Prerequisites
- Administrator access to edit sheet configuration
- Familiarity with basic column configuration
Approach Overview
Risksheet provides three approaches for making content clickable in grid cells. Choose the one that fits your use case:
Render Rich Text Field Links
If the work item field contains rich text with embedded hyperlinks (for example, a description field with<a href="..."> tags), use the Velocity rendering API to preserve the HTML and make links clickable:
description field, including clickable links, bold/italic formatting, lists, and embedded images. The .htmlFor().forFrame() method chain ensures the content is rendered safely within the Risksheet grid frame.
For other rich text fields (not description), use the generic get() method with the field ID:
Construct Custom Redirect Links
To create a clickable link that navigates to a specific Polarion page or external URL based on a field value, construct an HTML anchor tag in the Velocity script.Link to a Polarion Wiki Page
Link to an External URL from a Field Value
If the work item stores a URL in a custom field, render it as a clickable link with a null-check to handle empty values:externalUrl field has a value. If the field is populated, it renders a clickable link. If the field is empty, it displays a dash placeholder.
Link to Another Work Item by ID
To create a link that opens a related work item in Polarion:Advanced: Conditional Link Rendering
You can combine Velocity conditionals with link rendering to display different content based on field values:Context Menu Navigation (No Configuration Needed)
Even withoutserverRender configuration, users can navigate to linked items using the right-click context menu on any grid cell:
These context menu options require no
serverRender configuration and work with standard itemLink, multiItemLink, and taskLink column types.
Export Behavior for Server-Rendered Columns
Server-rendered columns export differently from standard editable columns. Be aware of these differences when users export to Excel or PDF:
For more control over export formatting, see Export to Excel and Customize PDF Export Scripts.
Troubleshooting
Links are not clickable — Verify the Velocity expression produces valid HTML anchor tags. Open browser developer tools (F12), inspect the cell element, and check whether the rendered output contains<a href="..."> tags. If the cell shows plain text instead of a link, the serverRender expression may have a syntax error.
Column shows raw Velocity syntax instead of rendered content — This indicates a Velocity parsing error. Common causes include:
- Missing
#endfor#ifor#foreachblocks - Unclosed string literals (mismatched quotes)
- Incorrect variable references (variables must start with
$) - Field name mismatch (the field ID in
get('fieldName')does not exist on the work item type)
itemLink or multiItemLink columns, the work item you are trying to link is already associated with the current row. The editor enforces uniqueness to prevent duplicate references.
Verification
After saving your sheet configuration changes:- Reload the Risksheet page in your browser
- Locate the column you configured with
serverRender - You should now see clickable links in the configured column — the text should appear as blue underlined hyperlinks
- Click a link to confirm it opens the correct target in a new browser tab
- Right-click a different cell and verify the context menu shows “Open Row Item” as expected
See Also
- Render Custom Data — comprehensive server render patterns
- Customize Link Rendering — control how linked item references display
- Work with Rich Text Fields — rich text field handling in the grid
- Consolidate Multiple Link Columns — combining link columns into one
- Configure Upstream Traceability Columns — upstream link configuration
- Show Multiple Linked Items — displaying multiple references per cell