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Rating:
Archive Warning:
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Language:
English
Series:
Part 7 of How to AO3
Stats:
Published:
2022-01-01
Completed:
2022-01-02
Words:
3,257
Chapters:
4/4
Comments:
30
Kudos:
299
Bookmarks:
113
Hits:
21,726

How to find fics on AO3

Summary:

Whether you're a new user who is overwhelmed by how AO3 works or whether you're someone trying to find that fic they loved so they can reread it again, I hope this work can assist you in your search!

Note: Please do not post your own work on AO3 asking for help finding a fic. That's against the Terms of Service for the site and it could end up with you getting a warning on your account. Even if you plan to delete it later, if your post gets reported you'll still get warned.

Chapter 1: Search box in the header

Chapter Text

The search box that you can see in the header at the top of the page is just a keyword search. It will search for your keyword in all titles, usernames, summaries, tags, and author's notes. This makes it less useful for finding a specific fanwork but possibly useful for finding a tag that you want to read in. 

You can make this search box more specific by telling it what part of the Archive you want it to look for your keyword in. Let's use the word "supernatural" as our keyword. 

If you just put supernatural in the search box, your results will include titles with the word supernatural in them, usernames that include supernatural in them, summaries that use the word supernatural, tags with the word supernatural in them, and author's notes with the word supernatural. 

If you want a story with the title supernatural, type title: supernatural

If you want an author with supernatural in their username, type creator: supernatural

If you want a work with the word supernatural in the summary, type summary: supernatural 

If you want a work with the tag supernatural (this can include the fandom or relationship or character or additional tags), type tag: supernatural 

One other way to make that search box more useful is to use quotation marks. If you're looking for a tag or a title or a phrase in a summary that is more than one word, put that phrase in quotation marks to indicate that you want those words, together, in that order. 

For example, you could search for an additional tag like "fluff and angst" and get those words in that order. 

This search box is most likely not the most useful way for you to find what you're looking for, but it can definitely be helpful in situations like finding a fic based on a phrase you remember from the summary or like getting to a tag that you want to tap into and then filter. 

Chapter 2: Advanced Works Search

Chapter Text

Note: AO3 uses the word "works" instead of "fics" or "fanfics" or "stories" because users can also post things like pictures of fan crafting or podfics (audiobooks of fic)

A better searching option is the Advanced Works Search.

You can get to this by tapping on the word Search located in the header between Browse and About. After you tap on Search, choose Works from the dropdown menu. 

Another way you can get to this page is by hitting the Edit Search button on the search results page you'd get from any of the searches we did in Chapter 1.

This page has a lot more options for how you can search, and you can fill out as few or as many of them as you'd like. Let's take it from the top of the page and go down. 

 

Any field - this box is the same as the box that we used in Chapter 1. You can tap on the ? in the bubble to learn more about what you can do here, but I covered a lot of it already and I'll cover more in the chapters on filtering. 

Title - this will search every title on the Archive. If you know the full title and it's more than one word, put the title in quotation marks so those words are searched together and in that order. 

Author/Artist - this will search every username on the Archive

Date - if you want to search within a specific period of time or if you want to find all fics posted in the last 7 days etc, you can do that here. Click on the ? in the bubble again to see some examples of how to type things into this field

Completion status - you have 3 options here. "All works" means that you'll get search results with everything that's either complete or incomplete. "Complete works only" means that your search results will only show works that the author has said are complete. "Works in progress only" means that your search results will only show you works that the author has said aren't complete.

Crossovers - the AO3 system will say that a work is a crossover if two or more fandoms are tagged, and those two fandoms don't belong to the same metafandom. This means that if a work is tagged with Umbrella Academy (TV) and Star Wars - All Media Types, that work will register as a crossover because those two fandoms are in separate tag trees. However, if a work is tagged with Agents of SHIELD and with The Avengers (Marvel Movies), it won't register as a crossover because both Agents of SHIELD and The Avengers are part of the larger Marvel Cinematics Universe tag. 

If you "Include crossovers" that means that your search results will show you works with multiple fandoms tagged. If you "Exclude crossovers," your search results will not show you works with multiple fandoms tagged. If you select "only crossovers" then your search results will only include works with multiple fandoms tagged. 

Single chapter - put a tick in the box if you only want to read oneshots

Word Count - If you want to search for works within a certain word count range, you can enter that into this field. Again, click on the ? in the bubble for examples of how to type the numbers in to get the kind of range that you're looking for.

Language - If you only want to see search results in one language, select that language from the dropdown menu. Otherwise, your search results will contain all languages with works that meet your search criteria.

