[GUI Plugin] FanFicFare - Page 753

SilentShadow123 · 09-23-2025, 03:17 PM

[QUOTE=SilentShadow123;4538623]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

Multiple replies.

Look at ProblematicSites wiki page, toward the bottom for AO3 and Browser Cache.

Hi Jimm, thanks for the help, but I have a few questions if you don't mind.

1. So you are saying that I have to use Browser Cache now that using archiveofourown.gay won't let me download restricted works?

2. In trying to use the Browser Cache Method, I don't understand "While using Browser Cache Feature with AO3, you should comment out always_login and username under [archiveofourown.org] in personal.ini." I don't have a section for [archiveofourown.org] in my personal.ini or either of these.

3. Where would I place "open_pages_in_browser:true" in my personal.ini? Is it required for downloading restricted works, or just adult works?

4. Is the Browser Cache Method the same as what we do for Fanfiction.net? The method where we open up each page of a fanfiction to collect the cache?

Thanks again.

Hello, I'm sorry to bother you, but can I ask whether my questions were purposefully left unanswered? Did I say something wrong? If so, please let me know, and I'll avoid this in the future.

JimmXinu · 09-23-2025, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentShadow123

Hello, I'm sorry to bother you, but can I ask whether my questions were purposefully left unanswered? Did I say something wrong? If so, please let me know, and I'll avoid this in the future.

I have answered variations of these questions so many times I honestly just don't have the energy every time they come up again. Sometimes other users will chime it, but I guess they're tired, too.

But since you insist:

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentShadow123

1. So you are saying that I have to use Browser Cache now that using archiveofourown.gay won't let me download restricted works?

I offered that as a possible solution, yes.

Sadly, there isn't a perfect turn-key solution for FFF to download from AO3 anymore. Some options work for some users but not others. I blame AI companies mass harvesting the entire web that forces sites to defend themselves from automated access--which is what FFF is.

Even if you can't get FFF to download AO3 at all, there's still AO3's own Download > EPUB feature.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentShadow123

2. In trying to use the Browser Cache Method, I don't understand "While using Browser Cache Feature with AO3, you should comment out always_login and username under [archiveofourown.org] in personal.ini." I don't have a section for [archiveofourown.org] in my personal.ini or either of these.

Then you don't need to comment them out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentShadow123

3. Where would I place "open_pages_in_browser:true" in my personal.ini? Is it required for downloading restricted works, or just adult works?

Editing personal.ini sometimes requires adding sections. To quote from an earlier post:

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

Using browser cache instead still works for me:

Code:

[archiveofourown.org]
use_browser_cache:true
use_browser_cache_only:true
open_pages_in_browser:true

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentShadow123

4. Is the Browser Cache Method the same as what we do for Fanfiction.net? The method where we open up each page of a fanfiction to collect the cache?

Mostly, yes. But it's easier to use open_pages_in_browser:true instead of manually clicking through chapters because FFF's AO3 code adds a parameter when is_adult:true.

wildfire070 · 09-23-2025, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

My first suspicion would be your chapter_start setting includes <br> tags and that's where it's coming from.

From CustomOutput wiki page:

Ah...thank you. I did at one point add <br/> to chapter_start but failed to make the connection to the issue

My intention was to add a single line break between the chapter title and the story/body text. Toward the end of the chapter_start setting, I did have it set up as:

Code:

<body class="fff_chapter">
 <h3 class="fff_chapter_title">${origchapter}</h3>
 <br/>

Should I change it to this instead?

Code:

<body class="fff_chapter">
 <h3 class="fff_chapter_title">${origchapter}</h3>
 <br class="skip_on_ffdl_update"></br>

Also, any recommendations on how to add a line break between Author Notes at the beginning of chapters and the story/body text?

JimmXinu · 09-23-2025, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildfire070

Should I change it to this instead?

Code:

<body class="fff_chapter">
 <h3 class="fff_chapter_title">${origchapter}</h3>
 <br class="skip_on_ffdl_update"></br>

Also, any recommendations on how to add a line break between Author Notes at the beginning of chapters and the story/body text?

I would expect that to work, yes.

I'd use custom CSS for spacing around author notes. Actually, I'd use that instead of the <br>, too. Add a margin-bottom on .fff_chapter_title.

SilentShadow123 · 09-23-2025, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

I have answered variations of these questions so many times I honestly just don't have the energy every time they come up again. Sometimes other users will chime it, but I guess they're tired, too.

