theblueintheday | Ao3 posting tips: collections and css formatting

Posting to a collection

There are TWO WAYS to post to a collection. Option two is easier.
OPTION ONE: Log in to Ao3 and click the post button in the top right area of the screen. Fill in the fic fields and type INSERT NAME OF COLLECTION into the "post to collections" bar, and select from the drop down menu. Make sure to select the correct collection; often there will be parent and subcollections in the same challenge. For example, the_EXORDIUM had this round's exordiumchallenge2015 as well as the (closed) parent collection exordiumchallenge. It should look like this:

OPTION TWO: Your other option is to go to the dashboard of the collection of the challenge in which you are participating (i.e. the Exordium Challenge 2015 collection) and click the post to collection button (this link is also an example from the_EXORDIUM) which will fill out the collection information for you.

Please see the official Ao3 FAQ for more questions about posting, information included on a story, collections and a tutorial on posting to a collection.

Helpful note for posting:
A list of common triggers can be found here.

Ao3 tips and tricks:

Ao3 is very user friendly and uses basic html similar to LiveJournal html editing and the source text editor of AFF (top left button when you edit), though a few formatting options (font, colored text, spacing, etc.) are more limited without the use of skins. The basic css work skin you can chose is Basic Formatting.

How to use a work skin:

In your story file:

If you want to change anything, copy and paste the entire text of the work skin into a new work skin, make your changes (see example below) and then save it with a name you'll remember and select that name instead of basic formatting when you post your fic.

Example:

The code below changes the size of the dropcap from the original Ao3 work skin.

Note on reading the raw work skin (css):
The .indent .book .dropcap are examples of a class id which you will include in your span code in your story (don't include the . when you're using it inline in your fic text.) Inside is what the code does to your text.

For more details on using work skins, please see the official help post.