This site scrapes the AO3 directory of fanworks for Guardian (TV), Guardian (Novel) and Guardian RPF every 24 hours between 10 PM - 11 PM EST. For new fanworks, the scraper will hit the main text, determine whether the text is largely Chinese or largely English, then collect the metadata for all the English fanworks. This may result in false positives/false negatives for works that have mixed English/Chinese text. For existing English fanworks, the scraper will automatically update stats (chapters, hits, kudos, etc.) as well as the associated tags.
After the data is scraped, it will be displayed on the site. In very rare cases, works may be removed from the listings under these specific circumstances: It is a mislabeled Chinese fanwork, it's not a Guardian fanfic (e.g. Memory Lost fanfics), or it is a non-fanwork as defined by AO3 policy (e.g. blog posts, prompt listings, etc.) are rejected. Everything else stays listed.
There is a manual process for approving relevant character and additional tags for searching, so you may see up to 48 hours delay between when your fic is listed and when it is searchable. This is to keep the dropdown boxes manageable so that things like non-Guardian characters (in cross-overs) are not searchable. Note: This does not affect the display of tags on a fanfic, which will never be modified by the site. It affects whether the tag is searchable in this directory
This site allows basic inclusion/exclusion searches based on type, author, and common characters/relationships/tags - Basically, if you go to a tag's page on AO3, and it allows you to filter works on it, then it is considered a common tag. For the sake of keeping the metadata under control, especially given the abundance of commentary-style tags, if a tag isn't common enough to be filtered on, it will not be stored.
Due to the more simplified metadata collected, advanced text searches, the flexible "Search Within Results" functionality of AO3, as well as tag hierarchies are not implemented. Since this site is run by a single person with limited free time, there will be no plans to implement these advanced functionalities in the future.
The Inclusion searches are for selecting a group of options you want. This site will perform an OR search when you select multiple options. For example - in the "All Works" page, you can select "镇魂 Guardian (TV)" and "镇魂 Guardian - Priest" in the fandoms dropdown box to indicate you want fanworks tagged to either the Drama OR the Novel. This does not return crossover/fusion works tagged with both!
The Exclusion searches are for selecting options you do not want even if it meets your included criteria otherwise. This site will perform an AND NOT EXISTS search when you select multiple options. Taking the same "Fandoms" search example, if you check the "Exclude RPF" checkbox, it will exclude all fanworks that are classified RPF even if it is also tagged with the Drama or Novel.
To give a more concrete example: A fanfic about Bai Yu having a drunken argument with Shennong-Bo tagged with 镇魂 Guardian RPF and 镇魂 Guardian - Priest will be returned in the first Inclusion search, even though 镇魂 Guardian RPF is not explicitly selected. If you specify that RPF should be excluded in the Exclusion section while selecting all fandoms, however, the same fanfic will not be returned in your search results.
There are four main types of errors that can occur:
The Contact page will have more information on different ways to contact me to report a problem. As long as you aren't reporting an issue anonymously, I will get back to you as soon as I can with a link to the github issue tracker to keep you updated on resolving the problem.
I am open to suggestions via the Contact page, with the caveat that I may shoot down something that is too technically complex or challenging due to a lack of time. Thank you in advance for understanding!