Organization for Transformative Works

Image of three books with text '17 Million Fanworks on AO3'

#AO3 now has over 17 million fanworks on the site! Come celebrate with us at otw-news.org/2p9bk5jk

Banner of a paper airplane emerging from an envelope with the words 'OTW Newsletter: Organization for Transformative Works'

February's #OTW newsletter spotlights #IFD 2026, an upcoming #TWC issue on Gaming fandom, and Fanlore's #FemslashFebruary editing challenge. Read more at otw-news.org/yc2n549e

[update] Resolved: The fix we applied 24 hours ago appears to be holding, so we are resolving this incident. We thank everyone for their patience!

[update] Monitoring: We have made some adjustments based on recommendations from our database vendor and will continue to monitor their impact on system stability.

[update] Investigating: Following guidance from our vendor, we've brought #AO3 back online to help troubleshoot. We expect the site will go back down, although we don't know when that will happen. If you choose to post or update your works while AO3 is up, we strongly recom...

[update] Investigating: AO3 is now fully down. After performing a software upgrade a few days ago, we've been unable to keep our server cluster healthy due to what we believe is a bug or issue with the new release of our database server software.

We're working with our ve...

[update] Investigating: We are investigating reports of errors when trying to load AO3, including errors saying that AO3 is down, which seem to be related to the previous incident. We will update when we have more information!

[update] Resolved: We have resolved the underlying issue, and #AO3 should be behaving as normal for all users again.

[update] Investigating: #AO3 will remain down for at least several hours until we can consult our database vendor's support team and resolve the underlying issue. We're very sorry for the inconvenience.

[update] Investigating: We are investigating reports of errors when trying to load AO3, including errors saying that AO3 is down.

[update] Monitoring: #AO3 is back up! We appreciate your patience. We've got our protections against bot traffic turned up a bit higher than usual, so some users may experience problems if they're using a VPN or similar tools.

[update] Identified: We've identified the problem and are working on a fix. We expect to remain down for several more hours. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience!

[update] Investigating: AO3 is currently down. We do not have an estimated return time currently. We're looking into it with one of our third-party support providers and will update when we have more information. Thank you for your patience!

[update] Investigating: We are continuing to investigate reports of slowness and errors when trying to load AO3, including errors saying that AO3 is down.

[update] Investigating: We are currently investigating reports of slowness and errors when trying to load AO3.

OTW Signal

In February’s #OTW Signal we highlight a university fanfiction club and an essay on the preservation of fandom + tips for you on contacting staff! Read more at otw-news.org/59knsmvs

The #JustRollWithIt fandom tag on #AO3 now has individual campaign subtags! Learn more at: ao3-news.org/2p99czfw

We released several batches of bug fixes and code updates in December, focusing on improvements to collections and challenges, error handling, and code optimization. ao3-news.org/v-0-9-452

Spotlight on Tag Wrangling

#AO3 tag wranglers have canonized some new "No Fandom" additional tags and revised subtag and metatag relationships of existing "No Fandom" canonical tags. Check out the latest news post for details: otw-news.org/ex7cfk3y

Applications for #Communications Social Media Moderators, #Organizational Culture Roadmap Volunteers, #AO3 Software Developers, #Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers, and #Tag Wrangling Volunteers are still open, check our volunteering page: otw.org/volunteer!

OTW Recruitment Banner

Are you a software developer? Would you like to wrangle #AO3 tags? Are you interested in helping shape the future of the #OTW? Do you like using checklists to administer personnel related tasks? The Organization for Transformative Works is recruiting! Learn more at: otw-news.org/5cvvedxb

International Fanworks Day

#IFD 2026 is over, thanks so much to everyone who participated! For still on-going events, and a recap of this year's festivities follow otw-news.org/ycyddcmx

We are aware that Yahoo Mail is not currently accepting emails from #AO3, and we are actively working to resolve the issue. We will update you when we know more!

International Fanworks Day

It's International Fanworks Day 2026! Join us at the #OTW as we open our short-lived annual #IFD Discord server with chatrooms and games by visiting otw-news.org/2bd5f4h6

[update] Resolved: AO3 is once again fully functional; all issues should be resolved. If you are still experiencing any issues past this point, please let us know. Thank you for your patience!

[update] Monitoring: We've made some adjustments to reduce the errors and are continuing to monitor the situation.

[update] Investigating: AO3 is currently experiencing slowness and errors. We are aware and are actively investigating.

What fanwork do YOU plan on recommending for our IFD #FeedbackFest2026? This year's theme is Alternative Universes - AUs! Perhaps if enough people quote this and share their recs, Mod Tiana will share theirs as well... 👀

Feedback Fest

Today is the start of our #IFD 2026 Feedback Fest! Find out how you can share your favorite fanworks related to this year's theme at otw-news.org/5dxyzhvm

To improve account security, #AO3 has updated our password change process to prevent users from choosing new passwords that are extremely short. We've also increased the maximum password length. To learn more about how to protect your account, check out: otw-news.org/y8jnay3v