Adding Fics

Want to help out the /r/HPFanfiction wiki by adding a new fic? Awesome! Just follow these steps.

Double-check that the fic has not yet been uploaded
Browse the list of all fics at Category:Fanfiction. See if your fic is listed there. If you don't see it, you're probably fine, but in order to be certain, you should next search for the story name, then for the story author. The Wikia search engine can have trouble with punctuation, so try a few different searches to make sure that the story hasn't yet been uploaded. If you haven't found anything, then you're good to create the story page!

Make the page
Click the "Contribute" button in the top right corner of every page and select "Add a Page," then choose the "Ficbox" template.

The page name should be the exact title of the story. If there is already a fiction by that name, simply add the name of the author behind the name of the fiction. For example, Instead of "A Fanfic Title," you can put "A Fanfic Title (NameOfAuthor)." Make extra double triple sure that you've got the ficbox layout selected, then press "Add a Page."

Working with the ficbox
Before going further, be sure to read the instructions on the ficbox template page you just made.

Read it? Really? Good! So now we'll take a look at each ficbox field and give some details on how to fill them out. Here's what the ficbox looks like:



Seems straightforward enough, but you've got to fill it out with care or your fic will be categorized incorrectly.

Here's a breakdown of each field and how you should fill it out:

Story title: Copy the story title exactly, but use proper capitalization.

Author: Type only the author's name; do not include a link. If the author goes by more than one penname, choose the name that is already in our database. If none of the author's pennames are in our database, use the penname that is most often associated with the author's works.

Link: Be sure to include the http:// prefix. Put any important information about the link (such as "registration required") in parentheses following the link.

Altlink: Same as Link.

Summary: Please only include the summary provided by the author. You may combine things like author's notes and alternative author-written summaries if you feel that they would benefit the fic page, but please do not write a summary yourself. You can write your own summary in a comment review. Try to leave author-written summaries intact (including typos -- they'll give us a sense of what to expect from the story!), but you may edit out redundant information (such as completion status) if necessary.

Pairing: Please refer to Category:Pairings to find the existing entry that best fits your pairing. Don't see your pairing? Write "Other Pairing" in the Pairing field and write the actual pairing (Character A/Character B) at the end of the story summary. See Pairing: Other Pairing for more information.

Pairing2: Same as Pairing.

Genre: Please refer to Category:Genre to find the existing entry that best fits the story genre. If none fit, leave the Genre field blank.

Genre2: Same as Genre.

Era: Please refer to Category:Era to find the existing entry that best describes the era in which the story takes place. If none fit, leave the Era field blank.

Char: The main character of the story. Please refer to Category:Characters to find the existing character entry of the fic character. If there is already an existing entry for your character, be sure to use that exact name in this field. If you don't see your character, write "Firstname Lastname." A character category will eventually be created.

Char2 and Char3: Same as Character.

Length: Write only a number, indicating the number of words in the fic. Please do not use commas or words. For example: "200000," not "200,000 words."

Rating: K/K+/T/M/MA. If the fic uses a different rating system (such as G/PG/PG-13/R/NC-17), please convert to our system as closely as possible, rounding the rating up if necessary. If you feel that the author-provided rating is too low, provide the author's rating anyway and leave a note in the comments. If no rating is provided, either rate it yourself (again, rounding up) or leave the field blank.

Status: Complete/WIP/Abandoned. If you're submitting a WIP, please be sure to come back and edit the fic page with any new or updated information as the fic progresses.

Now fill in everything as best as you can. Mods may tinker with your page once it's published to ensure that it's placed in the right categories.

A few things to keep in mind while filling out the ficbox:

1. The "Story Title," "Author," "Link," and "Summary" fields must be filled out. If the author is anonymous, write "Anonymous." If you don't know the author's name, write "Unknown." If you don't have a link to the story, write "Unavailable." If you can't find a summary, write "Unavailable." But really, now -- you ought to have most of these elements. Fic pages with insufficient information will be deleted.

2. If you just aren't sure how to fill out a field, leave it blank. You may also wish to leave a comment on the fic page explaining why a field was left blank.

3. DO NOT erase any of the ficbox code! Seriously! There's no point, and all it'll do is cause strife for your poor admins.

Fics within series
If the fic you want to submit is part of a series or story 'verse, you'll want to keep all fics in the series together on the page. All you'll have to do is copy and paste multiple ficboxes and fill each one out with information on each separate fic. Make sure they're in order, and inside the FICBOXAREA tags! Go ahead and add any special notes (such as "sequel," "Part III," or "companion one-shot number 4") in the summary. Be careful not to accidentally erase any of the ficbox code. Here's what a series page should look like:



If stories have different ratings, genres, pairings, or what have you, they'll be placed in multiple (sometimes contradictory) categories. That's fine! That's how we've got it set up. If you think there's something important about the series that isn't noted in the ficboxes, leave a review in the comments so that others will know.

Adding categories
We've got the ficbox set up so that most of the information you provide will automatically categorize the fic page into the appropriate category, but some things have to be added manually. This mostly applies to themed lists, but other categories you can add manually are "Het," "Slash," "Femmeslash," "Multi," and "Series" (see above for more information on adding series). So, if you want to add the fic to any of those categories or to a themed list, read on. On the right of the editing space, there's a "Categories" section. Just click on "Add category..." and type the name of the category you want to add. It should pop up automatically. Just select it and you're done! You can also add categories to an already-created page by clicking the "Add category" button in the "Category" box on the bottom of each fic page. Same process as before: just type, select, and save. Easy! If you don't feel like adding categories manually, no worries. Mods have got that covered for you. Just be aware that since we may not have read the story, we might not be able to add it to an appropriate themed list. If you want your story to be included in a themed list but are having trouble adding it, just notify a mod and we'll do our best to get it sorted!

Submitting
All your fields filled out? Ready to publish? Press the "Preview" button. If everything looks good, go ahead and press "Publish." Now, go ahead and write a review of the fic in the comment section!