[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.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

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.

Something I've wondered, if possible to save the webpage directly and force FFF to parse it.

[nephtys59]

After AO3 downtime, now they're back but I can't update any fic because I always get error 418 with any setting. Did they change something?

HTTP Error in FFF '418 Client Error: I'm a teapot for url: https://archiveofourown.org/works/78...=true'(418)

HTTP Error in FFF '418 Client Error: I'm a teapot for url: https://archive.transformativeworks....=true'(418)

HTTP Error in FFF '418 Client Error: I'm a teapot for url: https://archiveofourown.gay/works/78...=true'(418)

in their status page, AO3 states:
We have applied a fix, and #AO3 is accessible again for users. Potential slowness remains and certain VPNs may still be blocked until we verify everything is fully stable again.
Posted 2 hours ago. Mar 02, 2026 - 12:01 UTC

Is error 418 temporary? Thanks in advance!

[ownedbycats]

I think Cloudflare uses that status (which is usually a joke) when blocking automated requests

[JimmXinu]

AO3 status page last reports:

"We have applied a fix, and #AO3 is accessible again for users. Potential slowness remains and certain VPNs may still be blocked until we verify everything is fully stable again."

Site is currently reporting "The archive is down for maintenance" for me in browser. I do not use a VPN.


If the site is broken/off-line in browser, it will certainly have problems in FFF.

Our best option right now is patience.

[texasnightowl]

I'm having same problem. In an earlier update, a few hours before the most recent update, they also said:

Monitoring - #AO3 is back up! We appreciate your patience. We've got our protections against bot traffic turned up a bit higher than usual, so some users may experience problems if they're using a VPN or similar tools.
Mar 02, 2026 - 00:45 UTC

So, yeah...patience for now...

[wildfire070]

Its working for me at the moment, but only with browser cache settings.

[Jade Aislin]

I've recently gotten back into fan fiction and am working on organizing stories I want to download. I mostly use AO3. I plan to download in batches of 20-40 stories. However, I've run into a problem with series.

Many authors will put stories into multiple series. When I download the story, I only get one of the series. This is frustrating because I look at a series and stories will be missing as they are listed in a different series.

Is there a way to grab all the series a story is in? Maybe making a custom column or something?

[JimmXinu]

I don't do anything with AO3's additional series values myself; hopefully someone who does can provide some more directed suggestions.


FFF collects the first 4 series listed for AO3 series by default as series00, series01, series02, series03.

You can add those additional series to the title page with titlepage_entries, and set them to custom columns with custom_columns_settings. You need to create the custom columns yourself.

For example:

[archiveofourown.org]
## You'll need to set the entire titlepage_entries under 
## [archiveofourown.org:epub] if you want the number 
## series values earlier in the list.
add_to_titlepage_entries:,series01HTML,series02HTML,series03HTML

## Set additional series to individual custom columns.
## Assumes you already made the custom columns:
add_to_custom_columns_settings:
 series01=>#ao3seriesA
 series02=>#ao3seriesB
 series03=>#ao3seriesC

As I recall, this works with Calibre series type custom columns.

I think it also works to set series01HTML to a long test HTML column...


If you need more than 4 series, you'll have to add to extra_valid_entries and make_linkhtml_entries. And series00 is the same as the standard metadata entry series.

[archiveofourown.org]
## Add new entries
add_to_extra_valid_entries:,series04, series04Url, series04HTML

## Tell FFF to fill series04HTML with series04/series04Url
add_to_make_linkhtml_entries:,series04

## Label for titlepage.
series04HTML_label:Additional Series