External Sidebar Links

Add custom links to external tools directly in the sidebar navigation.

Overview

External links let you:

Add quick access to other tools
Customize the sidebar with your frequently used services
Embed external pages within Bambuddy

Use Cases

Quick access to:

OctoPrint or Mainsail (other print managers)
Spoolman (filament inventory)
Obico (AI print monitoring)
Home Assistant (home automation)
Documentation or reference sites
Internal dashboards

Adding External Links

Go to Settings
Scroll to Sidebar Links
Click Add Link
Configure:
- Name: Display name for the link
- URL: Full URL to the external site
- Icon: Choose icon type
Click Save

Link Configuration

Name

Display text shown in sidebar
Keep it short (1-2 words)
Examples: "Spoolman", "OctoPrint", "Docs"

URL

Full URL including protocol
Examples:
- http://192.168.1.100:7912 (Spoolman)
- https://docs.example.com
- http://octopi.local

Icon Options

Built-in Icons Choose from common icons:

Link icon
External link icon
Home icon
Settings icon
And more...

Custom Icons Upload your own:

Select "Custom Icon"
Upload an SVG file
Icon is stored and displayed

Managing Links

Reordering

Drag links to change their position:

Hover over the link
Click and hold the grip handle
Drag to new position
Release to drop

Links can be mixed with internal navigation items.

Editing

Click the pencil icon on a link
Modify settings
Click Save

Deleting

Click the trash icon on a link
Confirm deletion

How Links Open

Embedded Mode (Default)

External pages open in an iframe within Bambuddy:

Stays within Bambuddy interface
Quick switching between tools
Sidebar remains accessible

New Tab

Some sites require opening in a new tab:

Sites that block iframe embedding
Complex applications
When you need full browser features

Iframe Limitations

Some websites block iframe embedding for security:

Common Restrictions

X-Frame-Options header set to DENY
Content Security Policy restrictions
Same-origin policy violations

Affected Sites

Sites that typically don't work in iframes:

Google services
Social media sites
Banking/financial sites
Some cloud dashboards

Workaround

If a site doesn't load in the iframe:

Right-click the link
Select "Open in New Tab"
Or configure the link to always open externally

Icon Upload

Supported Formats

SVG (recommended)
PNG
JPG

Icon Guidelines

Square aspect ratio works best
Keep file size small (<50KB)
Simple designs show better at sidebar size
SVG scales best at any size

Finding Icons

Sources for icons:

Lucide Icons
Simple Icons
Heroicons
Product brand guidelines (for official logos)

Examples

Spoolman

Name: Spoolman
URL: http://192.168.1.100:7912
Icon: Built-in database icon

Home Assistant

Name: Home
URL: http://homeassistant.local:8123
Icon: Custom (Home Assistant logo SVG)

Documentation

Name: Docs
URL: https://wiki.example.com
Icon: Built-in book icon

Tips

Keep link names short for cleaner sidebar
Use custom icons for brand recognition
Test iframe embedding before relying on it
Group related links by ordering them together
Remove unused links to keep sidebar clean

Features-External-Links.md 3.5 KB History Raw