Thoughts on Fanfiction Sites
For me, both of the websites came with their advantages and disadvantages and that's why I use both in equal measure.
For me ffn is the first fic site I came across and I like the main character and main pairing tagging system offered by the ffn over the a03. They also have a very good app with a good UI in both Android and iOS.
I have been using a03 since about 2-3 years and I like their exclusion tags, their relationship tags and other general tags. I mostly use a combination of inclusive and exclusive tags to search for specific fics of my requirement. I feel the tagging system of a03 is superior to the ffn's and it is currently limited by the many authors not tagging their fics well .
This isn't really a new thought on my part, but I've noticed that Ao3 has been down almost all day. There's a Polygon article that I read that claims it's from DDoS attacks
OMG!!! @heatherlly pretty plz give me your wisdom on how to make your own Fanfiction writing/reading sites I don't how or where to start if it's not too much to ask and plz tell me if I'm being pushy
Questions:
1. How much time does creating a site like Ao3 or FFN take.
2. Do I need funding to publish my site.
3. Is it better to learn coding, or is it better to use these free website builders and if so which one do you recommend.
4. After finishing the site will I have to be checking on it all the time to fix bugs.
5. Just like Ao3 will I be able to ask for donations to help fund my site cause do I need to pay anyone of outside sources to keep my site up and running.
6. Will I need a team, like moderators or admins to help police the site and keep order, or will I be able to do that my self.
7. Is there any paperwork involved and what do I need to use to allow ppl to write and view the stories on the sites.
That most of my questions but plz answer at your discretion I'm sorry if I'm coming off as demanding that's not my intention plz forgive me.
By the looks of it ao3 is down again and the hacker group is demanding a ransom 30.000$ in bitcoin or the attacks may go on for weeks.
Joy.
I think everyone's touched upon the points I'd make for FF.net. I started reading fanfiction on that site during my high school years and was probably my most visited website for years.
I love the filters available, and being able to tick the little box for shipping was pure bliss when it was first introduced. (Of course this can be countered by using & and / tags, but it's not perfect.)
I still use it on the odd occasion for really old fanfiction, but if the same story is posted on Ao3 I'm gone. It's much easier to read on Ao3 — I'm speaking purely from a mobile perspective as I haven't visited the desktop sites for either in years.
FF.net has become so bogged down with ads that it's sometimes barely readable.
There's sometimes only a sentence or two in between ads, which is ridiculous. And it never used to be like that.
Ao3's layout is bliss in comparison. Especially dark mode.
On a slightly off topic note, it's killing me that Ao3 is down. I didn't realise how much downtime I had throughout the day to read until I wasn't able to — ouch.
I read fics from many sites like FFN, ao3 (down currently 😿), webnovel, and forums like spacebattles, alternate history etc. (never the horrible Wattpad) depending on fandoms.
I mostly use ao3 because I prefer tagging system and it allows for offline downloading to read and I often like to read long completed fics with either my Kindle or Moon+ reader. A huge plus is excluding tags and unwanted ships to preserve my brain cells. 😹😹
Quote from Venus on July 11, 2023, 12:46 amOMG!!! @heatherlly pretty plz give me your wisdom on how to make your own Fanfiction writing/reading sites I don't how or where to start if it's not too much to ask and plz tell me if I'm being pushy
Questions:
1. How much time does creating a site like Ao3 or FFN take.
2. Do I need funding to publish my site.
3. Is it better to learn coding, or is it better to use these free website builders and if so which one do you recommend.
4. After finishing the site will I have to be checking on it all the time to fix bugs.
5. Just like Ao3 will I be able to ask for donations to help fund my site cause do I need to pay anyone of outside sources to keep my site up and running.
6. Will I need a team, like moderators or admins to help police the site and keep order, or will I be able to do that my self.
7. Is there any paperwork involved and what do I need to use to allow ppl to write and view the stories on the sites.
That most of my questions but plz answer at your discretion I'm sorry if I'm coming off as demanding that's not my intention plz forgive me.
@midnightvenus Creating a fanfiction archive isn't something you can just do on a whim. It is highly complex, code heavy, and it does require a fair amount of technical knowledge. It also requires time and constant maintenance, and the more members you have, the more moderators you will need to help out. You would also need to pay for domain name and hosting, the latter of which can quickly become expensive depending on your server load.
I ran a midsize fanfiction archive for seven years, and it was basically like a full-time job. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it (I did), but it was a huge undertaking, even for someone like me who had a solid staff and years of coding experience under her belt.
That's not to say you shouldn't try it. You absolutely should if it's something you truly want to do. Just be aware that it's a huge commitment, one that will require you to do most of the work on your own. If you're up for that, great, but you'll need to start by doing your research, developing specific skills, and figuring out a game plan. That's not something anyone can explain to you step by step… you'll have to take initiative and develop a strategy that is specific to you/what you're trying to accomplish.
Ao3 is back, hell yeahhhhh! 😸
Thank you so much for the advice @heatherlly uhm just one question is getting into coding hard to do?
@midnightvenus It depends on the person. Some learn easier than others, and complexity depends on the coding language. In this case, you'd want to work on your HTML, CSS, and PHP skills... you'd also want to have at least a basic understanding of MySQL.
