Searching and Filtering Stories

Searching and filtering stories

Use the search field in the header when you know a title, subject, chapter, or author you want to find. Enter a few meaningful words and choose Search.

Choose the result type

Search results can be switched between:

• Stories, for complete story entries;
• Chapters, for individual branches and scenes when you are signed in with a fully active ; s that are still limited do not see this option;
• Authors, for member profiles.

The header search normally begins with stories. On a search page, changing the result type keeps the search term while showing a different kind of match.

Refine story and chapter results

The filter can narrow results by:

• Feature: Customizable or Game mode;
• Release date: recently published material;
• Chapter depth: the depth of a story's branches;
• Narrative POV: 1st Person, 2nd Person, 3rd Person, or Mixed; chapter results call this Story narrative POV;
• POV character gender: Female, Male, Non-binary, or Multiple genders; chapter results call this Story POV character gender;
• Category;
• Language.

Filters combine with one another. For example, you can look for recently released Game Mode stories in one language and category. The active-filter count shows when filters are applied; choose Clear filters to remove them.

These two POV filters use the story-wide choices set by the author. Mixed finds stories marked as switching between narrative styles; it does not automatically appear when you select one of the three individual Narrative POV choices. Multiple genders finds stories marked as switching among viewpoint characters of different genders; it does not match every individual POV character gender choice.

For chapter results, Story narrative POV and Story POV character gender use the containing story's settings. A matching chapter may use a different narrative style or viewpoint character when the story changes between branches or chapters.

An older story may have Unspecified as its POV character gender because no choice was recorded. It is not included when you select Non-binary.

Chapter and author searches show only the filters that apply to those results.

Sort the results

Story and chapter results can be sorted by Relevance, Release date, Last activity, Chapter depth, Most Likes, or Most viewed. Story results also offer Most alternative paths, which puts stories with the greatest number of extra routes first. Choice Points break ties between stories with the same number of alternative paths.

Author results can be sorted by Relevance, Last activity, Stories, Chapters, Likes received, or Awards.

When you enter a search term, Relevance is usually the best starting point. When browsing without a term, Last activity is useful for finding current work.

Search by category or tag

Choosing a category or tag elsewhere on CHYOA opens a filtered search page. The selected category or tag appears in the page heading.

A tag search matches the tag authors added to their stories or chapters. Tags are not a fixed directory, so try spelling variants or a normal text search if a tag produces few results.

Search tips

• Start with two or three distinctive words rather than a full sentence.
• Search the author's name and switch to Authors when looking for a person.
• Switch to Chapters when the phrase may appear in a branch rather than a story title.
• Remove one filter at a time if the result is too narrow.
• Use Customizable for reader-variable stories and Game mode for saved-state stories; they are separate features.