‡ Checkmated! ‡

• http://www.checkmated.com/
  
• Ron & Hermione, all ratings, no chanslash.
• Authors' review by Shelly K, site moderator.
• Reader review by MidnightBast

‡ Authors' Review ‡

• Are the rules and terms of submission easy to find?
  Yes.  The submission guidelines can be accessed from a link on our main page. This page lists all of our rules, guidelines, and method of submission.
• Do you supply a beta reader for authors?
  When an author submits a fic to our site, they accept to have their fic betaed by one of our Council members.
• Are you polite about rejecting fics?
  Yes.  Though we haven't had to reject fics very often, we try to be diplomatic and supportive.  We also try to suggest ways of improving the fic, whether it be with grammar pointers or characterization suggestions. 
• Do you remove author's notes or copyright notices without asking the author first?
  We do not ask for disclaimers in our guidelines.  This means we remove any disclaimers authors make with their fic, and substitute our own legal disclaimer.  The reason for this is that some author disclaimers are not legally sufficient to protect the authors and the website from potential lawsuits. As for authors notes, we try to include them as much as possible.
• Do you ever archive fics without permission?
  No.  All fics must be submitted and are subject to approval before they are archived.
• Are you prompt about removing fics at an author's request?
  N/A (It has not happened yet.)
• What is your plagiarism policy...do you investigate or do you take a complainant at their word?
  This issue has not arisen as of yet, however, we believe that plagarism is a very serious offence.  We would have to take all necessary steps to investigate the allegation.  If it is proven that an author has plagarised, we would have to remove their fic.
• Do you update at least once a month?
  Yes.  Though updates can be erratic, due to life, we do try to update at least once per week.
• Do you make it possible for readers to leave feedback?
  Yes.  We have a review forum.
• Is your location stable, or do you move frequently?
  We are always located at http://www.checkmated.com

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‡ Reader review ‡

• Is the site attractive?
  It's ok... I guess. I think they could of made it flow a bit better.
• Is the site easy to navigate? (can you get to all the main sections from every page, or do they rely on the 'back' button an awful lot?)
  Uh, back button is my friend here.
• How selective is the archive? (Are you likely to find a good story?)
  When you submit they beta it. It's a purely subjective site.
• Are they a specialty (ship or genre centric) or general (only ratings restrictions) archive?
  Ron/Hermione must be part of the story but any pairing is ok.
• Is it easy to navigate within multi-chaptered stories?
  Yeah.
• Are there search engines? Are they easy to use?
  It's blunt enough.
• Are the indexes (author, title listings) clearly laid out?
  Yeah.
• Are stories appropriately labelled if they require warnings?
  Yeah (from what I can see).
• How many pages do you have to search through to get to the first story?
  Fourth page.
• Is it easy to leave feedback?
  Yup.
  side note - to reach the r-nc17 fics you must email them with ur b-day to gain admitance - "The Bed Chamber is reserved for the ‘racier’ (adult) stories of the HP Universe . Admission is Restricted to those who are 18 years and older. To gain admittance, please email The Witches’ Council with your birthdate, (day/month/year), as well as the fact you are requesting access to The Bed Chamber, and we will be happy to grant access to those who qualify!"

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