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AO3 is back online but with limited features
Archive of Our Own (AO3) has returned after a two-week outage caused by a security incident, but some features remain unavailable. The return matters to the site’s users, who can access their works and accounts again while the organisation investigates the incident and works to prevent further problems.
The Organization for Transformative Works says icons and external work importing are temporarily disabled, and downloads are limited to HTML; it says these features will return and no icons were deleted. Works, bookmarks and kudos remain safe, and drafts were preserved, but drafts older than 30 days will again be deleted from 29 November. The cause is unclear, and although OTW has no reason to believe its user database was compromised, it recommends changing AO3 passwords and any reused passwords, as well as updating linked email addresses.
In short
- AO3 is back after two weeks offline.
- Some features remain temporarily disabled.
- OTW recommends changing passwords as a precaution.
Explained simply
Archive of Our Own, or AO3, is a website where people share and read fanworks, including stories and art inspired by books, films and other media. It is run by the Organization for Transformative Works, a non-profit group that supports fan-created work and communities.
People use AO3 accounts to post works, save bookmarks and leave feedback. Accounts can also hold drafts and link to an email address, so access to the site and the security of account details matter to its users.