What's New? Release Notes & Updates for Web Highlights

New features, releases, and current improvements for our PDF & Web Highlighter Chrome Extension.

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Version 10.2.5: Notion Setup Help

Previously, users sometimes forgot to allow access to their Notion pages during the integration setup. Now, we show a new message to remind them to grant access.

Here's what you need to do:

Go to Notion.
Click on "Settings & members."
Click "My connections" on the left side.
Find the Web Highlights integration and click the three dots next to it.
Select at least one page.
Click "Update access."

Version 10.2.4: Improved Learning Performance

We have enhanced the learning sessions to make them faster, especially on mobile devices. Previously, if you had many highlights stored, the learning sessions were a bit laggy.

You can read more about learning sessions here:

Version 10.2.3: New Toast Component

We have updated the toast component. It now looks better, can be dismissed, and can include links to websites for more information if needed.

Version 10.2.0: Enhanced Sorting Functionality

We’ve made some significant improvements to the sorting functionality to make your life easier.

Previously, the drag & drop sorting feature allowed you to manually sort highlights, but it had some issues—especially when you had a lot of highlights and needed to move one from the top to the bottom of the page.

To fix this, I’ve added two new features:

Improved Drag & Drop Sorting

I’ve made the drag & drop sorting much smoother, so moving highlights up or down is now a breeze.
There’s also a new drag & drop button on the left side of each highlight for easier handling.

Sort Up or Down Buttons

Alongside drag & drop, I’ve added two arrow buttons on the right side of each highlight. You can use these to move a highlight one position up or down.
If you press Shift + click on these buttons, you can move a highlight directly to the top or bottom of the list. This is super handy when highlights get sorted incorrectly, and you need to quickly reposition them.

Hope these updates make sorting your highlights a lot more efficient and user-friendly!

Version 10.1.8: Enhanced Search Features

We’ve upgraded the search function in both the web app and the extension. You can now filter your searches by pages, highlights, and tags, and it works faster.

Plus, the extension now uses the same search tool as the web app, making it simpler and quicker to find exactly what you’re looking for.

You can now filter your search results by pages, highlights, or tags

Version 10.1.6: Fix Deleting Tags with Backspace

Deleting tags with the backspace key is now more intuitive and reliable, ensuring a smoother tagging experience.

Version 10.1.5: Show Backup or Sync Prompt After 100 Changes

After 100 changes, you will now see a prompt to backup or sync your work, helping you keep your data secure.

Version 10.1.4: Fixing Endless Reloading Loop

We've resolved the issue causing endless reloading loops, providing a more stable and reliable application experience.

Product Hunt logic has been removed from the sidebar opening process.

Version 10.1.2: Make PDF Export more efficient

PDF export now uses a separated server directly, improving the speed and reliability of your document exports.

Version 10.1.1: Make Notion Export more efficient

Notion export now uses a separated server directly, improving the speed and reliability of your Notion exports.

Version 10.1.0: Export to Notion With One Click

Previously, you could export your highlights to Notion using the copy-to-Markdown feature. Now, you can seamlessly connect Web Highlights to Notion and export pages and highlights directly to your workspace.

Release 10.0.5: Prepare for Product Hunt Launch

Preparation for the Product Hunt launch and improved sign-up prompt display.

Release 10.0.4: Compare Decoded PDF URLs

Implemented a feature to compare decoded PDF URLs for better document handling.

Version 10.0.3: Making notes got faster!

Before, if you highlighted a lot of stuff, taking notes could be slow. But now, we've sped things up by saving less frequently.

Version 10.0.2: Fixed PDF file problem

Some PDFs couldn't be opened because their names had special characters. This meant you couldn't highlight them. But now, we've sorted it out by encoding the file names properly. So, you should be good to highlight both local and online PDFs.

Version 10.0.1: Shortcut name fixed

There was a little problem where the name of a new highlighting shortcut was too long and messed up the sidebar. We've tidied that up now.

Version 10.0.0 - Introducing Advanced Highlighting 🔥

Use various formats such as headings, paragraphs, quotes, bullet points, or even code to better organize highlights in the sidebar.

You can find detailed information in this article:

ℹ️ You can enable advanced highlighting in the settings. All users with an active Ultimate subscription can enjoy this new feature.

Version 9.3.10 - 9.3.12: Improve learning sessions

We've made the learning sessions better by tweaking the spaced repetition algorithm. Now, the learning cards will pop up at optimal times, helping you learn more effectively in the long run.

Version 9.3.9: We've solved a common problem: Highlighting text in dark mode! 🎉

Before, it was tough to highlight text in dark mode because if you picked a light color, the text was tough to read. But now, we've flipped the text color to make it easier to read, so you can choose any highlight color you want without worrying.

After user testing, it became clear that not every user knew about the sidebar displaying their highlights. To enhance this, we've included a toggle icon in the popup for easy access to open and close the sidebar.

Version 9.3.6 - 9.3.8: Code improvements to prepare for upcoming features

We've refactored parts of the codebase to pave the way for new features. Additionally, we've enhanced the popup design for better user experience.

