[Plugin] SpecialCharacterConfig – GUI editor for Sigil's custom special characters

[BeckyEbook]

Updated: September 24, 2026
Current Version: 0.1.4
Status: Beta
Plugin type: edit

Plugin icon:


How it works:
SpecialCharacterConfig is a GUI editor for Sigil's custom special character configuration, which is a new feature introduced in Sigil 2.8.5.

The plugin:

• creates and edits special character groups;
• allows Unicode characters to be searched and added;
• allows character labels and descriptions to be edited;
• allows the same character to be placed in multiple groups;
• allows groups to be added, renamed, and deleted;
• opens existing special_characters.xml files;
• supports Save and Save As...;
• creates a backup when overwriting an existing configuration.

The configuration is stored in Sigil's optional special_characters.xml file. Sigil uses this file after it is restarted.

The plugin does not replace Sigil's built-in special character set unless the user deliberately creates and saves a special_characters.xml configuration for Sigil.

This also makes it possible to maintain several different personal character sets and switch between them simply by saving the desired configuration as special_characters.xml.

Installation:
1. Select Manage Plugins from the Plugins menu. In the Manage Plugins dialog box, select Use Bundled Python, if it isn't already selected. (If your Sigil version doesn't have a Use Bundled Python option, click one of the Auto buttons to detect the path or Set to manually select the Python interpreter path.)
2. Click Add Plugin and select SpecialCharacterConfig_v0.X.Y.zip. This will install the SpecialCharacterConfig plugin, which you can then run via Plugins > Edit > SpecialCharacterConfig.

Issues:
This is a beta release. Feedback, bug reports, and suggestions are welcome.

In particular, testing on different operating systems, Unicode ranges, and larger character collections would be useful.

OS Requirements:
Windows, Linux, and macOS should be supported.
Tested on Windows 10 and 11 with Sigil 2.8.5 prerelease. It should also work on Linux and macOS.
*** Linux users will have to make sure that the PySide6 module is present if it's not already. ***

Sigil Requirements:
Minimum version of Sigil: 2.8.5 beta.

Credits/Thanks:
Special thanks to KevinH for implementing support for custom special character groups in Sigil and for his help in defining the XML format used by the plugin.

The plugin itself was developed with the assistance of GPT (vibe coding). It turned out to be a particularly interesting example of using AI-assisted development for a real Qt/Python application.

License/Copying: GNU LGPL Version 2 or Version 3, your choice. Any other license terms are only available directly from the author in writing.

[BeckyEbook]

Change Log

v0.1.4
- First public beta release.
- GUI editor for Sigil's special_characters.xml configuration file.
- Create, open, edit, and save custom special-character configurations.
- Manage groups and add Unicode characters with a searchable character picker.
- Edit character labels and descriptions.
- Save As support for maintaining multiple personal character sets.
- Automatic .bak backup when overwriting an existing XML file.
- Compatible with Sigil 2.8.5 beta and newer.
- Changes take effect after restarting Sigil.

[DNSB]

I moved the ¥ sign to currency, added a few more currency symbols, some bits and bobs from my old saved symbols. Saved, restarted Sigil and looked good.

Only issue is that I could not find a way to move an item so ended up deleting the ¥ sign and recreating it.