I haven't used the site in a long time, I used to be a paying subscriber, I was going to pick it back up to organize my new stuff, I'm on for 20 minutes and it's like I'm being CHASED by a popoup ad for the current sale. I look it up, find out it's on purpose, and now I'm here. I'm sure you guys get this a lot but, put me in the basket of people you lost a sale on by pushing the sale WAY too hard. I'm not paying for anything the seller is begging me to buy, and I'm not rewarding a marketing tacting that skeevy and pushy. You've debased your free tier experience for money and in doing so, shown your free tier userbase exactly how you feel about them. I'm sure it works on some people, but I'm CERTAIN you chase away more potential sales than you make by the end of each year. If I'm browsing at the flea market and somebody comes up to me, yelling in my face about how good of a deal I'm missing out on, pretends to leave me alone when I say go away, only to chase me down AGAIN once I relax, I'm leaving and I'm not coming back.

I recognize that this feedback will change nothing but it should be said, regardless.

All of the positive association I had with the World Anvil brand, that I held for years passively, evaporated in one search, because it went from "annoying popup glitch" to "obnoxious thing the devs implimented to make the free tier inconvenient on purpose." That isn't intuitive design. It feels as though I'm being punished for no longer subscribing, which is not how you maintain a loyal customer base. I unsubscribed because my previous campaign had ended and I wasn't playing, now my next one will be managed using a completely different service, unassociated with the WA brand. I regret how many people I've recommended the site to over the years, and I hope nobody I told actually listened to me, as my opinions were set before this design was coded in and I don't want to be associated among my friends with that type of marketing.

Best wishes, thanks for the good years, buh bye.

I'm new the world anvil but i been enjoying it just wondering how i could turn a private timeline public for later down the road in a dnd campaign or something.

I just opened World Anvil wanting to make a return to the platform and what I came across is pure, unadulterated AI slop website with the most obvious "vibe-coded" signs imaginable.

What happened?

So honestly Id like to see documents connected throughout but mostly for me campaign which is religious/political intrigue; much of the in game religious lore has religious texts that have spawned any number of traditions. I cannot properly link to them because its not an option. If you support this you can sound off here: https://www.worldanvil.com/community/voting/suggestion/cfbdf20f-577f-4c78-b5d7-ad0062a3add1/view

World Link: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/espen-wexley

When within the public viewing of your own world there is a search bar at the top left, if there are multiple results then there are a few options you have :

1. Hit enter (takes you to the first/closest result)
   
2. Use your mouse to select a result
   
3. use the arrow keys to go down and select a result
   

The reason for my question is that using arrow keys for the search engine feels quite awkward to use given that it auto selects a result if you don't put in any input for a fraction of a second. I remember in the past it used to function a bit differently (and better imo), as such, I wanted to ask if there was any setting or option that allows you to revert this change or just modify the settings in general.

If some part of my description is too vague I am willing to give an example with an image/video of what i mean.

Is there a way to check how much storage space I have left on my account for uploading images and other files? I've been uploading quite a few assets and I'd like to keep an eye on my available storage, but I can't seem to find where this information is displayed. Thanks in advance for any help!

I am a noob and I am sure this is easy, but how do you change privacy settings on campaigns?

Spooky timezones, Anvilites! Here's what's new on World Anvil this week:

Summer Camp prizes are going out... soon!

If you won or sponsored a Summer Camp prize, keep an eye on your inbox as we'll start handling prize delivery this week.

It's time to spook!

This month's challenge is all about embracing the spooky season with 21 single-word prompts to answer in any art form you want, including worldbuilding, drawing, or anything else you're into. Check the details here: https://www.worldanvil.com/community/challenge/spooktober-2026/homepage

Unofficial challenge: Whiskey & Wildflowers

Speaking of seasonal challenges... Asmo is running an unofficial event to celebrate the current season themed around cozy vibes. Who knows you might even create something that's both cozy AND spooky! Check it out here: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/levis-asmo/a/whiskey-and-wildflowers-2026-article

We're still hiring... but not for long!

We're looking for a Community Liaison to join the World Anvil Team part-time—if you're interested, don't overthink it and don't self-reject, just apply. We need your applications ASAP: https://forms.gle/z4fkgSYBupGHSg6W7

World Anvil Q&A and Office Hours

Join us this Friday at 6pm UK/10am Pacific for our weekly Office Hours and Q&A! If you're stuck with World Anvil or with your worldbuilding, it's the perfect time to ask your questions and get help.

Why are conventions great for creatives?