Instead of displaying a settings icon next to the marker, we now show an "eye-off" icon to clearly indicate the option to hide the popup.

Version 9.3.4: Fix overriding settings issue

Previously, user settings were sometimes overwritten by default values, especially after reinstalling the Chrome Extension. This behavior has been resolved, ensuring that users can maintain their preferred settings.

Version 9.3.3: Improve color picker

Previously, the color picker would appear when hovering over the current color, which could be annoying during research. Now, it only appears when clicked, offering a smoother user experience.

Version 9.3.1: Privacy Enhancements for Shared Links 🔓

At Web Highlights, safeguarding your privacy and data integrity is our top priority.

Anything you highlight using Web Highlights was and will always remain private and accessible only to you. However, you can also decide to create a shareable link.

Previously, when generating a shareable link, it automatically appeared on the Discover Page. We've made improvements to this process:

🔒 Privacy Enhanced: By default, your page isn't shared on the discover page, giving you more control over your content's visibility.

✨ Discover Feed Integration: Easily share your page to the discover feed with a simple checkbox next to the shared link.

📢 Dialog Prompt: Whenever you check the checkbox, a dialog pops up explaining that your highlights have been publicly shared, ensuring transparency in your sharing process.

Version 9.3.0: Sort Highlights with Drag & Drop ↑↓

While highlights typically follow the order they appear on the page, there are occasions when this sequence may not align with your preferences or workflow.

Now, you can simply navigate to the sidebar where your highlights are listed. Simply drag and drop your highlights to rearrange the order effortlessly.

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Drag & Drop sorting

Version 9.2.4: Fullscreen image viewer 📷

We've enhanced our latest image highlighting feature by including a fullscreen image viewer. You'll notice an expand icon in the top-left corner of every image in the sidebar and on the web app.

Just click it to view the current image in full screen mode, ensuring you always see images in their original size.

Expand images to see them in its original size

Version 9.2.3: Learning session improvements 🧠

Previously, during learning sessions, only one highlight would appear at a time. This sometimes made it difficult to fully grasp individual highlights without additional context.

That's why we've redesigned our learning recap to enhance your learning experience. Now, you can see displayed cards alongside other highlights, making it easier to integrate your research into your long-term memory.

Here is how learning cards now look like:

Learning highlights to be learned are now shown in context.

Version 9.2.1 + 9.2.2: Improvements for image highlighting

Small fixes to make highlighting images smoother and more reliable.

Version 9.2.0: Highlighting images is now available 📷 😯

I am very excited to share this awesome addition making highlighting much more enjoyable and powerful.

Right click any image to save it. Find them in your sidebar or as a collection in the web app.

ℹ️ All users with an active Ultimate subscription can enjoy highlighting images. Upgrade now to start highlighting images.

Read more about image highlighting here:

Version 9.1.11: Improved Highlight Order in Exported Formats

We have addressed an issue where the order of highlights in exported formats did not consistently match their appearance on the page. With Release 9.1.11, you can expect enhanced consistency in the exported PDF, HTML, and Markdown versions, ensuring that the order of highlights accurately reflects their arrangement on the page.

In these releases, we focused on resolving a bug that affected the synchronization of deleted highlights between the sidebar and the main page. Previously, deleted highlights in the sidebar were not always reflected on the page as intended. With these updates, we've implemented a fix to ensure seamless deletion synchronization, providing a more reliable and accurate user experience.

Version 9.1.8: Backup prompt before creating an account 💾

Now, if you have over 100 unsynchronized offline highlights or bookmarks, you'll get a heads-up to save a local backup file before making an account.

This extra step ensures your data stays safe in case anything goes wrong during synchronization. So, even if there are server hiccups, you can easily restore your research by importing the local backup file later on.

Version 9.1.7: Resolved Extension Error

We've addressed a minor bug in the extension where the console was throwing an error. It's a small hiccup that didn't impact the user experience, but we've fixed it for a smoother operation.

Version 9.1.5 - 9.1.6: New discover page 🔭

We've given our discover page a fresh look, and you can check it out at web-highlights.com/discover. We've also updated the extension, so when you share URLs, they'll lead to the revamped discover page. Don't worry if you have old links—they'll automatically take you to the new page.

Version 9.1.3: Addressing a problem with PDF links 🔧

Tackled a problem with identifying PDF links. Before, when trying to open file URLs from local computers, there was a hiccup – the URL wouldn't be recognized accurately, causing a mix-up with the correct page. Good news: we've resolved this issue, and now, PDF highlighting should be back on track and working smoothly

Version 9.1.2: PDF export fix 🔨

Fixing a problem where Ultimate users couldn't save their research as a PDF due to an unexpected upgrade.

Version 9.1.1: Markdown export now free for everyone 🎉

I'm thrilled to let you know that the 'Copy Markdown' and 'Copy HTML' feature, once exclusive to Ultimate users, is now accessible to everyone for free.

ℹ️ The markdown export is especially useful to export your research to external tools like Notion, Obsidian, and more.

