Quote:
Originally Posted by texasnightowl
since this is fanficfare related, I'm going to ask here...in regards to AO3...what seems to give the better result...FanFicFare or using AO3's entire work > download epub option? Thoughts? I haven't done an in depth study so far. Curious if anyone has.
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It depends on your priorities, under normal circumstances. Currently, with Ao3's server issues, FFF is struggling a little with it's normal functionality, so I've been downloading using Ao3's download option for things I'm especially worried about losing a copy of, but as soon as the servers are updated I'm going to re-download everything through FFF.
FFF, in it's totally unmodified form, if you do nothing to customize it and just install the plugin and run with it, creates a totally readable ebook but the metadata can be kind messy both in how it populates into Calibre and how it generates on the title page of the ebook. So, if you prioritize not having to mess around with customizing FFF and Calibre above everything else, just using Ao3's download option will give you a better result because that option lays out the title page like it looks on Ao3 and is therefore neater.
However, if you prioritize having the metadata for the fic show up automatically in Calibre, having the workskin stay attached to the epub, being able to download more than one story at a time (either individually or automatically bundling several into a single epub), and probably other things that I'm not thinking of just off the top of my head, then FFF is hands down the better option under normal circumstances.
If you're struggling with customizing it I wrote up a guide that walks you step by step through what I've done with mine, which I'm happy to link if there's interest, or there's this thread, the r/Calibre subreddit, the GitHub FAQ, and a spinoff thread here on MobileRead specifically about the replace metadata function as resources to help you get it sorted out so that downloaded fics come out to your liking.