url

The url widget makes char fields navigable. In readonly contexts, list cells, readonly forms, kanban cards, the value renders as an anchor with target="_blank", so following a link never navigates away from Odoo. In edit mode on forms, the form.url variant shows a plain text input with a globe icon beside it that opens the current value.

The href goes through one transformation, read directly from the source: if the value does not match an absolute http, https or ftp URL and does not start with a slash, http:// is prepended. Only the link is touched; the stored value and the displayed text stay exactly as typed. Note it is plain http://, not https://, the target site's redirect is expected to upgrade the connection.

Two lesser known controls complete the picture. The website_path option switches prefixing off, for app-internal paths like /my/orders. And a text attribute on the field element replaces the visible URL with any label you choose, turning https://partner-portal.example.com/download/4711 into Download specification.

Records collect links: supplier portals, ticket trackers, shared drives, product datasheets. Rendered as text they get copied into browsers by hand; rendered with this widget they are one click, in a new tab, with the Odoo screen intact behind them. The productivity math is small per click and large per year.

The text attribute is the presentation upgrade most implementations miss. A list of tracking links reading Track shipment beats a column of 90-character carrier URLs both in readability and in column width. Because it is an attribute, the label can even be set once in the view while every row keeps its own destination.

One governance note: the widget stores whatever users type, valid or not. If broken links in customer-facing places would embarrass you, validation belongs on the model (a constraint) or at entry time, not in this widget, which by design does not check anything.

Studio documents this widget for Text fields.

1. Open the view in Studio and select the field that holds the link (a Text field).

2. In the Properties tab, set Widget to URL.

3. Optionally set a Placeholder to show an example URL in the empty input.

4. Click Close to leave Studio.

Studio sets the widget; the two refinements need XML. The text display label is an attribute, not a property Studio exposes, and website_path likewise is set in options by hand. Both are one-line view edits.

Basic link column

<field name="website" widget="url"/>

example.com is stored as typed and linked as http://example.com, opening in a new tab.

Friendly link text

<field name="datasheet_url" widget="url" text="Download datasheet"/>

Every row displays Download datasheet; each row's href is its own stored URL.

Internal path without prefixing

<field name="portal_path" widget="url"
       options="{'website_path': True}"/>

A value like /my/orders/42 is used exactly as stored. Without the option this specific value would also survive (leading slash), but the option makes intent explicit and protects values like page#section.

Placeholder from another field

<field name="landing_url" widget="url"
       options="{'placeholder_field': 'website'}"/>

One line of source decides every href this widget emits: a regular expression testing for ftp(s)://, http(s):// or a leading slash. Match, and the value passes through; no match, and http:// is glued on. Three practical consequences follow.

Protocol-relative and anchor-only values break. //cdn.example.com/file starts with a slash, fine. But mailto: or tel: values do not match and get prefixed into garbage, use the email and phone widgets for those.

The upgrade to https is delegated. Prefixed links go out as http://; virtually every modern site redirects to https, but strict environments (HSTS-only intranets without port 80) can reject the first hop. Store full https URLs where that matters.

Readonly clicks are guarded. The anchor stops click propagation, so clicking a link in a list opens the link, not the record row, a small template detail (t-on-click.stop) that makes the widget usable in lists at all.

Odoo 20 is expected at Odoo Experience in Brussels, 24 to 26 September 2026. The changes below are read from the public development branch and are not final until release.

No option changes. website_path, placeholder_field, the text attribute and both the url and form.url registrations are unchanged; the component is ported to the new Owl props and signals system. XML carries over untouched; only JavaScript patches importing the class need review. We re-verify after release.