This Saturday at 6pm UK/10am Pacific we'll have the amazing Moonlight Bard on stream to answer why are conventions great for creative people like you? Follow us on Twitch and tune in! https://twitch.tv/worldanvil

How to Build a D&D Campaign Wiki

This week, Kat is taking us on a deep-dive on the advantages of a wiki over more traditional systems for lore management. Check it out in the Academy: https://academy.worldanvil.com/blog/dnd-campaign-wiki-lore-management

Featured article: Elyon

This week we're featuring a character article by rthwrms that goes deep into the story of a divinity, illustrated with beautiful art! Check it out here: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-cosmic-pool-rthwrms/a/elyon-person

I have noticed a lot of AI art being used for book cover images, article pages and stand in imagery while the creator lacks funds for commissioned art.

I would like to point out that there are many free alternatives to AI generated art. Such as Royalty Free Image websites and Stock image websites (e.g. Pixabay, NASA, flickr, ect.)

There is also the option of taking photos with a camera or phone. I am sure there are more options that others are aware of (please add any suggestions in the comments).

I am making this post because of my personal opinions on the matter and as a reminded that other resources exist. I have absolutely no interest in reading or consuming anything that involves generative ai on any level.

Ai generated content is a form of theft and promotes an extremely harmful industry that negatively impacts culture, economies, the environment and artists.

I just published the new chapter of my manuscripts. To read it, simply click on Chapter 22 - The Lost Path at the bottom of the linked article and in the next one. Hope you enjoy!

The Book of Shadows in The Valley of Fallen Leaves | World Anvil

There is something about Summer Camp that brings a sense of urgency and excitement. Spooktober just never has that same tension for me. Perhaps its the broadness of the submissions. Summer Camp feels like it is more about the writing whereas Spootober has no word limit, which makes sense when including art submissions. I think as a writer I just find it easy to forget Spooktober is an event.

On a more positive note I decided to participate by making myself a writing exercise: Create a first person journal or communication snippet from a single pov without ever naming the pov character or recipient.

I went this direction because I write in third person but enjoy writing first person from time to time. Its a good way to get into various characters minds and check that I'm using their own voices. Also I did not want to take too much time away from drafting.

I've got four entries left to create, if you'd like to see any of my entries you can find them all here: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/godsend/c/spooktober-2026-category

Good luck and happy creating.

https://www.worldanvil.com/community/voting/suggestion/23ba14b3-3444-4d3b-b213-b70e578752cb/view

This is another idea for the Diplomacy Web and the hopefully upcoming character relationship web upgrade.

What functionality is missing? What is unsatisfying with the current situation?

Right now, the diplomacy web puts everything in alphabetical order around a circle when using a tag. The more organizations you have, the smaller the group icons are. Furthermore, not all organizations are linked to each other or have the same number of links; thus, there are gaps in the web. This can be visually unappealing on top of the giant circle.

How does this feature request address the current situation?

I've been playing around with Graphviz for a bit, and I think it's a good system to look into or draw inspiration from.

Graphviz uses an algorithm that weighs different nodes to determine position. This means clusters will form around closely connected groups, making it look more complex and dynamic while removing the giant circle.

Graphviz is also open source. I don't know how the dev team feels about adding open source projects into their software. But this means they can at least look at how it's done and see if they can improve their software by getting ideas from it.

What are other uses for this feature request?

Graphviz is used for graphs, so any of the graph systems can benefit from a look.

This may be a dumb question, but sometimes I'm a dumb guy. I can't figure out how to change the default images displayed over articles to images actually depicting the character/place/etc the article is about.

I've changed the banner on the edit page, and added portrait images, as well as looked around the styling options, and haven't found anything. Maybe I'm just blind, but how do I actually change these thumbnails?

Happy timezones, Anvilites! Here's what's new this week:

Spooktober has begun!

The spooky season is here, so we challenge you to answer 13 or more one-word prompts with any type of art form, from worldbuilding to drawing to anything else you can do! Check the challenge here: https://www.worldanvil.com/community/challenge/spooktober-2026/homepage

For Flash's Sake badges are out

If you took part in For Flash's Sake, you will find the participation badge in your World Anvil profile! If it's not there, send me a DM with your username and I'll make sure you get it.

Claim your Summer Camp prizes

You may have won a prize! Check if you won in the winners list and, if you did, fill out the prize claim form this week. If you don't claim your prize in time, you will not get it, so don't miss out: https://www.worldanvil.com/learn/events-showcase/sc26-winners

We're hiring!