Fandoms - this is where you can type in the name of the fandom you want to read about. Generally speaking, on AO3 the Fandom space is for the name of the book, book series, movie, movie series, TV show, Band, team, etc. If you're looking for a particular character, person, relationship etc. you will have more luck putting that into those sections of the search form. 

As you start typing in the fandom name, you'll see a dropdown appear full of possible fandoms. You can either keep typing or choose one of the options from the list. If you want a crossover, you can add more than one fandom to your search, but keep in mind that adding a second fandom means you want search results with both of those fandoms tagged, not either/or.

Rating - If you want to read in one specific rating, you can choose one from the list. Otherwise you can leave this blank to see results with all ratings. 

Warnings - If you want to guarantee that your search results include a particular warning (or No Archive Warnings Apply), you can add a check to the box. Again, if you select more than one warning then you'll be searching for fics with all of those warnings tagged. You will not be searching for works with just any of them tagged. Leaving the check boxes empty means that you want all search results, regardless of warning.

Categories - Categories work the same way as warnings. If you want only F/F works in your search results, you can check off that box. If you check off F/F and F/M then your search results will give you any works with both of those tags at the same time. You won't see search results with just one or the other category. 

Characters - this is where you can add the name of any character/person you'd like to read about. Just like with fandoms, you can start typing then then choose from a dropdown list of options. Just like with the other search fields, if you enter two or more characters, your search results will only be fics that have all of those characters tagged. 

Relationships - this works the same as fandom and character tags. One thing to note with relationships is that generally speaking if you see & between character names, that means those characters have a platonic (friends, family, acquaintances, coworkers) relationship and if you see / between character names, that means those characters have a romantic or sexual relationship. I say generally speaking, because not all users who post on AO3 are aware of that difference, so you'll still want to read summaries and additional tags to know for sure. 

Additional tags - this works the same as fandom, character, and relationship tags. Start typing and you'll be able to select from a dropdown. Adding more than one tag here means your search results will only show you works will all of those tags included. 

Hits, Kudos, Comments, Bookmarks - these fields allow you to search for works based on their stats. Tap on the ? in the bubble next to Work Stats to see how you can input numbers for ranges, just like with Word count or Date.

Sort by - This is how your search results will be ordered. The default is Best Match, which means it will give you the results that best match your search at the top of the list and as you get further into the list the results won't match as well. If you want, you could also sort your search results by Date Posted, by author name, by the number of kudos or hits or comments, etc. Just select from the dropdown list. 

Sort direction - This controls whether you want to see the results in Descending order (best to worst match, most to least kudos) or in Ascending order (worst to best match, least to most kudos)

 

After you fill in as many or as few of the search fields as you want, you can press the Search button to get your results. Remember the more items you add to your search, the fewer results you'll get because the system is trying to find works with all of the things you've selected, not just some of them. 

Chapter 3: Finding a fic you've lost - Google, Blogs, History

Chapter Text

Google

If you're trying to find a fic that you've read before, do not post on AO3 looking for help. That breaks the Terms of Service, and you might end up with a warning on your account. Even if you promise to delete it later, if you post it and it gets reported you'll still get a warning.

Instead, use google or a fic rec community. 

If you remember a line from the fic, type that line into google and use quotation marks like I mentioned in Chapter 1. Then tell google that you want it to specifically search inside AO3. 

"phrase you remember from the fic" site: archiveofourown.org

The key here is having a phrase that you know you remember correctly but that also isn't going to used in a million fics. 

note: if the fic you're looking for is locked to the Archive (so that only logged-in users can see it), Google will not be able to find it for you

Rec blogs

If you don't remember a line or if the line you remember is really common, seek out communities that run fic rec blogs etc. Rec in this case is short for Recommendation, and people who run these blogs (or twitters or discord servers etc) know a lot of fic. They also have followers who know even more. Join one of those communities and give them everything you can remember about the fic and they'll be able to give you some links to try. 

AO3 History

If you have an AO3 account, login and then tap on your name at the top of the page. In the dropdown menu, check to see if you have an option that says My History. If you do, tap on that and you'll see a list of every work you've ever clicked into on AO3. You can go through that list to find the fic that you lost. Unfortunately, if the author has deleted it since the last time you read it, you'll just see a note that says the work was deleted. You won't get any information about what story it was. 

If you don't have that option in the dropdown under your name, you need to turn your History on. Tap on your name and choose My Preferences from the list. Scroll down to the last section on the page and check off the box that says Turn on History. Then tap on the Update button on the bottom right to save your changes. You will now have the My History option in the dropdown under your name and AO3 will keep track of every work you click into. 

