joined fandom in 2013 and have since enjoyed learning about its history, from where a lot of current fandom practices have come about. Recently, I have also started recording podfics and subsequently flailing at fandom friends while editing.

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in comments. Or if you'd like, you can check out earlier Five Things posts.

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.