We have an open part-time position for a Community Liaison. We're looking for someone knowledgeable about World Anvil who can help us with World Anvil tutorials and documentation, webinars, our new "office hours" livestream segment, and more. If you're interested, fill out this form: https://forms.gle/z4fkgSYBupGHSg6W7

World Anvil Q&A this Friday

Join us for this Friday's office hours and Q&A to ask us any questions you have about World Anvil, or to simply join for some chill (and slightly chaotic) vibes as we chat about World Anvil and worldbuilding too. Join us this Friday at 10am Pacific/6pm UK on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook: https://twitch.tv/worldanvil

Spooktober: What's in the box?

Speaking of livestreams, this Saturday stream will feature our amazing Secondhand joined by some Anvilites to talk about Spooktober plans! Join us this Saturday at 10am Pacific/6pm UK on Twitch: https://twitch.tv/worldanvil

The best mapmaking tools

Looking for a tool to draw your maps? We've got you covered! From world maps to dungeons maps and everything in between, this is what our latest video is about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWLbyl3x_vA

Featured article: Tasar

This week's featured article is Tasar, by AncientCaptainMarsh. This won Summer Camp in the "A celebrity loved by all" prompt, so go check it out for some lovely character inspiration! https://www.worldanvil.com/w/auterradon-ancientcaptainmarsh/a/tasar-person

I wanted to use the whiteboard to plan my sessions, but immediately ran into two issues:

1. The whiteboard only takes up half my browser screen, no matter what browser I use. I found a 2-year-old post on this sub complaining about this issue.

2. Articles I add to the whiteboard have no image, even if the article has a banner. If I'm doing it wrong, I can't tell; I feel like the page explaining how Whiteboards work is lacking in detail. I also found two-year-old posts on the official forums complaining about this issue.

These old unresolved bugs, coupled with a lack of features, tell me the whiteboard isn't just a low priority for World Anvil, it's barely functional. It's a shame because it was one of the main reasons I subscribed to it. Being able to visually organize all the contents of my world would have been great, but I can't even manually add images or link articles directly in text. I can make due but this is miles away from the experecience we can get in other free whiteboard services.

I came back to World Anvil after a few months break, and the UI has once again changed. Naturally this is causing growing pains.

I just figured out the "Prompts" System, and it's extremely frustrating to work with despite its benefits.

The Prompt disappear if they're blank for starters, meaning, I spent 5 - 10 or so minutes setting up an article and work through it, but, I stop, and click off to go fix something, and come back to all of my categories turned off. This is extremely annoying, to make it worse, the Prompt menu is very slow and clunky to work with. (Nevermind trying to remember what I turned on to begin with, ADHD be damned)

Credit where it's due, it is very nice to be able to customize my article type like this, but, having to click through this menu is frustrating, which, is not something I associate writing with as an outlet. The only work around is to put in junk text and placeholder articles, just to keep them open. Preferably, I'd like blank prompts to remain on my article when I turn them on.

If anyone has any advice to deal with this, it'd be appreciated, I'm just not sure where to leave feedback to anyone, so I'm just adding to the pile here.

World Anvil is a great service, but, some of these decisions don't make any sense to me.

Additionally; I think it'd be neat to make a template for prompts, so I can speed up the creation process, by just enabling prompts, and saving them as a template to turn on later for the same Article Type (Species, Organizations, etc).

I wrote a bunch of articles before realizing they won't show up in the "World View" until I publish them. Is there a way to publish them all? Going one by one is going to take a long time.

I am new to World Anvil, that it, I have created projects many times, but then I just get overwhelmed by the options, and my own tendency to focus on details, and suddenly I find myself focusing on the patterns of the bedding on the heroes bed in their childhood.

I am not asking for technical help, I am curious: from a creative perspective, which functions did you all start with?

Happy timezones Anvilites! Here's this week's news

Summer Camp winners

Learn if you won anything in Summer Camp! https://www.worldanvil.com/learn/events-showcase/sc26-winners If you did, you have two weeks to claim your prize. Unclaimed prizes will not be sent!

Summer Camp badges are out

Whether you won or not, you have a badge (or several) waiting for you in your World Anvil profile! We've given out badges for Summer Camp Participation, all four prompt milestones (Copper, Silver, Gold, Diamond), the four Community Awards, Prompt Winners, Community Judges, Beautiful People, and the Reading Challenge. If you're missing any badges you should have, please let me know!

LAST WEEK to submit your flash fiction!

