History Main / ArchiveTrawl

Fans of long-standing series often find themselves confused about just what happened when and where, and as a result may go back and watch or read through a large section of the series - or even [[ArchiveBinge the whole run]] - in order to refresh their memories or bolster some particular fan theories they hold. This is especially common in WebComics fandoms, where easy access to the whole series archive makes it all too tempting to drop what you are doing and look for that particular scene you just ''know'' happened in a certain StoryArc...

* Given its sheer size, ''Webcomic/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' tends to cause this due to the sheer number of characters and intersecting storylines. It gets even worse if it's only a single scene that you have in mind, the wiki only partially allays these problems.

* The random button on Wiki/ThisVeryWiki can have this effect.

** The fact that the comic has a list of named strips make it easier, but since the strip names are mostly punny titles with little or nothing to do with the strip in question, this makes a trawl harder than just sifting through, say, an episode list.

* The random button on [[ThisWiki this very wiki]] can have this effect.

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** ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', ''UserFriendly'', ''LeastICouldDo'', and ''QuestionableContent'' for example.
** ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'' started links to past strips some time during Year 13, with only a sporatic reference in earlier strips (e.g. one reference)

* Given its sheer size, ''SurvivalOfTheFittest'' tends to cause this due to the sheer number of characters and intersecting storylines. It gets even worse if it's only a single scene that you have in mind, the wiki only partially allays these problems.

* Webcomic/BittersweetCandyBowl even has a section of the website devoted to new readers so that they can catch up relatively quickly without reading every single one of the old chapters. It still recommends that the new reader read over a hundred old pages, plus everything after the artist started to use digital coloring.

* Pete Abrams of ''SluggyFreelance'' adds links to relevant past strips and plotlines upon uploading any comic that needs them. Thankfully, the site's designed so that the links stay with the strips.
* Amber Williams of ''DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' occasionally refers to relevant past strips in the commentary that appears below newer strips.

* ''{{Megatokyo}}'' now has a searchable archive. It's a good thing, considering it has over 1,300 strips.

* Averted by ''IrregularWebcomic'', which has a search function that lets you search the strips by theme, by any word in the dialogue, or even by the annotations. Good thing too, as it has over 3,000 strips.

* ''DominicDeegan'''s archive is broken down by chapters. Some of them can be pretty lengthy, though.
* Gordon [=McAlpin=] of ''{{Multiplex}}'' does an excellent job of providing "related strips" links for pretty much every comic.
* Like [[SluggyFreelance Pete Abrams]] and [[DanAndMabsFurryAdventures Amber Williams]], Dan Shive of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' adds links to relevant past strips in his commentary so occasional readers aren't confused by events that happened months ago in real time but mere days ago in WebComicTime.

* BittersweetCandyBowl even has a section of the website devoted to new readers so that they can catch up relatively quickly without reading every single one of the old chapters. It still recommends that the new reader read over a hundred old pages, plus everything after the artist started to use digital coloring.

** They fixed the search, and clip tagging is improving. Unfortunately, as this makes {{Archive Trawl}}s easier, it also makes [[ArchiveBinge Archive]] ''[[ArchiveBinge Binges]]'' more tempting. ''Series/TheColbertReport'' still has this problem, however.