AO3 has a really amazing tagging system. It's so good that it blows all previous methods of finding fanworks out of the water.

But that means that when it fails - when there's something it doesn't work for - it can be really really frustrating and you end up wanting to burn the entire thing to the ground.

But. There are other methods! And some of them still work even when tag search doesn't.

So here are my top 10 tips for ways to find what you need when AO3's tagging system has failed you. With real-life examples!

For when you want to read fic that is about a thing, but most of the fic tagged with the thing isn’t actually about the thing:

( 1) Hidden Search Operators )

( 2) Bookmarkers' Tags )

( 3) Site Search / Best Match search )

When you just want to read any new good story in a large tag but you have already read everything that sort-by-kudos brings up to the top:

( 4) Filter by date )

( 5) Filter by number of kudos/bookmarks/comments/hits )

( 6) Favorite Tags )

( 7) Tag pages )

When you just need to find a VERY SPECIFIC THING okay

( 8) Filter on category/warning tags )

( 9) URL hacking )

( 10) Step outside the Archive )

Anyway, there's mine. What are yours?