Fanfiction.net, as a major platform for the fanfiction community to share their fictional writings based on original work, has millions of works contributed by authors all over the world. However, sometimes we need to retrieve previous versions of these fanfictions that the author has updated or removed. To meet this requirement, Archive.org steps in. The Internet Archive or Archive.org makes it possible to view an older version of many websites. This article discusses how to access Archive.org's captures of Fanfiction.net in detail.

Understanding Archive.org and Fanfiction.net

Archive.org, also known as the Internet Archive, is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites and more. The most crucial part for accessing Fanfiction.net works is the Wayback Machine, which is a digital archive of the World Wide Web and other information on the web. It was launched in 2001 by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco.

Fanfiction.net, often abbreviated as FF.net or FFN, is an automated fan fiction archive site. It was founded in 1998 by Los Angeles computer programmer Xing Li. As of 2019, FanFiction.Net is the largest and second most popular fan fiction website in the world, coming second in popularity to Archive of Our Own in Alexa rankings.

Accessing Archive.org

To start, open a web browser and go to "archive.org". You'll see a search box, which is used to find specific works or URLs. Type "fanfiction.net" into the search box, preferably with quotation marks for exact phrase searching. If you have a specific fanfiction URL you want to capture, paste it here. Then click "Go!".

If the site or page you've searched for has been captured by Archive.org, you will see a timeline and a calendar showing the dates when snapshots of that URL were taken. If there is a snapshot for the day you are searching for, the date will be highlighted in blue. Clicking on a date will show a list of snapshots taken that day.

Accessing Fanfiction.net Captures

After you've found your FanFiction.net link on Archive.org and clicked on a date, you'll be taken to a previous snapshot of that page. Please note that not all elements of the page may be archived perfectly due to limitations in the way Archive.org stores data. Therefore, it's possible that some comments, images or even parts of the fanfiction may not display.

From there, you can read through the fanfiction as it appeared on the chosen capture date. If changes have since been made on the FanFiction.net site, they will not be reflected in this older version. This can be often useful when attempting to locate forgotten or deleted fanfictions.

Navigating within a capture

While reading a captured page, you may want to click on a link to navigate to other pages within the same snapshot. However, the success of navigating within a capture relies on whether those links were also captured around the same time.

When you click on a link within a capture, Archive.org will try its best to show you the closest capture of the link's destination. However, if that page hadn't been captured around the time of your current snapshot, you may get redirected to a later or earlier capture, or receive a message informing you that the page wasn't archived.

Payloads of Capture

Even though Archive.org strives to preserve all content of a website, sometimes certain elements may not be stored. As a result, trying to access images or extra features on the original site might prove to be a tough task as these elements would not be shown in the snapshots taken on Archive.org. When trying to retrieve an older version of a fanfiction, you might only get the basic text without some of the original graphics or additional content that the author had originally posted.

Furthermore, many authors on FanFiction.net choose to use dynamic content on their pages. Dynamic content refers to data that changes frequently. If an author uses dynamic content on their fanfiction page, it's unlikely you'll be able to retrieve a full capture of that page from Archive.org as dynamic content is typically not stored.

Limitations and Restrictions

While Archive.org goes a long way in helping us to retrieve older versions of fanfictions, it has its limits. For instance, not all changes can be captured. If an author made multiple updates to their fanfiction within a short timeframe, Archive.org might only have the most recent version of those updates, or it might not have captured the changes at all. Therefore, depending on when Archive.org took the snapshot, you may not be able to view certain versions of the fanfiction.

Additionally, Archive.org is restricted by certain legal and ethical guidelines. For instance, it respects the "robots.txt" standard, which means that it won't archive pages from websites that have opted out of being archived. So if FanFiction.net ever decided to use this standard, the Archive.org snapshots would become inaccessible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What if I can't find the fanfiction I'm looking for?
A: That could mean the fanfiction was either never archived, or it has been removed from the archive due to a "robots.txt" exclusion.

Q: Can I download an entire fanfiction at once from Archive.org?
A: Unfortunately, no. You can only read captures one page at a time on Archive.org.

Q: What happens if an author deletes their FanFiction.net account?
A: Archive.org will still have a snapshot of the account if it was captured prior to deletion, but any content not captured before the account was deleted won't be accessible.

Conclusion

While Archive.org is a powerful tool for accessing older versions of fanfictions from Fanfiction.net, it does have its limitations. Because of factors such as the "robots.txt" protocol and the limitations of website capture technology, it's not always possible to get a perfect snapshot of a web page at a specific moment in time.

However, Archive.org remains an invaluable resource for fans and researchers of fan culture. By understanding how it works and how to use it, we can make the most of its capabilities and continue to enjoy the bounty of creativity that is fanfiction.

References

1. The Internet Archive. n.d. "Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine." accessed July 30, 2021,http://archive.org/.

2. FanFiction.Net. n.d. "FanFiction." accessed July 30, 2021, https://www.fanfiction.net/.

3. "A Guide to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine." Blogrope. Last modified December 16, 2019. https://www.blogrope.com/2015/03/29/a-guide-to-internet-archives-wayback-machine/.

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