I'm glad that many people have shown up to add stories to the group, but I can't help noticing that the AU/unspecified folder is seeing a bit too much use.

That folder should only be used as a last resort if a story really does not fit anywhere else. The folder descriptions probably need a little tweaking, but here is the deal: in most cases when a story is written, certain canon events are canon to the story and any future canon events have a high probably of being incompatible. Your story belongs in the folder corresponding to the last canon events your story has in common even if it is for instance set in the future.

A story written after Rainbow Rocks but before Friendship Games would belong in the RR folder even if it was set years later in college, especially if it involves the Dazzlings as major characters.

If you have placed a story in the AU folder, please go back and think about whether it really belongs there and move it if not. If too many people continue to use the folder as a catch-all, it will become restricted access.

6001788
I know that my story "The College Years" was put in there because it would talk place after all the movies and specials, since they now attend college. So if it helps, then maybe a folder that says "EqG future would work for stories that take place later on, but we don't know where future movies and specials will be placed when they come out.

Another folder that you could create would be a "Side Stories" folder, in case it involves EqG characters, but we are not sure where they fall in the story timeline because it could be just a one-shot or short story.

Hmm...in that case it might be best for me to move my stories over to the Friendship Games Legend of Everfree (edit: I'm dumb lol) folder even though I've decided that their point of divergence would be after Dance Magic...

Swarm of the Sentry just has an EQG character in it. Rainbow Dash Doesn't Know What Hooves Are is definitely in the "unspecified" category because it's not really related to any particular movie's canon. Well, not beyond the first. Discussion?

6002199
That sounds a lot like it belongs in the unspecified category.

It's a lot like the proper use of fimfic's genre tags. Don't think of it in terms of an author who wants as many tags as you can get away with to increase chances of search hits. Think of it in terms of a reader "searching" something that interests them. If they found your story searching for X, would they read it and be satisfied they'd found a story of X?

If your story isn't specifically related to an era, unspecified is fine. If you're specifically setting your story around Rainbow Rocks, and the story finishes before Friendship Games came out or you simply don't make use of any of the material from it, then it is in the era of Rainbow Rocks. If your store focuses on the life of Sunset Shimmer prior to the events of Equestria Girls, then it belongs in that era.

Folder your story with that in mind. If I open up this folder and find this story in it, will I feel like I'm getting what I came here for?

6002199
Sounds like your stories are in the right place.

6002676
Apparently, I am just naturally better than everyone. :B

6002262
Hrmm...putting it like that I'm still a little uncertain if I should move my stories to the Legend of Everfree folder or keep them in Magic Specials where they are now. They were largely written before the specials aired and nothing in them (currently) references their events, but I do know that in-universe Dance Magic has already happened? But in terms of people looking for Magic Specials-era stories I don't know if they'd feel they've found what they're looking for...

6002898
You're being too tripped up by the calendar.

Is the story completely written? Was it finished before the specials aired? Then put it in the era that fits when it was written. The in-story date it falls on is not relevant.

Do you intend to rewrite it to include material from the events of later material like the "magic" specials? Is this to significantly make the main parts of the story better? Or are you only going to edit inconsequential details? If so, then you might want to move the story to a later era.

This is not so much about "which eras does this cover" but more "what material must the audience have read to be familiar with what the story is built on?" Can they have read only Rainbow Rocks and be fine with the important parts of your story? Do they absolutely must need to have watched Friendship Games? LoE? Specials? Some future movie/episodes?

6002947 I'm not the one who posed the question, but thanks for the clarification.

6002947
Ohh, okay. I get it now. Thanks for the clarification! I'm gonna go move them now, since they only need up to LoE to be understood.

Edit: Err, though I'm not too sure how to remove them from the folder they're in now...

6002967

Click the trash can icon by each story title. It's possible that the site update broke that for regular users, in which case I can take care of it.

6002973
Oh, no need! I took care of it, thank you. It's just that the UI for it didn't make it clear that the trashcan was 'remove this story from the group' and not like 'delete the story entirely'. Which, obviously, was a pretty scary prospect so I wanted to ask to be sure.

Folder descriptions have been updated. Hopefully that makes things clearer.

A folder has been added for the new EqG Series. The Summertime shorts specials fall into the same time period as the Magic specials (apart from the ones set during EqG 1, obviously)

A folder has been (belatedly) added for Forgotten Friendship, and a couple of recent submissions have been moved to their new home.

Wallflower Blush is much happier with me now.

Folders have been added for Spring Breakdown and Sunset's Backstage Pass.

Get cracking on those M6 x H6 crossovers and new Siren fics.

6921982
I have a fic where the most required piece of viewing would be Cheer You On, the Flash Sentry music video (because of the giant toaster robot in it). That video apparently counts as one of the Better Together Season 2 shorts. There's no folder for the Better Together shorts, nor the final EqG special Holidays Unwrapped. Do you think it'd be worth creating a folder for one or both of these purposes?

7360045

Folders have been updated.

One for Holidays Unwrapped, which will be the final folder for all stories aligned with canon up through the end of the series.

One as a catch-all for the shorts between Forgotten Friendship and Holidays Unwrapped.

Previously I'd lumped the shorts in with their respective movie, but when the series moved to a heavier reliance on out-of-context shorts and a strange release schedule, it became harder to pin down a decent timeline. I think this solution strikes a decent balance without becoming a clutter of folders.