You are the only person who can see your AO3 history, and you can delete things from it any time by tapping on the Delete button under the fic description. The fic will stay up, but it will be taken out of your History.

Chapter 4: Filtering tags

Chapter Text

Another way to search for new things to read is by filtering tags. The tag you choose to filter could be a fandom, relationship, character, or additional tag. To find the filter menu, tap on the tag you want to read more of and then look for the Filter button near the top of the page.

You can tap on a tag on a search results page or on an author's page or at the top of the page when you're reading a fic. No matter where you tap on the tag, you'll end up in the same place: a list of all of the works on AO3 that use that tag (or another tag that has the same meaning). 

Once you're on that page, tap the Filter button I mentioned and a menu will open up from the right hand side of your screen. This is the filter menu, and it's a great way to tell AO3 what you do and don't want to read. 

Note: if you're reading on a desktop, you won't see a Filter button, you'll just have the menu on the right hand side of your screen already. 

Sorting

At the top and the bottom of the Filter menu, you'll see a button that says Sort and Filter. Press this after you choose either how you want to sort your results or the filters you want to apply to your results or both. 

Below the Sort and Filter button, there's a dropdown called Sort by and it defaults to Date Updated. If you tap on Date Updated, you can see the whole list of ways to sort. This is the same list that we saw on the Advanced Works Search in Chapter 2. 

Include Filters

Below that, you'll find the Include filters. Use these to tell AO3 what kinds of things you must have included in a fic's tags. You can tap on the ? in the bubble next to the word Include to get more information about these filters, or you can just keep reading this chapter. 

Each of the words that you see under Include is a menu that you can expand. Tap on a word and a list will appear under it. 

For Ratings, you'll see a list of all of the possible Ratings that a fic could have on AO3. If you want to read in only 1 rating, you can include that rating by tapping on the rating and when you hit the Sort and Filter button, the list of works will shrink to only works that have the rating that you chose. 

The rest of the lists will let you choose more than one item under them, but remember the Advanced Works Search? This works the same way. If you include 2 or 3 warnings in your Include list, you'll be trying to find works that have all of those warnings, not just any one of them. 

The lists for Fandoms, Characters, Relationships, and Additional Tags will show you the top 10 most popular results in each of those categories. If you don't see the thing that you're looking for in those lists, use the text box underneath them labelled Other tags to include. You can type the tag (or tags) you want into that box and, just like in the Advanced Works Search, AO3 will give you a list of options you can choose from. 

Exclude Filters

Below the Include filters, you'll find the Exclude filters. Use these to tell AO3 what kinds of things you want to make sure are not included in a fic's tags. Just like with the Include filters, you can tap on the ? in the bubble to learn more. 

The Exclude filters work the same was as the Include filters, except for the Rating. When you Include a rating, you can only choose one. When you Exclude a Rating, you can choose as many as you want. So, for example, if you want to read any fics that are rated G or T, using the Include filter won't work because you can only choose one option. Instead, Exclude all of the ratings you don't want so that only G and T are left. 

Just like with Include filters, exclude filters add on to each other. If you're okay reading fics that are warned with No Archive Warnings Apply and Major Character Death, don't use the Include filters because you'll end up with only the fics that use both of those. Instead, use the Exclude filters to remove every other warning so that only those two are left. That way you'll get fics that are warned with one or the other or with both. 

Again, the Fandoms, Relationships, Characters, and Additional Tags will show you the top 10 most popular tags, so if you want to exclude something else, type it into the box labelled Other tags to exclude.

More Options

Below the Exclude filters, you'll see more of the options that we saw in the Advanced Works Search. Here, you can choose whether or not you want to read a crossover, whether or not you want completed works only, the range you prefer for word count, and a period of time when fics have been updated. 

For word count, if you leave the first box empty and put a number in the second box you'll get all fics with 0 to that number of words. If you leave the second box empty and put a number in the first box, you'll get all fics with a word count from that number to the longest fic in the tag.

For date updated, if you leave the first box empty and put a date in the second box you'll get all fics from the beginning of time to that date. If you put a date in the first box and leave the second box empty, you'll get all fics posted from that date until the present moment.

Search Within Results

You can find out more about how to use this box by reading this news post (in 3 parts) or by using the Hidden Search Operators Cheatsheet. If you need help with either of those, I'm happy to add another chapter to this work. 

The last section of the Filter menu is the Language dropdown, where you can limit your search results to just one language of your choosing. 

After you have all of your preferred filters set, hit the Sort and Filter button at the top or bottom of the sidebar menu and you'll get your filtered results of the works in that tag!

You can save those filters by using your browser to bookmark the page. When you visit the page again, you'll get the most recent results with those filters already applied. 

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