Using AO3 for Exchanges Part 1 - Nominations

[sirvalkyrie]

                AO3 for running exchanges can be a very useful tool, but like any tool you need to know how to use it and it is not a perfect tool.  I love exchanges, but honestly I am a VERY lazy person.  I hate matching, I hate having to manually post everyone’s fics and most of all I hate people losing the links to the exchange and not being able to post.  These are the reasons why I opt to use AO3 for my exchanges.

This faq will take you through the steps of setting up and running an exchange on the technical side of things.  This will assume an exchange with a nomination phase in it and that you already know how to participate in an exchange as a normal participant.

 This guide is not perfect and I encourage you to ask questions and point out confusing parts so that I can fix them.  I am not an expert in exchanges, but I have run a few of them.  If you are running an exchange and are having issues then please feel free to comment here or PM me to ask for help.  I am always willing to help.

 

PART 1 - NOMINATIONS

-From any page of AO3 look at the top of the page.  Click “tags”

-Click “Tag Sets”.  You will now be at a page showing all visible tag sets.

-Click “New Tag Set”.  Congrats you made it to the start of making a new tag set.  Yippie.  You will be taken to the Edit page by default

 

You will see the following:

                •Tag sets are used for running a challenge.

•"Visible" tag sets are shown to all users.

•"Usable" tag sets can be used by others in their challenges.

•Tag sets that are open to nominations can take nominations from the public.

•Tag names have to be unique. If necessary the archive may add on the tag type. (For instance, if you entered a character "Firefly", you'd see "Firefly - Character" in your tag set instead since the tag Firefly is already used for the show.)

 

Management

You will see your name under “Current Owners” along with any other owners you decide to add.  Remember, owners can remove other owners.  Under that is the list of current moderators.  It will say “none” initially.

 

-To add an owner or moderator go to the proper field and type in the AO3 username of the lucky person.  Changes won’t take effect until “update” at the bottom of the page has been pressed.

-To remove someone that is already an owner or moderator then put their AO3 name into the appropriate field.  It will not take effect until “update” is hit at the bottom of the page.

 

Description

-Give your exchange a title.  You will need the title to use the tag set with the gift exchange collection.

-Brief Description is not needed, but it can be helpful to ID the exchange or a link back to a com

-“Visible tag list” controls whether or not non-moderators/owners can see the accepted tag set.  Checked means everyone can see it.

-“Usable by others” controls if the tag set can be used by a gift exchange.  If it is not checked then you can’t even use it in your own exchange.  Checked means it can be used.

-“Currently taking nominations” controls whether or not the tag set is taking nominations.  Checked means nominations are open.

 

Nomination Limits

This will only appear if you have “Currently taking nominations” checked.  “Fandom nomination limit” controls how many fandoms each person can nominate.  “Character nomination limit” and “relationship nomination limit” controls how many characters and relationships you can nominate per fandom, not total.  “Freeform nomination limit” is how many freeform tags each person can nominate total. Freeform nominations are independent of fandoms.

 

Tags in Set

When you first create the tag set all the fields will be empty.  As nominations are approved they will appear in the appropriate section.  You can manually add a nomination by typing it into the appropriate field.  To remove a tag you must select the check box next to it. 

 

The “categories”, “ratings” and “warnings” section should be self-explanatory.  They can’t be nominated, but if you want them in your tag set then check any you need.  If you don’t want to bother with them then leave them alone.

 

Tag Associations

This section lets you manually add or remove Tag Association.  Please, keep in mind that you cannot remove associations that were made by AO3 wranglers.  All associations that you have to approve will appear here.  To create an association you:

-Click “Add Association”

-From “Tag” find the character or relationship tag you want to create an association for.

-From “Parent tag” find the fandom you want it to be associated with

-Association will be applied when you hit “update” at the bottom of the page.

  

Remember for any changes made in the edit page to take effect you must hit “update” at the bottom of the page.

 

Accepting Nominations

-To review nominations made by others select “Review Nominations” from the top of your tag set’s page

-To accept a nomination you check the + box

-To reject a nomination you select the x box.  If you reject a fandom then AO3 will auto reject that fandom forevermore in that tag set.  The same thing will happen with other tags you reject.  I have found no way to undo it.

-The text box to the right is where you can manually change the tag to something else.  This is useful for fixing typos or making a tag more specific.

-Sometimes you will find another version of the tag to the right.  That is the AO3 canonical version of the tag.  You can choose to accept that version over the nominated version.

-Bold nominations are AO3 canonical

-Nominations that are normal can be anything from never used before to associated with another fandom

-A nomination highlighted in light blue means it is not an official archive tag

-By putting your cursor over a tag a little box will pop up telling you its status.

-If you have a lot of pending nominations then AO3 will give you a random selection

-Accepted fandoms will appear at the top and fandoms waiting to be reviewed are at the bottom

 

Review Associations

-Click “review associations”

-If a tag is nominated in a fandom, but AO3 doesn’t associate that tag with that fandom it will appear here.  Check the box to accept the association and click “submit”.  You do not have to accept the association if you don’t want it.

 

Issues

-Something will break.  You will always somehow get characters and relationships appearing in “Unassociated Characters & Relationships” this is why a clean-up period is so important because in a multi-fandom exchange you may not know them all

-AO3 updates can cause issues

-Sometimes no matter how many times you try AO3 will not accept a nomination.  You can always manually add them

-You cannot undo AO3 associations

-Any accepted character or relationship will appear under all accepted fandoms that AO3 wrangles them to regardless of whether you want it to or not

-You do not know who nominated what

-There is no way to directly contact someone about their nominations

 I hope part one was helpful.  Part 2 will be about setting up the collection for your exchange.