But since you insist:

I offered that as a possible solution, yes.

Sadly, there isn't a perfect turn-key solution for FFF to download from AO3 anymore. Some options work for some users but not others. I blame AI companies mass harvesting the entire web that forces sites to defend themselves from automated access--which is what FFF is.

Even if you can't get FFF to download AO3 at all, there's still AO3's own Download > EPUB feature.

Then you don't need to comment them out.

Editing personal.ini sometimes requires adding sections. To quote from an earlier post:

Mostly, yes. But it's easier to use open_pages_in_browser:true instead of manually clicking through chapters because FFF's AO3 code adds a parameter when is_adult:true.

Ah, I see. I grew a little too dependent on asking for answers here from time to time. Moving forward, I'll do my best to search the thread for answers on my own. I'm not so great with tech and code like this, but I really appreciate FFF and all the help you've given me. I won't take it for granted. Thank you!

steltek · Yesterday, 02:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentShadow123

Ah, I see. I grew a little too dependent on asking for answers here from time to time. Moving forward, I'll do my best to search the thread for answers on my own. I'm not so great with tech and code like this, but I really appreciate FFF and all the help you've given me. I won't take it for granted. Thank you!

As an example for you, here is the setup of my personal.ini section for A03:

[www.archiveofourown.org]

Code:

 ##Anti-AI CSS setting follows:
use_workskin:true
 #slow_down_sleep_time:2
 #always_login:true
 #username:XXXXXX
 #password:XXXXXX
 #is_adult:true
use_browser_cache:true
 #browser_cache_age_limit:128.0
use_browser_cache_only:true
open_pages_in_browser:true

Any lines preceded by a # are remarked out and not used, but can be easily enabled if needed by editing the section to remove the # and saving the edited personal.ini . I've found I very rarely need the remarked options.

As I have it currently set up, FFF will only use the browser cache on the system default browser, and will open the pages in the system default web browser as needed. I do it this way as I've found this to be the most consistently stable way to do it over time.

You don't have to use the login/password options to log in to A03 for most downloads, but for problematic ones (i.e. padlocked stories) simply staying logged into your A03 account in a tab in your system default browser will almost always take care of any issues without having to mess with the login/password options.

In general, I recommend clearing the browser cache in your system default browser periodically (or when you experience problems). Further, if you do clear the cache, make sure to load a webpage in the default browser after clearing the cache (any random page will do) before attempting to use FFF. FFF will sometimes throw browser cache errors and not work when the browser cache is totally empty, and loading a page into the cache prevents this from happening.

The only other thing you need to do is make sure you have the correct browser cache path set. Windows and Mac tend to be fairly straightforward to locate based upon the FFF Wiki. Linux can be less so depending upon whether you are running your default browser from a browser actually installed directly in your Linux distro versus a browser running from a flatpack (i.e. the browser cache for flatpacked browsers is usually in a completely different location path than it is for installed browsers).

El_Pirato · Yesterday, 05:15 AM

Has anyone found a way to bypass FanFiction.net's Cloudflare security?

ownedbycats · Yesterday, 05:16 AM

Using browser cache only method that works for me.

El_Pirato · Yesterday, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Using browser cache only method that works for me.

It works for one-shots, not LARGE multi-chapter stories

ownedbycats · Yesterday, 08:49 AM

open_page_in_browser helps. Go grab a drink once you're sure you're past the captchas.

Tharos · Yesterday, 11:52 AM

Use WebToEpub for new stories with more chapters. The chapters are stored in the cache and can be accessed by FFF. After that, there will only be a few chapters left for a later update.

If the story is already complete, you can use FicHub. Then use FFF to query the metadata.

steltek · Yesterday, 01:03 PM

The FicLab browser extension is also very good for both completed stories and for getting ongoing stories into Calibre so that FFF can be used to update them.

Like the WebToEpub method, the information it downloads is available to FFF in the default browser web cache. Further, both WebToEpub and FicLab handle FFN rate limiting to avoid triggering Cloudflare. One advantage it has over WebToEpub is that it adds a blue download button for any and all fic links as they appear on any served FFN web pages as well as on the fic page itself.