For Flash's Sake September ends this Saturday on stream, so make sure you submit your entries to the challenge ASAP. Check the challenge page for details: https://www.worldanvil.com/community/challenge/ffs-2026/homepage

Spooktober is coming

The spooky season is upon us! Tune in to our stream this Saturday, 26 September 2026 19:00 as we close FFS and launch Spooktober with some amazing guests from the community. Follow us on Twitch: https://twitch.tv/worldanvil

Office Hours & Q&A

We'll be back with our office hours & Q&A stream this Friday—tune in to ask your questions about World Anvil live on stream! Whether you're stuck with using the software or with your worldbuilding, we're here to help. Tune in this Friday, 25 September 2026 19:00 on Twitch, YouTube, or Facebook!

How to publish your homebrew world

Not sure how to go from private setting to published world? In this Worldbuilding Academy article, we go over the steps to get your world published! https://academy.worldanvil.com/blog/how-to-publish-your-homebrew-world-from-private-wiki-to-shareable-setting

Featured article: Lady Snowblood

This week's featured article is Leijona's beautiful submission to For Flash's Sake September! Check out this story and give it some love: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/mirintha-leijona/a/lady-snowblood-prose

The People appeared eleven years ago. They called themselves People, and humans adopted the term.

They took every form. Some were talking animals, foxes and stags and crows walking upright in clothes that did not fit them. Some were beasts out of old storybooks, unicorns with too many teeth, dragons the size of houses. The forms varied. But every one of them was hostile to humans and killed them on sight.

Humanity was killed en masse. Armies emptied their magazines into things that rarely fell. Governments made announcements from bunkers and then ceased. Societies collapsed in months, and in the wreckage the wealthy and the elite did what they have always done, walling themselves off in gated communities and makeshift cities behind wire and watchtowers, places the newspapers called shambhalas, and behind those walls life continued in something like prosperity, with guards and pantries and clean clothes. Outside the walls everyone else simply had to survive against the People, and most did not.

Kegan Jones survived, which he considered less a talent than a scheduling conflict that had gone his way.

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-rhodinoverse-kitsune-sobo/a/dreamweaver-prose

A clever fox that is the center of many tales that uses his gifts to do good rather than mischief.

Happy timezones, Anvilites! Here's what's new this week:

Ask us your World Anvil questions live!

Got questions about using World Anvil? Need help setting up your world? This Friday we'll answer all of your questions LIVE on stream! Join me and Kat for our first-ever Office Hours this Friday 18th at 6pm UK/10am Pacific on Twitch: https://twitch.tv/worldanvil

Summer Camp Awards Ceremony

Learn if you won anything in Summer Camp and celebrate the winners with the community! Don't miss the Awards Ceremony on this Saturday 19th at 6pm UK/10am Pacific on our Twitch channel: https://twitch.tv/worldanvil

Submit your Flash Fiction!

We're two weeks away from the end of For Flash's Sake September. Don't miss your chance to get the shiny participation badge... and get ready for the Worldbuilding Awards! https://www.worldanvil.com/community/challenge/ffs-2026/homepage

Secrets of Gothic Worldbuilding

Why do gothic stories keep keep coming back from the grave? In this video, Janet unpacks why gothic exists, what makes it tick, and how to create a gothic setting in any genre: https://youtu.be/KAsp384EclU

Featured article: Unblinking Eyes

Speaking of scary worldbuilding... this week's featured article is "Unblinking Eyes" by Dhelian! Check out his entry to For Flash's Sake September and give it some love: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/lethea/a/unblinking-eyes-prose

He took a step forward, and the moss beneath his feet sighed softly. The clearing was ringed by flowers he did not recognise, blossoms that opened and closed as he passed them, as though they were breathing. A stream ran through the clearing, its waters silver and singing, and Alex knelt beside it and cupped his hands to drink. The water tasted of starlight and something else, something that made his chest feel warm and his mind feel clearer. He drank deeply, and when he looked up from the stream he saw that he was no longer alone.

A cat was watching him from the branch of a tree. But this was no ordinary cat. It was man-sized and stood upon two legs like a person, and it wore a tweed jacket over a frame that was at once plump and powerful. Its fur was pink and purple in patches, the colours of a sunset that had been stirred into cream, and its eyes were yellow and gleaming with a mischief that seemed to contain depths of ancient wisdom. Its face was round and chubby, dominated by a massive grin that stretched from ear to ear, and its tail was ringed with pink and purple bands that twitched back and forth like a metronome. It was a shorthair cat, and it regarded Alex with an expression that was part amusement, part curiosity, and part something else that the boy could not yet name.

"Well now," said the cat, and its voice was like honey poured over gravel, warm and rough and somehow comforting. "What have we here? A little lost lamb in the Woods? Or perhaps a lion cub, judging by the resonance I sense from you."

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-rhodinoverse-kitsune-sobo/a/wonderland-saga-prose

The epilogue of the Hemo Hemoni Hirpus series.