Blog archives
I run an archive I’d like to import/back up to the Archive of Our Own. What do I need to do?
Contact Open Doors for access to the archive importer. Please let us know from the outset if you have special needs — for example, if you’d like us to take over maintenance of the old domain, or if your archive contains multimedia content.
How can I get an account on the Archive?
The Archive of Our Own entered open beta in November 2009. To create an account, you need an invitation. We’re using the invitation code system so that the Archive can grow in a controlled manner. We need to add new users gradually so that our account numbers don’t grow beyond what our hardware, bandwidth, help and support can cope with. This helps us ensure that everyone using the Archive gets the best possible experience. Once you receive an invitation email, click the link provided in the email to go to the account creation page. If you’ve been provided with an invitation link by another user,… Read more
Is the OTW trying to replace all other archives?
No. In fact, we hope that other fans will use our archive software, which will be open-source and free to use and modify, to build their own archives. In the Archive of Our Own, we hope to create a multi-fandom archive with great features and fan-friendly policies, which is customizable and scalable, and will last for a very long time. We’d like to be fandom’s deposit library, a place where people can back up existing work or projects and have stable links, not the only place where anyone ever posts their work. It’s not either/or; it’s more/more!
Why is it taking such a long time to make the archive?
Building the kind of archive the OTW envisions is not a simple process. We’re not just setting up an archive using existing software, but building new open-source archive software designed around fans’ needs, that can be easily maintained and easily reused, and that can handle potentially millions of stories from hundreds of thousands of simultaneous users. This work is being done by a group of volunteers, including a group of trainees learning how to write and maintain code, to help build the fannish community of coders. This is a group of people who can help to maintain the archive software in future. In other words,… Read more
Who profits from the Archive of Our Own? Do users have to pay?
No one, including the OTW as an organization, makes money from the archive or its content; in fact, the opposite is true because the OTW pays to host the archive. Advertising is not shown. Instead, we hold public radio-style pledge drives to ask for support from our users. No donation will ever be required to use the archive or any of its tools.