The complete story archives all contain exactly the same stories as each other. In this respect, they 'mirror' each other. However, they are individually maintained in case something should happen to one of the sites. The majority of pages on the sites are static story listings that are generated every time the sites are updated. We also provide a search engine for locating specific stories and a help desk to assist in using the site and submitting new fan fiction to be archived.
There are a number of different story listings available. This gives you the flexibility to browse the site using whichever index works best for you. All listings except the Date Listings are re-generated whenever we update the site. A story doesn't get listed unless it is in the database and the file exists on the web server. Thus the listings should always be accurate and you should never experience a broken link.
Author Listings
This is an index sorted by author name. Most authors are listed
in the database as "Lastname, Firstname", so this listing
is primarily sorted by the author's last name as one would
expect to find at a library. For example, Dana S.
would be found on one of the "S" pages listed under S.,
Dana. However, some authors go by only a first name or a
pen name that does not lend itself to being split in such a way.
For example, an author who goes by Agent X would be found
on an "A" page, not an "X" page. Stories by multiple authors are
listed multiple times in this index--once for each author. All
author names that begin with non-letters fall under the first
page, which is labeled "#" for numeric and other symbols.
Title Listings
This is an index sorted by story title. The words "A", "An", and
"The" are moved to the end of the title in library format. For
example, all stories entitled The Ring are listed in the
database as Ring, The. All story titles that begin with
non-letters are listed within the first few pages, starting with
"#" for numeric and other symbols.
Date Listings
This is an index of stories grouped by the date on which they
were archived at Gossamer. Every time we update the archive with
new stories, we generate a new web page listing all of the stories
that were just added. This is a collection of those pages. Since
they are rather time-consuming to generate, we only re-generate
all of the date pages once or twice a year. As a result, you may
encounter broken links on the older date pages if stories have
been removed since the page was last generated. On each date
page, the stories are sorted by title.
Crossover Listings
This index contains only the stories with the Crossover (C) category
specified in the database. It is further broken down into individual
pages based on the sub-categories.
X-Files Listings
This index contains only the stories with the X-File (X) category
specified in the database. It is further broken down into individual
pages based on the sub-categories.
Adventures Listings
This index contains only the stories with the Adventure (T) category
specified in the database. It is further broken down into individual
pages based on the sub-categories.
Stories Listings
This index contains only the stories with the Story (S) category
specified in the database. It is further broken down into individual
pages based on the sub-categories.
Vignettes Listings
This index contains only the stories with the Vignette (V) category
specified in the database. It is further broken down into individual
pages based on the sub-categories.
Spoilers Listings
This index contains only the stories with an episode spoiler
specified in the database. It is further broken down into individual
pages based on the episode. If you are looking for stories written
about a particular episode or season of the show, this is the best
place to look.
For more information about the different categories and sub-categories used on the Gossamer archives, see What are Categories.
Back to Reader FAQ | Back to Help Desk
We provide a fairly basic search engine for locating stories on the archive that meet certain criteria. It is an ancillary service that we offer because Gossamer is not indexed by other search services. We are aware that it is lacking in some ways, and hope to provide a more effective search engine in the future.
Back to Reader FAQ | Back to Help Desk
The Help Desk is what you are using right now! We have spent a great deal of time documenting all of the processes associated with the archive for the benefit of its maintainers and users. If you still have questions after consulting the Help Desk, feel free to send us an e-mail at help@gossamer.org.