Sign ups open

[worldbuildingmod]

Sign ups are now open!

Here is the tag set on AO3 and, for the first time this year thanks to the amazing karanguni, on a searchable, bookmarkable, etc. app.

Don't forget that because of the way fandoms are defined for this exchange, many are classified under "Uncategorized Fandoms" on the AO3 tag set interface, including some very popular ones.

I have made a very slight tweak to the sign up form this round, in that I have enabled the "Description" box for Offers as well as Requests, and relabelled it "Matching Notes". I have always been happy for people to make requests privately in relation to matching (though do note that there is no way I can control who gives treats); however, I thought there might be some advantage to being clear about this and having an obvious place for such requests to go. This is very much an experiment that I intend to review at the end of this round to see whether it was worthwhile. This method of communication is just as private as sending an email - the contents of offers on AO3 can only be seen by the individual participant and the collection owner - though you are of course welcome to communicate in other ways if you feel more comfortable doing so. Of course, you do not have to fill in the "Matching Notes" box at all - simply leave it blank if it's not relevant to you. (The box will appear for all fandoms in your offers, but if you do want to use it, you only need to fill it in once.)

Other than that, some key points about signing up:

• Requests: 3-10 You can use more than one slot for the same fandom, but there must be at least three different ones overall. (In terms of fandom tags in the tag set. It's OK if they're different versions of the same canon.)
  
• Offers: 4-10 As for requests, you can use more than one slot for the same fandom, as long as there are four different fandoms overall.
  
• For each request and offer, you have 8 character slots and 8 worldbuilding slots (in the "Relationship" section), and you can request/offer one, two or all three of the "Fanfiction", "Fanart" and "In-Universe Meta" freeforms.
  
• The "Any" tickbox is disabled for requests (but remember that you can use multiple slots for the same fandom), but it is enabled for offers. Please make sure you are confident about creating for any tag in the tag set for that fandom if you are using it. (Please note that this is not quite the same as a "bucket offer" as found in Yuletide and some other exchanges, in that you can't add additional tags to represent further fandoms you are happy to offer Any for.)
  
• OR Matching You are only guaranteed to match on one character and one worldbuilding tag, in one fandom. Your requests should not rely on the idea that people have signed up to create for all your requested tags. Your offers should all be for things that you would be happy to create for even if that's the only tag you matched on.
  
• "Any or No Characters" is used to indicate a willingness to receive/create works where the focus is on the worldbuilding to the point that which, if any characters appear is secondary. This is not the same meaning of "Any" as the AO3 tickbox (where it means "any tag in the tag set"). Requesting the tag means you are open to receiving any canon character, any character implied to exist by canon, any original character dreamt up by your creator, or no characters at all. (It is OK to DNW characters you don't want to appear if using this tag.)
  
• Requests will be visible throughout sign ups.
  
• DNWs Do Not Wants (DNWs) will only be enforced if they are in the Optional Details box on the AO3 sign up form. As a creator, you should avoid including your recipient's DNWs in the work you create for them. However, please do not use your DNWs in an overly restrictive way to box your creator into a corner.
  
• ODAO With the exception of DNWs, the principle of ODAO - Optional Details Are Optional - applies. This means both that you do not have to provide them at all if you don't want to, but also that your creator is not obligated to follow any that you do provide.
  
• Some tags may not autocomplete as you enter them, but they will still work if you cut and paste them from the tag set. This is a known AO3 bug of long standing.

If you have any concerns or queries that the above list doesn't help with, or encounter any difficulties in the sign up process, please do ask, either by commenting here, or if you prefer to do it privately via email to worldbuildingmod@gmx.com or using the DW messaging system.

The letters post and an opt-in post for other media (podfic/vids/IF) will follow very shortly.

Comments

[extrapenguin]

I think you forgot to check the "tag set only" tickboxes on the collection page – the dropdowns are showing all the canonical tags on AO3, including fandoms not in the tagset and freeforms like "Fluff".

[worldbuildingmod]

Thank you for the heads up! That should be fixed now - please let me know if not.

(It was actually that I had left the tag set to be used blank - I set up all the settings back at the very beginning, before the tag set even existed, and forgot to add it in before opening sign ups.)

[extrapenguin]

It's working as it should, now!

[worldbuildingmod]

Great - thanks again.

[redrikki]

Now a bunch of the characters who are in the tag set aren't showing up in the drop-downs. I noticed this problem with Adventure Time; Julie & the Phantoms; DCU (Comics) and Miraculous Ladybug. There are probably other fandoms effected as well.

[worldbuildingmod]

I suspect there are many fandoms; someone else has already mentioned Guardian as being affected. Unfortunately, this is a Known Issue that AO3 have not managed to fix for years now. You can bypass it by cutting and pasting the affected tags directly from the tag set; even though the drop down menu fails to find them, the main sign up form will recognise them when you submit.

[essayofthoughts]

Hi, I've never done this exchange before and I have a couple questions.

Looking over the tagset - do we copy-paste the tags over, including fandom? I've noticed there's specific HP Wizarding World and HP Books Only - I take it these are taken as separate things, but there would still be overlap in the fandom - do they count as only one or are they two distinct ones that both count towards the minimum offers/requests? I'm trying to whittle down my list of which fandoms I could have in my sign up!

[worldbuildingmod]

They would count as separate; it's only if the fandom tags are exactly the same that they wouldn't count towards the minimum number of distinct fandoms.

The distinction between them is in terms of how narrow or wide a set of canon material that worldbuilding ideas are being extrapolated from, if that makes sense.

[essayofthoughts]

It does! Thank you.

[peaceformizu]

https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/5397/nominations/182325

I nominated Zhao Yunlan as a Guardian (TV) character and it was approved but that character is not showing as an option on my sign up form.

[worldbuildingmod]

When you mean "not showing up as an option", do you mean in the drop down that appears? There's a bug where a small proportion of tags don't show up there even though they are in the tag set. If you cut and paste the tag exactly as it appears in the tag set (so in this case "Zhao Yunlan (Guardian)", without the quote marks) directly into the text field, it should work.

[beatrice_otter]

In the Imperial Radch series, Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen | Breq (Imperial Radch) is in the tag set but is not appearing in the character drop down. I have pasted the tag from the tag set manually, but is that something you can fix?

[worldbuildingmod]

Unfortunately not; this is a general issue with the sign up form that's been going on for years now.

[beatrice_otter]

In the DCU (Comics) fandom, Bruce Wayne (DCU) is in the tagset but doesn't appear in the dropdown menu

[swingandswirl]

Can I edit the details of my sign-up after the deadline? (No worries if not, I'll just add all relevant details in my letter, but I wanted to have that info in the app as well.)

[worldbuildingmod]

Sorry, once sign ups close you can't edit any further.