Do note that it presently doesn't work on Chrome due to Google's Manifest v3 bullcrap, but still works well on Firefox-based browsers. The author told me a couple months ago that they are slowly working to update it to Manifest v3 (which is a major undertaking for essentially a hobby project) and also that, as part of the update, they intend that it will work on the new FFN website when it is eventually released.

You use it just like you would WebToEpub. Simply copy the FFN link for the fic, then click the FicLab download button for the fic on the webpage. When FicLab pops up, use FicLab to generate the epub. When the epub save box opens up, click the cancel button. Then, enter the FFN url link into FFF for download as you normally would. FFF will pick up the pages downloaded by FicLab directly from the browser cache of the default system browser.

mijkala · Yesterday, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

That reminds me about something that could be helpful.

FFF actually uses different marks for successful, failed and chapter error, as well as for an updated/created anthology:

fff_success
fff_failed
fff_chapter_error
fff_anthology

Technically, each book is marked with a sequence number like, "fff_success_0001" so that order is also preserved.

If I want the action chain to run for fff_success only, where would i put that? I just created the module you did labled here!

Code:

 from calibre_plugins.action_chains.events import ChainEvent

class SearchChanged(ChainEvent):

    # replace with the name of your event
    name = 'FFF done'

    def get_event_signal(self):
        return self.gui.iactions['FanFicFare'].download_finished_signal

and then added a selection modifier for marked:fff for the "select all books in current library view" and then added some search and replace for a custom column that's basically a y/n for if I've sorted through the metadata.

Because the search and replace is more destructive, I only want it to be changed for a successful update, but not really sure how to do that. Would it be an event variable? I have that chain running under the event under "fanficfare download finished"

ownedbycats · Yesterday, 06:30 PM

i'd use a selection modifier on the action chain, marked:fff_success

JimmXinu · Yesterday, 06:46 PM

I'm going to assume ownedbycats is correct -- I don't use Action Chains myself.

Yesterday, 01:03 PM	#11292
steltek Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 4484 Join Date: Jan 2016 Device: none	The FicLab browser extension is also very good for both completed stories and for getting ongoing stories into Calibre so that FFF can be used to update them. Like the WebToEpub method, the information it downloads is available to FFF in the default browser web cache. Further, both WebToEpub and FicLab handle FFN rate limiting to avoid triggering Cloudflare. One advantage it has over WebToEpub is that it adds a blue download button for any and all fic links as they appear on any served FFN web pages as well as on the fic page itself. Do note that it presently doesn't work on Chrome due to Google's Manifest v3 bullcrap, but still works well on Firefox-based browsers. The author told me a couple months ago that they are slowly working to update it to Manifest v3 (which is a major undertaking for essentially a hobby project) and also that, as part of the update, they intend that it will work on the new FFN website when it is eventually released. You use it just like you would WebToEpub. Simply copy the FFN link for the fic, then click the FicLab download button for the fic on the webpage. When FicLab pops up, use FicLab to generate the epub. When the epub save box opens up, click the cancel button. Then, enter the FFN url link into FFF for download as you normally would. FFF will pick up the pages downloaded by FicLab directly from the browser cache of the default system browser. Last edited by steltek; Yesterday at 01:27 PM.

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Yesterday, 05:15 AM	#11287
El_Pirato FanFic Hunter Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Newport News, VA Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	Has anyone found a way to bypass FanFiction.net's Cloudflare security?

Yesterday, 05:16 AM	#11288
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 11,200 Karma: 77899461 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	Using browser cache only method that works for me.

Yesterday, 08:49 AM	#11290
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 11,200 Karma: 77899461 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	open_page_in_browser helps. Go grab a drink once you're sure you're past the captchas.

Yesterday, 11:52 AM	#11291
Tharos Connoisseur Posts: 76 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Pocketbook InkPad Color 3, Kindle Oasis 2, Moon+ Reader pro	Use WebToEpub for new stories with more chapters. The chapters are stored in the cache and can be accessed by FFF. After that, there will only be a few chapters left for a later update. If the story is already complete, you can use FicHub. Then use FFF to query the metadata.

Yesterday, 06:30 PM	#11294
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 11,200 Karma: 77899461 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	i'd use a selection modifier on the action chain, marked:fff_success

Yesterday, 06:46 PM	#11295
JimmXinu Plugin Developer Posts: 7,054 Karma: 4604637 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Midwest USA Device: Kobo Clara Colour running KOReader	I'm going to assume ownedbycats is correct -- I don't use Action Chains myself.