[GUI Plugin] FanFicFare

[steltek]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

I'm not sure what would cause that. I would try setting slow_down_sleep_time higher, default is 4, maybe try 6?

It was a good thought, but it doesn't appear to make a difference. It still opens all the extra tabs, but just slower.

I suspect it is some conflict in the personal.ini settings for AO3. I've been considering backing up my library and doing a totally clean Calibre/FFF install, so maybe it is time for that now.

Otherwise, the code you gave me solves the problem for now, so I'm satisfied.

[TraxOferta]

First of all, thank you very much for creating this, it's a great help, especially when out of internet for whatever reason.
I have quite a few alternatehistory.com fanfics downloaded through fanficfare, but I can no longer update them or get new ones.

Download attempts give me this:

Download 0 FanFiction Book(s) for www.alternatehistory.com
FFF: INFO: 2026-02-27 20:15:23,306: calibre_plugins.fanficfare_plugin.jobs(39): FanFicFare v4.54.0
calibre 9.4  embedded-python: True
Linux-6.18.12-1-MANJARO-x86_64-with-glibc2.43 Linux ('64bit', 'ELF')
('Linux', '6.18.12-1-MANJARO', '#1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon, 16 Feb 2026 21:35:51 +0000')
Python 3.14.2
Interface language: None
EXE path: /opt/calibre/bin/calibre-parallel
Successfully initialized third party plugins: FanFicFare (4, 54, 0)
FFF: INFO: 2026-02-27 20:15:23,309: calibre_plugins.fanficfare_plugin.jobs(77):
Download Results:
Error https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/mercantile-acquisitions-italian-city-states-si.542853/ HTTP Error in FFF '403 Client Error: Forbidden for url: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/login'(403)
Error https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-fire-never-dies-part-ii-the-red-colossus.534409/ HTTP Error in FFF '403 Client Error: Forbidden for url: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/login'(403)
Error https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-dragons-realm-a-house-targaryen-story-asoiaf.532577/ HTTP Error in FFF '403 Client Error: Forbidden for url: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/login'(403)
Error https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/purple-days-asoiaf-au.391394/ HTTP Error in FFF '403 Client Error: Forbidden for url: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/login'(403)

FFF: INFO: 2026-02-27 20:15:23,309: calibre_plugins.fanficfare_plugin.jobs(102):
Error
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/mercantile-acquisitions-italian-city-states-si.542853/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-fire-never-dies-part-ii-the-red-colossus.534409/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-dragons-realm-a-house-targaryen-story-asoiaf.532577/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/purple-days-asoiaf-au.391394/

I have checked my ini files, my login is correctly inputed there, even logged off and on again to check if info was correct.
After adding the cache options, this on Default:

browser_cache_age_limit:4.0

and on alternatehistory specifically:

use_browser_cache:true
use_browser_cache_only:true
open_pages_in_browser:true

The error then changes to this:

HTTP Error in FFF 'Page not found or expired in Browser Cache (see FFF setting browser_cache_age_limit)'(428) URL:'https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/fire-and-fury-an-asoiaf-time-travel-si.556559/'

Changing cache age limit has not changed anything, even tried (-1), nothing.
Open pages in browser opens the original page 2 times and gives me the error.
It is specifically AlternateHistory with this error, SB, SV, even AltHistory work fine.
I think I've done what I can, any help would be appreciated.

[JimmXinu]

New Version Released

Version 4.55.0 - 2026-03-01
- Epub Update: Skip missing chapter, image and css files instead of failing.
- Plugin only: In Skip mode, don't do initial metadata fetch if already matched in library. #1309
- Ignore CSS url() when ttf/otf/woff/woff2 font files
- Additional checks for svg images to reject--Calibre only. Related to #1298
- Refactor metadata entry and settings name code a bit
- Remove Site: swi.org.ru No DNS for site.
- Make some metadata entries immutable
- adapter_adultfanfictionorg: Fixes for site changes #1305
- adapter_fimfictionnet/adapter_royalroadcom: Better handling of cover image size fall back #1306

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by TraxOferta

First of all, thank you very much for creating this, it's a great help, especially when out of internet for whatever reason.
I have quite a few alternatehistory.com fanfics downloaded through fanficfare, but I can no longer update them or get new ones.

With the thousands of bots out there slurping up the entire Internet, sites are becoming more and more aggressive about blocking automated access.

Pretty much any time you see a 403 error in FFF these days, it's because you are being blocked and there's nothing I can do about it. For example, I'm still able to download from alternatehistory(AH) while you're blocked.

The two tools we have to work around that are described in ProblematicSites. You've already tried one, Browser Cache.

Browser Cache doesn't work on AH and other Xenforo sites because they don't allow page caching, that's why there's no cache page found.

However, in github issue #1312, we've just been discussing ways to force page caching using browser add-ons.

If you are sufficiently tech savvy to understand it, you may want to experiment with it. It's a new approach we haven't used before, so I cannot recommend it to anyone who doesn't understand for themselves what they're doing.