How to make a custom column URL clickable in CC?

SMNonMR · 10-07-2019, 04:45 PM

Hello! I'd like to take advantage of the new feature in the Calibre Content Server where metadata is now editable. To that effect, I've made a custom column with a link that goes to the story on my server. If I can get it to work, I'd click the link in the Companion app, it would directly open the right webpage from the server, and then I could edit it as needed. (I pretty much just want to input the star rating before I forget.)

So far, I can see my new links in CC but I cannot figure out how to make the link clickable. No matter what format I've tried, it's just text. I've tried it with HTML formatting, as a straight link, and with the "Url:" prefix. In every case, CC displayed text that I cannot click.

For reference, this is my current custom column template that looks nice in Calibre but is not working for CC: <a href="http://192.168.1.14:8080/#book_id={id}&library_id=Calibre_Library&panel=boo k_details">{title}</a>

I'm obviously missing something. Can anyone help me? What format does a URL have to be in Calibre Companion to be clickable? I don't even mind what the link looks like. I just want a version that I can click.

Thanks so much!

chaley · 10-07-2019, 06:25 PM

The only way to get a clickable link in the current version of CC is to put the HTML into a comment that is "interpreted as HTML". This means that you can't use a template but must instead use plain text.

What does work is to add both a composite custom column containing the books ID and a comment column interpreted as HTML. You would copy the ID value to the clipboard using the template tester, edit the comment column, paste the URL you want, then replace the ID part with what you copied. I would use constant text for the {title} such as "Edit Metadata". You could set the comment column value for all books using a command line script or perhaps a library-closed plugin if you can write such a thing.

Yes, this is a pain because you must do it for every book, but it gets you there. The ID won't change so hard coding it isn't a problem.

You might suggest to Sam that composite columns marked as "display as HTML" be scanned in CC for links.

SMNonMR · 10-08-2019, 08:08 AM

Thanks Chaley! I'll give it a try. I think this solution might be beyond my abilities but maybe I can work it out.

I have a very large set of ever-changing books so anything too manual is probably not going to be the timesaver I was trying to achieve.

10-07-2019, 04:45 PM	#1
SMNonMR Member Posts: 24 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: Kindle Keyboard, Nook, and Android. Oh My!	How to make a custom column URL clickable in CC? Hello! I'd like to take advantage of the new feature in the Calibre Content Server where metadata is now editable. To that effect, I've made a custom column with a link that goes to the story on my server. If I can get it to work, I'd click the link in the Companion app, it would directly open the right webpage from the server, and then I could edit it as needed. (I pretty much just want to input the star rating before I forget.) So far, I can see my new links in CC but I cannot figure out how to make the link clickable. No matter what format I've tried, it's just text. I've tried it with HTML formatting, as a straight link, and with the "Url:" prefix. In every case, CC displayed text that I cannot click. For reference, this is my current custom column template that looks nice in Calibre but is not working for CC: <a href="http://192.168.1.14:8080/#book_id={id}&library_id=Calibre_Library&panel=boo k_details">{title}</a> I'm obviously missing something. Can anyone help me? What format does a URL have to be in Calibre Companion to be clickable? I don't even mind what the link looks like. I just want a version that I can click. Thanks so much!

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10-07-2019, 06:25 PM	#2
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,733 Karma: 6690881 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	The only way to get a clickable link in the current version of CC is to put the HTML into a comment that is "interpreted as HTML". This means that you can't use a template but must instead use plain text. What does work is to add both a composite custom column containing the books ID and a comment column interpreted as HTML. You would copy the ID value to the clipboard using the template tester, edit the comment column, paste the URL you want, then replace the ID part with what you copied. I would use constant text for the {title} such as "Edit Metadata". You could set the comment column value for all books using a command line script or perhaps a library-closed plugin if you can write such a thing. Yes, this is a pain because you must do it for every book, but it gets you there. The ID won't change so hard coding it isn't a problem. You might suggest to Sam that composite columns marked as "display as HTML" be scanned in CC for links.

10-08-2019, 08:08 AM	#3
SMNonMR Member Posts: 24 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: Kindle Keyboard, Nook, and Android. Oh My!	Thanks Chaley! I'll give it a try. I think this solution might be beyond my abilities but maybe I can work it out. I have a very large set of ever-changing books so anything too manual is probably not going to be the timesaver I was trying to achieve.

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