Organization for Transformative Works News

The Archive of Our Own Open Beta launch: Saturday 14th November (see the world clock for the launch time in your timezone).

We're thrilled to announce that the Archive Of Our Own will enter Open Beta on Saturday! *\0/*

Now that we're in Open Beta, we're ready to start expanding our user numbers so that fandom can use the Archive for real!

Open Beta – your questions answered!

How do I get an invitation for the Archive?
You can get an invitation in two ways:

• You can add your email address to the invitation queue (opens Saturday 14th November see world clock for the launch time in your timezone) (ETA Invitation queue now open here!). We'll send out invitations to addresses on the queue on a first-come, first-served basis, depending on how many new accounts we can support at a given time. This way, you won't have to know someone who already has an account in order to have a chance of getting one.


• Users who have an account on the Archive will be given a certain number of invitations to hand out to their friends. We know that people like to share the fannish glee and to build their networks on new sites, and we want to give people a chance to do that. Extra invitation codes will be issued to users periodically depending on how many new users the site can manage.

When will the invitation queue open?
The invitation queue will open on Saturday 14th November – world clock for the launch time in your timezone. Our launch post will let you know the link for the queue, and we’ll begin issuing accounts to addresses in the queue right away! (ETA Invitation queue now open here!)

We know that many of you in North America will still be asleep when the queue opens - since fandom is international, it was inevitable that this would be the case for someone. We've timed it this way so that as many of our staffers as possible can be around to provide support. We also anticipate that there will be more users from North America, so we wanted to give folks from elsewhere a chance to get on board before the queue gets out of control.

If you are unable to join the queue because of the timing, a friend can add your email address to the queue for you.

How long will it take for me to get an account?
If you've requested an invitation code, you can check where you are in the queue. Just enter your email address on the invitations page, and you'll receive an estimate of when you will receive your invitation, based on the rate at which we're sending out invitations and the number you are in the queue. Exactly how many invitations we can send out per day will depend on how well the site responds to the extra users.

I already have an account. How do I give an invitation to someone else?
On your user homepage (which you can get to by clicking 'My Home' when you’re logged in), you'll see a new tab called 'Invitations'. You can manage all your invitations here, and if you've run out then you can request some more.

To send an invitation to someone, just enter their email address and select the invitation you’d like to use. They'll be sent an automated email. You’ll be able to keep track of which invitations have been used on your 'Manage Invitations' page.

What can I do if I have questions or need help?
If you have questions about the general process, feel free to leave a comment on this post and we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible. (So that everyone can share in the same discussion and see one another's questions, we're disabling comments everywhere except the main OTW blog. Please hop over there to comment!)

If you have questions about the Archive, then you might find the answer in our Frequently Asked Questions. You can also check out Known Issues to see if you’ve hit a bug we’re already working on.

If your question isn't answered in the FAQ then please submit a support request and our support team will get back to you as quickly as possible.

Finally, during the first few days of Open Beta, we'll be offering live support through our Support Chatroom. We'll keep this staffed as much as possible – OTW staffers can be identified by the OTW on the end of their names. Of course, non staffers should also feel free to help one another out – if you can answer someone else's question, then don’t feel shy!

I have Opinions about the Archive. What should I do?
The Archive is by fans, for fans and we love to hear your feedback! Open Beta is still a work in progress, and we'll be adding new features, fixing bugs and making enhancements in response to your feedback. Send us your comments via the Support and Feedback form.

If you'd like to be more involved, we always welcome volunteers. No previous experience required!

The Archive of Our Own is for all fans – please spread the word in your fandoms near and far, and come and join the party!

Mirrored from an original post on the OTW blog. Comments are disabled elsewhere - please join in the conversation there!

This post is also available in Deutsch, Español, Français and Suomi.