I’ve noticed an uptick in these issues occurring on ao3 recently and my boundless optimism is assuming that people just don’t know better rather than they are trying to inflate their numbers or something so two very important things to keep in mind when posting:
1. if your work is unfinished, do not mark it as complete. you will not keep readers who start it thinking it’s finished and will then want to know what’s happening next, you’ll just alienate readers (obviously this doesn’t apply to things like one-shots where you later gain inspiration to write a sequel). to prevent it from being marked as such, please check this box and fill accordingly. note that not adding a number will simply list it as chapter number/??? so it’s fine if you don’t know how many it will ultimately have.
2. if the relationship is platonic, you use the tag with the ampersand (&) and, if it’s the main focus, the gen category. if it’s romantic, you use the tag with the forward slash (/) and, if it’s the main focus, the respective category (f/f, m/m, m/f*). if you know it will ultimately be one or the other, even if it doesn’t appear straight away in the first chapter(s), you still use the correct one. here’s an example:
*there’s an option for multi and other, but these can vary by fandoms and even writers. generally speaking, multi is often used for polyamorous relationships and other is good for relationships with a non-binary/agender/etc. character.
(please tag these correctly. seeing a relationship tag in a one-shot where the whole thing is predominantly platonic can be frustrating and it’s the same the other way around. you can add in additional tags that it can be read as platonic or romantic if it can technically be read as either.)
3. just a little ✨ extra ✨ but something people aren’t always aware of: there’s a whole privacy box here. you don’t have to let anyone and everyone comment or even be able to read it. I promise that no one will judge you for marking those or for marking the comment moderation box (this means you have to approve comments before they appear). as of july 27, 2026, you can edit this at any time!
now go! write to your heart’s desire and post with updated knowledge!
ellievsbear
prguitarman
gracieabrams
romaincrisis
snowghoul
kianamaiart
tangentwithtanner
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
titsay
