Metadata cleanup

Make inconsistent source tags more useful before saving them

We get tags from AO3 and other supported sites. FanFicFare can modify them—for example, by cleaning up inconsistent names—before writing them into your Calibre database.

Every code block on this page goes in FanFicFare’s personal.ini. Open FanFicFare → Edit personal.ini, find or create an [archiveofourown.org] section, and place one add_to_replace_metadata: heading beneath it. Add the indented cleanup rules below that heading; do not repeat the heading for every group.

Each rule has three parts: the FanFicFare metadata field to change, the text or pattern to find, and its replacement. The parts are separated by =>. These examples use the AO3 section so they do not unexpectedly change metadata from other sites.

Normalize fandom names

add_to_replace_metadata:
    category=>^Sherlock$=>Sherlock (BBC TV 2010)
    category=>^Sherlock \(BBC\)$=>Sherlock (BBC TV 2010)

Both rules produce the same name. Sherlock becomes Sherlock (BBC TV 2010), and Sherlock (BBC) also becomes Sherlock (BBC TV 2010). The ^ and $ mean that the whole fandom name must match, so a longer, unrelated value containing the word Sherlock is left alone.

Remove fandom qualifiers from relationships

AO3 sometimes adds a fandom in parentheses after a character name. This removes parenthetical qualifiers from relationship values so they take less room:

    ships=> \([^)]+\)=>

For example, Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock)/John Watson (Sherlock) becomes Sherlock Holmes/John Watson. The empty space after the final => means “replace the matched text with nothing.” This rule removes any parenthetical text preceded by a space, not only fandom names, so skip it if that information matters to you.

Normalize original-character names

    ships=>(?i)Original Male Character(\(s\)|s|)=>OMC
    ships=>(?i)Original Female Character(\(s\)|s|)=>OFC
    ships=>(?i)Original Character(\(s\)|s|)=>OC

    characters=>(?i)^Original Male Character(\(s\)|s|)$=>OMC
    characters=>(?i)^Original Female Character(\(s\)|s|)$=>OFC
    characters=>(?i)^Original Character(\(s\)|s|)$=>OC

For ships, a value such as Sherlock Holmes/Original Male Character(s) becomes Sherlock Holmes/OMC. In the Characters field, a complete value such as Original Female Character becomes OFC. (?i) makes the match ignore uppercase and lowercase differences, and the middle part accepts common singular and plural spellings.

Clean friendship labels

    ships=>(.*)[/&](.*) \(?[Ff]riendship(?: only)\)?=>\1 & \2
    ships=> - Relationship=>

The first rule changes a value such as Character A/Character B (Friendship) to Character A & Character B. The second removes the text ` - Relationship` when AO3 includes it in a ship value.

Apply and test the rules

Save personal.ini, then download or update one test fic. Check the columns that receive Fandoms, Relationships, or Characters before applying the rules more widely. If you enabled saved metadata, you can also use Update Calibre Metadata from Saved Metadata Column to reprocess a fic without contacting AO3 again.

Limitations

These rules change values when FanFicFare next processes a book; they do not immediately rewrite existing Calibre rows. A broad rule can alter an unrelated tag, and AO3 may change tag wording. Test a few books before applying a large cleanup list.