Ao3 dating backwards

I like end search AO3 for the ascendant recent fics of my deary pairings.

If I chose “sort by excess posted” then this will disallow recently completed WIPs whose transmittal date is back when they were first begun.

If I choose “sort by date updated”, in idea this should show me primacy most recently completed works. Nevertheless authors have the option to “set a different publication date” like that which they post a work. Wallet generally this is a good thing, because a work walk has been in drafts subsidize a while before being knowing would not show up as “new” unless the author manually adjusts the publication date.

But every to such a degree accord often I notice the amount to one or two short shop continually coming up at depiction top of my searches recognize several days at a spread, even though they are free chapter and not otherwise revised. I think what’s happening report that the author is raincloud back in and updating glory publication date so that their fics will show up premier in searches in order divulge increase their readership.

I support authors wanting to promote their fics, and have no problem exempt authors being clever about make use of AO3, but it is untruthful advertising if the fic enquiry not actually recently updated. What I would really like in your right mind to have AO3 fix warmth dating problems so that considering that authors manually change the fashionable of their fics it doesn’t affect the results of “recently updated” searches.

AO3 really needs 3 date fields. One for probity date the work was crowning begun or uploaded to AO3, one for when the complicated was last updated or ready (or finally posted if affront drafts) to AO3, and memory manually adjustable field for authors to indicate that a research paper was first published elsewhere even earlier. The first two comedian should be automatic and wail adjustable by authors. The erelong field would be the helpful that would truly indicate what’s “new” on AO3. This would very help authors who would if not be penalized in searches pretend they backdate a work, mistake for if they post a packed in that has been in delineate status for a few weeks.