We  thought things might be a little confusing for the first time visitor, so we've compiled this list to try to make things easier.  Did we miss something? Please contact us and let us know.

How does this archive work?

Can anybody nominate a story?

I don't understand these strange ratings.

How often can I vote?

What are our standards for what makes a good story?

Who does the judging?

My story was nominated, but not selected.  Why?

If my story isn't voted in, can it be entered again?

Can I nominate stories I wrote myself?

I'm an author.  How will I know if one of my stories has been nominated?

Is there any way I can help with the archive?

Who's in charge around here, anyway?

Why didn't you use any JAG screen caps or the JAG logo?

One of my favorite stories features an alternate pairing.  Does it have any chance of getting in?  I know most readers are H/M shippers...

I nominated a story a long time ago, but I still haven't seen it on the site.  What's taking so long?

How come I can't see the poll results?

I should assume I'll see all of Pixie's stories here, right?  I mean, isn't this her site?

Is there a limit on the number of stories I can nominate?

I sent you my story, but I've not heard anything, nor has it shown up on the nominees page.  What's the holdup?

Help!  I tried to vote and got a message that I'd already voted - but I know I haven't!  What am I doing wrong?

How does this archive work? 

Step 1:  Bella Sarmageddon visits Legacies.  She absolutely adores a story she's seen on the net called "The Times That Try Our Souls." Bella finds her way to the nominations page, and decides to nominate the story for archival.

Step 2: Bella nominates "Times" either by completing the form on the Legacies web site, or by emailing her nomination to the group.  The nomination process requires her to tell us not only the story title, but also the name of its author and where we can find said author.  It does not require her to contact the author on her own, though she certainly may if she would like to.

Step 3: After we receive the nomination, a Legacies volunteer sends an email to the author.  The email explains the concept behind Legacies and requests the author's permission for the nomination to go forward.

Step 4:  If the nomination is approved by the author, the story is posted in the nominees section of the archive, along with a web poll.

Step 5:  "Times" remains a nominee for 2 weeks, during which time several hundred people (Hey, we're optimists!) read it and vote.

Step 6:  At the end of two weeks, one of 2 things can happen.  Either A) "Times" will have received a majority of "yes" votes and is moved to the permanent collection.  Or B) The story receives a majority of "no" votes, and is removed from the site.

Can anybody nominate a story?  

Absolutely, and we hope many of you will! 

I don't understand these ratings.

Ahh yes.  Those troublesome ratings.  You might be wondering why we don't just use the ones everybody recognizes - G, PG, PG13, etc.  It's because the MPAA has let it be known that they own that ratings system, and they don't appreciate us borrowing it for our own use.  Rather than fight them, an enterprising fan (thanks Radiorox) came up with a new system that we like and have implemented here.
 

How often can I vote?  

You may vote once for each nomination. If we suspect irregularities in a poll, that vote will be invalidated. If the polling system is repeatedly abused, we may have to consider disbanding the site.

What are our standards for what makes a good story? 

Therein lies the beauty of this project.  If it works as designed, our standards will be irrelevant.  The readers will decide what makes a good story.

Who does the judging?  

You do! 

My story was nominated, but not selected.  Why?   

It's an unfortunate fact that not every story will survive the voting process.  Since every individual who reads your story and places a vote will have his or her own reasons for voting the way they do, it would obviously be impossible for anybody at Legacies to answer the inevitable "why" question. Don't despair, though.  Your story can always be nominated again by another fan and may fare better on its second time around.

If my story isn't voted in, can it be entered again?  

Yes, but the resubmission would have to come from a different fan. Also, nominations will not be accepted for any story that has been voted down three times.

Can I nominate stories I wrote myself? 

Unfortunately, no.  The whole purpose of this site is for the readers to choose the stories themselves.  However, feel free to nominate your own favorite stories written by other authors. A word of warning here.  If we suspect that a pair or small group of authors and/or readers is working together and consistently nominating a certain author or authors' stories, we may be forced to ban the stories of the individuals involved from the archive.

I'm an author.  How will I know if a story I wrote has been nominated? 

If one of your stories is nominated, and if we are able to locate your email address (finding this is primarily the responsibility of the person nominating your story), we will contact you via email to ask your permission to post your story in the nominations section of the Legacies archive. We won't post any story without the author's written consent. 

