Common Problems With Fimfic

Some of you probably know I hang around on the Fimfic Discord site help channel, in part to get help with my Discord bot for Fimfic, but also to help people with problems. I figured there should be a list of common problems (that seem a weekly occurrence) and what you can try before having to resort to bugging staff.

My Tracked Library Shows An Unread Chapter

(but none show up when I view the library)
Or

My Bookshelf Doesn't Show All The Stories In It

1. Check mature mode: The story you were tracking could be mature, and browsers sometimes delete cookies
2. Try turning tracking off and on again: Yup, silly option, but it works. Means a story has updated, then deleted the story
3. Close your browser (and restart if on tablet/phone) and reopen it
4. If a story with unread chapters was just removed and those chapters are showing as unread, try adding the story again, marking the chapters as read, then removing it.
5. If all else fails, jump into #site-help-and-dev on the Fimfic Discord

I Have a Notification That Won't Go Away

(but none show up when I click the bell)

This is often caused by leaving them sit for too long and not reading them. They get deleted from the system from time to time, but your computer doesn't get the message and leaves the number up.

1. Click the bell and then click Mark Read
2. Check mature mode: The story you were tracking could be mature, and browsers sometimes delete cookies
3. Log out, clear your fimfic cookies, and log back in (don't forget to enable mature mode again if you want the lewds)
4. Close your browser (and restart if on tablet/phone) and reopen it
5. If all else fails, jump into #site-help-and-dev on the Fimfic Discord

Comment Voting Rate Limit

10 votes every 2 minutes. Go higher than this, and the site asks you to slow down.

I Can't Submit My Story

1. Check long and short descriptions are present, and that the long description is longer than short
2. Make sure you have 1000+ words worth of chapters published
3. Ensure the tags are correct
4. Close your browser (and restart if on tablet/phone) and reopen it
5. If all else fails, jump into #site-help-and-dev on the Fimfic Discord

"Signature Error"

(also applies to any warnings about time)

1. Close your browser (and restart if on tablet/phone) and reopen it
2. Log out and log back in
3. Check your system time is correct and check your timezone is correct ( http://browserspy.dk/date.php )
4. Delete your cookies/site data, and force a refresh of the page ( Ctrl + F5 on PC, Cmd + Shift + R on Mac, restart device on mobile)
5. If all else fails, jump into #site-help-and-dev on the Fimfic Discord

Anything Related To Downvoting/Commenting/Harassment

1. Block them
2. Comment votes count for nothing
3. Block them
4. Story votes are very rarely "bombed"
5. Block them
6. There are no rules or restrictions on upvoting/downvoting, there are no reasons required for someone to do so (an exception to this being using multiple accounts to bomb with votes)
7. Block them
8. If you think your story is downvote bait, and don't care about voting, you can now disable it (see image)
9. Block them
10. Only you can police comments on your own stories/blogs, do so
11. Block them
12. When someone is actually breaking the rules (for example: using multiple accounts to get around a block), then contact staff (best done via reporting the user, see image below)

My Story Got Submitted To A Group I Don't Want It In

1. Politely ask a member of the group's admin to remove the story
2. Un-feature the group from your story (as shown)
3. Do not contact staff regarding this. This is not something they will police. (The exception being if they are spamming a large quantity of groups with it, then it could be deemed a spam issue.)

I Get An Error When Uploading An Image For A Story

1. Image is too big (over 5MB): Reduce the image size (use paint or some other image editing tool)
2. Image is too large (resolution): Reduce the res by scaling it down (use paint or some other image editing tool)

Random Search Order Doesn't Change

1. This is a bug when searching for a story without any search terms. Try this search instead!

I Don't Want Gmail to Know I Write/Read Horse Pron!11!one

1. Sign up for an email account at https://protonmail.com/
2. Use that account to make an account on fimfic

I Made An Account But Can't Access It!

1. If it's a new account, consider making another one
2. If it's not activated, it will be automatically deleted in 24hrs
3. Staff may be able to help. Hop into the site help channel on Discord and ask nicely

Password Recovery Isn't Working! OR I lost my 2FA details!

1. Check your spam folders (seriously)
2. There's not much that can be done for this. Consider asking very nicely in Discord for help, and don't be surprised if the answer is "We cannot help."

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Internet Explorer Users

It is highly suggested that you swap to a modern browser. Highly suggested ones are:

• Mozilla Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Edge (Which is now basically Chrome.)
• Or, if you're privacy concerned, TOR Browser (Which is based off Firefox.)

---

When joining the Fimfic Discord, and wanting help, don't ask if anyone can help you—state your problem clearly in #site-help-and-dev.
DO:
Hi! I'm having trouble submitting a story. I already ran through the things on Damaged's terrible blog, but it still doesn't work.

DO NOT:
Is it okay if I ask a question?
Majin Syeekoh keeps PMing me something about beans. Can you ban him?

---

If you have any suggestions for more things to add, please make a comment. Stay awesome, everypony!
—Damaged

Comments

[Wild Zontars]

1. Un-feature the group from your story (as shown)

God, do I wish this had been a feature (or people had known about it) back when the groups first displayed next to the story. So much drama over "but I don't want to be associated with XYZ!", while XYZ fans want to know about your story.

[Damaged]

4934529 Yeah.

[Greenhorn]

Someone need to compile a 'FimFic Troubleshoot Guide: Easy Solutions Before You Turn to Your Always Busy Admins'.

[Majin Syeekoh]

This blog is now BCU certified.

[Fuzzyfurvert]

4934563

DO NOT:
Is it okay if I ask a question?
Majin Syeekoh keeps PMing me something about beans. Can you ban him?

[Boulder]

4934563
I needed a chuckle (false definition certified)
B.C.U. : Blower-Coil Unit
...and random trivia, coffee beans are seeds, not beans. Something useless to not bother remembering. (I go way now)

[Prysmkitsune]

my only issue with fimfiction so far is that theres no system by which users can flag abandoned stories for retag

theres alot of dead stories on this site that are improperly taged as incomplete instead of canceld as they should be...if an author hasnt shown there face on this website since magical mystery cure aired, i think its a fair bet to say they aint coming back and that story isnt geting finished...ever.

[Wind of the Skies]

Beans?

[Lofty Withers]

Could you add comment thumb timer details? FimFiction hates me being so thumby. Knowing the cooldown period and the thumb limit would be nice.

[Damaged]

5112996 There are rate limits on most actions.

Creating an account, you have (IIRC) an hour before you can message people.
Up/down voting comments and stories both have rate limits.
There are likely others, but if you're using the site in an otherwise straightforward manner, you shouldn't hit any of the limits.