So you've got your fandom and categories selected, your fanwork rated, and warnings (if any) chosen. Now all that's left before you copy/paste and publish are the tags.
Tagging on AO3 works slightly differently than it does here on Wattpad. Canonical tags on AO3 allow you to search or filter works. "Selecting a tag will automatically return all works or bookmarks on the site that are using that specific tag, or the canonical tag it's been linked to" (Tags FAQ, Archive of our Own).
A tag is a keyword/phrase that provides information about a work and can be made by anyone creating content. On AO3, tags are used to specify Rating, Warnings, Fandoms, Characters, and Relationships. Further information can be added in the Additional Tags section.
Quick note: For the love of all the deities you may or may not believe in, do NOT tag one single work with 100 different fandoms, characters, and relationships. Especially if it's a one-shot or drabble (and by "drabble", I mean "100 words exactly") collection. It's a massive headache for both the tag wranglers and people browsing through the fandom/character/relationship tags for fics. Nobody wants to read a list of tags that's a mile long, especially if there's a long-ass summary after it (or even to get through all of that only to find there is no summary whatsoever, or it's only a single short sentence).
TAGGING FOR RELATIONSHIPS
A relationship tag with a forward slash (/) in it denotes a romantic or sexual relationship. A relationship tag with an ampersand (&) denotes a familial or platonic relationship.
For example:
Character/Character = romantic/sexual relationship (also probably the main pairing or OTP of the fic)
Character & Character = familial or platonic relationship, friendship
For relationships, you generally want to tag the main/primary pairing the fic focuses on, and secondary relationships if those are also in the fic. There is no need to tag every single relationship that shows up in your fanwork.
TAGGING FOR CROSSOVERS OR FUSIONS
If your work is a crossover, you can tag the relevant fandoms and they will be separated with a comma. It will appear in the fandoms' tag listings and be filterable as a crossover. You can also tag with the additional tag Crossover or Alternate Universe - Fusion to show that the two fandoms are related within the fic.
TAGGING FOR REAL-PERSON FIC
I'm just going to take this bit from the Tags FAQ section of AO3's FAQ page:
RPF fandoms work the same as any other fandom, except the characters are real people rather than fictional ones. All you need to do is tag with the appropriate fandom, which is usually based on the group the characters belong to, like a sports team or band. If the link between people is less obvious (such as actors from a TV or film franchise, a selection of actors being fancast for a franchise, or radio hosts from a particular station), the fandom tag will usually be the factor that ties the actors together plus the RPF acronym.
For example, Jeon Jungkook is a musician, who's a member of the band 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS. That means works about him are RPF, but the band is a clear group of specific people, so it doesn't need the RPF acronym. Tags for actors may go into multiple RPF fandoms, such as Lee Pace, an actor who's been in several different franchises. His tag is part of Halt and Catch Fire RPF, Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF, Pushing Daisies RPF, The Hobbit RPF, and American (US) Actor RPF fandoms. American (US) Actor RPF is the best tag to use if no other people from the more specific fandoms appear in your work.
Fanworks about actors in a film or TV series shouldn't be tagged with the fandom tag for that film or TV series. When tagging on the Archive of Our Own, the RPF tags should be used for works that don't take place in or involve characters from the fictional universe. What this means is that if your work is about Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, the correct fandom tag is Supernatural RPF, not Supernatural, which is the tag for the fictional universe.
TAGGING FOR WARNINGS
If you are tagging for additional warnings in your story that are not covered in the Warnings section, such as potential triggers or kinks or squicks, put them IN THE TAGS, not just the description.
That way, people can filter out what tags they do not want to have show up in a search, or use those same tags for fics they do want to seek out and read. One person's squick or trigger is another person's kink; one person's OTP is another's NOTP. Don't Like: Don't Read. Ship and Let Ship.
Your Kink Is Not My Kink, And That's Okay.
A quick note on trigger vs squick: A trigger will give you flashbacks or remind you of a traumatic experience; it is what will trigger a person's post-traumatic stress disorder. Car accidents, real blood and gore, etc. or it can be something otherwise completely mundane and unique to the individual. Triggers will make you want to viscerally close out of the window and possibly step back from the computer if your reaction is severe enough. A squick, by contrast, is something that you personally find gross and icky but it isn't enough to trigger you. You can go "okay, that's something I'm not into" and move on. The term comes from mid-90s Internet fandom and was originally an onomatopoeia for "skullfucking" (don't ask. you don't wanna know).
YOU ARE READING
A Wattpad User's Guide to AO3
RandomTutorial/Guide for Wattpad users who are migrating to AO3, have never used it before, and/or are unfamiliar with the culture/etiquette on AO3. Written by a Fandom Old who has been using the Archive of Our Own since 2011.