Is there any way I can help with the archive? 

Send us an email, and we'll see what we can work out. 

Who's in charge around here, anyway? 

The idea for this site was Pixie's and she handled the basic site set up.  The Captain and Musicgirl deserve kudos for their help with site design (and for their boundless patience in listening to Pixie's endless requests to 'look at this' or 'try that.').  Lska has been an awesome sounding board, and pointed out some possible pitfalls that we might've overlooked without her help.  Samartyne did a great job on the nominations letter, and Harmnmacfan asked the questions everybody wanted to know but didn't dare ask. Soleil helped us wrap it all up with a neat and tidy bow by bravely allowing us to use one of her lovely stories as a test subject. Many others have had a hand in this, if only in their offers of support and encouragement.  For a complete list of our current team members, look here.

Why didn't you use any JAG screen caps or the JAG logo? 

Fanfiction is a legal gray area - technically an infringement of copyright law by its very nature.  Fortunately, Bellisarius Productions, CBS Television, and Paramount Entertainment have so far allowed allow us to express our creativity without harassment or legal threats. It would be a more blatant infringement of their rights to use either JAG screen caps or the JAG logo. In an effort to avoid unwanted legal attention, we made a conscious decision not to use any of that information. In addition, if this site owner ever receives a complaint from the powers that be, Legacies will have to come down.  

One of my favorite stories features an alternate pairing.  Does it have any chance of getting in?  I know most readers are H/M shippers... 

We're taking every precaution we can to make sure that every author's story has an equal chance of making it into the permanent collection. We know that some fans, even though asked not to vote on stories that feature AP's (alternate pairings), will vote anyway, and they'll vote no.  This disturbs us, and we've taken steps to try to avoid it happening, but there are no guarantees.

I nominated a story a long time ago, but I still haven't seen it on the site.  What's taking so long?  

There are a lot of factors that determine when a story shows up on the nominees page.  We anticipate nominations coming in faster than the stories can go through the voting process, especially at first. That means each story will have to wait its turn to get posted.  Also, we won't post any story until we've received the author's approval.  We all have busy lives, and sometimes this process may take a while. If, by some chance, an author does not want their story archived at Legacies, we will let you know at the email address you sent us in your nomination.

How come I can't see the poll results? 

We realize that not showing you the poll results may seem like a nefarious scheme to control what goes into the permanent collection and what doesn't.  The truth is, we decided not to publicize the poll results in order to protect the authors' privacy.  It would be bad enough to know that your story got voted down without knowing how many people voted against it.  And if your story gets voted in, do you really want to know that it was only by one vote?  That said, the Legacies webmaster maintains records of the final poll results for every story.  If you'd like to know how a story did, just ask.

I should assume I'll see all of Pixie's stories here, right?  I mean, isn't this her site?  

Technically it's her site in that she's paying the server fees, and she did build it.  But no. You won't automatically see her stories here.  Why?  Because she has to go through the same nomination process everybody else does. In fact, she's taken it one step further and asked that nobody from the Legacies staff nominate each other's work.  This helps insure that if her work (or any other volunteer staff member's work) does get nominated, there's no appearance of preferential treatment.

Is there a limit on the number of stories I can nominate?

No.  You can nominate as many stories as you like, but we do ask that you only nominate each story once.  If you nominate one, and it isn't selected for the permanent collection, a different fan will need to submit it the second time.

I sent you my story quite a while ago, but I've not heard anything, nor has it shown up on the nominees page.  What's the holdup?

There could be a lot of answers to this question. Every story we receive has to be formatted and html encoded.  Some authors may also request that we beta read their work for mechanical errors.  Also, we're only adding 3 stories a week to the site.  It's entirely possible that we have a backlog. If you're concerned, contact us and we'll do our best to explain the delay. 

Help!  I tried to vote and got a message that I'd already voted - but I know I haven't!  What am I doing wrong?

You aren't doing anything wrong.  The polling service we're using for Legacies tracks IP addresses in order to prevent people from voting multiple times.  The system works great...most of the time.  Unfortunately, people who use shared IP addresses (including AOL users, University students, and library/internet cafe users) may be told they've already voted even though they haven't. If you continue to have this problem, you can send your vote by email. We apologize for any inconvenience.