AO3: Reading Time & Quality Score

BlackBatCat
2025-09-17T00:54:04Z

Add reading time, chapter reading time, and quality scores to AO3 works with color coding, score normalization and sorting.

AO3: Reading Time & Quality Score

Get a quick feel for any fic at a glance:

Reading Time Bar ⏱️ – see how long it’ll take to read.

NEW - View chapter reading times at the start of works!

Quality Score Bar ⭐ – a smarter kudos/hits ratio that accounts for fic length.

Both features are independent — use one or both

v4 Update – Improved Quality Score Formula:
The Quality Score model has been updated to give more reliable results across all fic lengths. Short works no longer drop too low, and longfics aren’t pushed higher than they should be, leading to a more even score distribution overall. Because this changes how raw scores are calculated, your max score and threshold settings were reset to the new defaults (max raw score is now 22 instead of 32). If you're updating from an older version, you may want to adjust these based on the typical scores in your fandom.

✨ Features

Reading Time

Estimates reading time based on word count.

Fully customizable reading speed (WPM setting) so it matches your pace.

Color thresholds highlight short, medium, and long reads at a glance.

NEW - Chapter Reading Time & Word Count

Provides reading time and word count at the start of the chapter

Three different visual options (Default, Notice, and Time Only)

Quality Score

Uses kudos + hits + word count to calculate engagement.

Formula: kudos per hit, adjusted by (words ÷ 5000)^0.4.

Word-based scoring avoids:

Punishing long fics just for being long.

Rewarding fics split into tiny chapters.

Normalization (optional):

Converts raw scores into a 0–100 scale.

You choose the “max raw score” baseline (default: 22). Fics that score higher than that will appear as "100".

Best practice: Pick a max score that matches the strongest high-performing fics in your fandom, not the single highest outlier. Larger fandoms usually peak a bit lower, smaller ones a bit higher.

Want more forgiving scores? Set the max score lower.

Configurable thresholds color-code scores.

Hide works by score: Optionally filter out works below a minimum quality score threshold.

Hide scores on specific works: Exclude specific works from scoring by work ID—useful for authors who don't want to see scores on their own works.

Highly Customizable

Hide work metrics on blurbs (kudos, hits, bookmarks, and comments)

Three different visual options (Default, Colored, and Bar)

Optional icons to go with Rose Pine site skin or Stat Icons with Hover Text

⚙️ How to Use

⚠️ Important for Chromium-based browsers: If you're using Chrome, Brave, Vivaldi, or Microsoft Edge on PC, an extra activation step is required. Follow these instructions.

1. Install with a userscript manager:

Tampermonkey

Chrome/Chromium

Firefox

Safari

Edge

2. Click Userscripts → Reading Time & Quality Score to open settings.

3. Save your changes for them to go into effect.

🙌 Credits

cupkax’s improved Quality Score script

lomky’s Estimated Reading Time v2

📜 Check out my other scripts:

AO3: Advanced Blocker - Block works on AO3 based on tags, authors, titles, word counts, language, completion status, and much more.

AO3: Site Wizard - Customize fonts and sizes across the entire site, adjust work reader margins, fix spacing issues, and configure text alignment preferences.

AO3: Skin Switcher - Change skins from anywhere on AO3.

AO3: Chapter Shortcuts - Add a customizable shortcut to the latest chapter of works.

AO3: No Re-Kudos - Hide kudos button if you've already left kudos.

AO3: Reorder Ship Tags - Automatically reorder romantic ships (/) before platonic ships (&).

AO3: Auto Pseud - Auto-select pseuds based on fandom when commenting and bookmarking.