Learn more about it in those articles:

Version 9.1.0: Faster, better, and brand-new app 🔥

In the last months we have spent a lot of time on rebuilding the web app to make the navigation through highlights, pages, notes, and more much easier and nicer. Here's what's new and improved:

Easily filter and sort pages ↕
Group pages and highlights 🧱
Access content offline 🛜
Enhanced and quicker search 🔎
Significant performance boost ⏱️
Change colors in the app 🎨

Just a heads up: Your research only syncs with the app when you have a Premium or Ultimate subscription with cloud sync enabled.

Version 9.0.11: Fixing color glitch

Previously, when you changed the color of a highlight and quickly hovered over it without closing the color picker, the color wouldn't update properly—it kept jumping back to the old color. This release takes care of that small hiccup, so your colors will stay as they should.

Version 9.0.10: Open highlights in app

Now, with the extension, you can effortlessly open your highlights in the app. Just give a click to "Open in app" and enjoy the seamless transition.

Version 9.0.9: Fixing bug where pages where not deleted

If a page is not bookmarked and there were are highlights, it was supposed to be automatically deleted. However, an edge case prevented proper deletion. This release addresses that issue, ensuring pages are now deleted as intended.

We've made changes to how highlights are arranged in the sidebar to match their appearance on the website. Previously, this sorting feature didn't always function correctly, especially when highlighting headlines. Now, we've enhanced the sorting algorithm, ensuring that highlighted text shows up in the sidebar just like it does on the website. This fixed sorting order will also apply to exported markdown, html, or PDF files.

Version 9.0.7 - Code & Design Improvements

Made some improvements to the code to set up the foundation for the new web app. Also, some smaller design changes were made, like toning down the animation of dialogs and modals to make them less distracting.

Version 9.0.5 - Resolving Color Glitches

Modify the CSS variable identifier to be more distinct and prevent interference with certain pages. This resolves an issue where users reported unexpected color changes on specific pages, such as discord.com.

Version 9.0.4 - New Authorization Page

Enhance the login page and pop-up for Web Highlights. Not only does this update make the sign-in and sign-up sections more appealing, but it also brings improvements in accessibility and usability. Moreover, the revamped authorization page is designed to function more reliably now.

Version 9.0.1 -> 9.0.3 - Small Fixes

CSS and design fixes for smaller issues regarding the new design.

Version 9.0.0 - New Web Highlights 🔥

This update is just for you 💪 I have been working hard to bring this update to life. In this article, I'll walk you through all the changes and show you how to make the most of the new features.

Here is an overview of the key improvements:

The sidebar now has a beautiful cover image 📷
You can switch between light ☀️ and dark 🔦 mode.
You can edit titles and descriptions 📝
Your highlighted websites are neatly organized in a history list ⏱️
You can open highlighted websites in a popover 📖

Find out more about all the new features in this article:

ℹ️ The latest update will be released gradually to users. If you don't have the newest version yet, please be patient.

I understand that change can be challenging, but I hope you'll come to love the new design as much as I do. Your feedback is invaluable to me, so please take a moment to fill out this form and help me enhance the app even more. I truly appreciate it!

Version 8.7.1 - Improving Tags 🏷️

🏷️ Tags editing has a better appearance now. We've introduced a more efficient method for adding and removing tags, featuring a robust autocompletion system. This new component is now part of the highlighter popup, the sidebar, and the web app.

Editing tags in the popup toolbox and sidebar looks much better now

✨ Up until now, the extension was the only place where you could create and edit tags. This functionality hadn't been integrated into the web app. However, you can now manage your tags directly from the web app at web-highlights.com.

Tags can now be created and edited from the web app

Version 8.7.1

↔️ You can now align the sidebar to the right and to the left side of the page.

✨Until now, the sidebar pushed the current website to the side. Now, you're in control now! Choose whether the sidebar should stick as it is or choose an overlay style.

Version 8.7.0

We've put in a lot of effort to create a cool new sidebar that gives you a clearer view of highlights, notes, tags, and website info.
Although the sidebar isn't fully done, you can give it a spin by turning on Web Highlights' hidden experimental mode.
Just shoot me an email, and I'll fill you in on how to activate the experimental mode. 👉🏻 hallo@marius-bongarts.de

Version 8.6.6

We fixed an issue where highlights & notes wouldn't update properly when changing website links!
Your pages will load faster and smoother, as highlights now appear after most browser tasks, making your browsing experience snappier.
We've made editing notes easier by preventing accidental triggers of keyboard shortcuts on some pages.

Version 8.6.5

Hide scrollbars on pricing container for Windows devices
Modernize font types

Version 8.6.3

Fix jumping of highlights when adding notes or tags: In the past, on same pages, highlighted text broke out of the current text when adding tags and notes.

Version 8.6.2

Allow changing the folder for local PDF files: A few users noted that after moving a local PDF to another folder on their computer, Web Highlights couldn't reapply highlights & notes. Now, our highlighter just needs the PDF's filename to guarantee that highlights can be reapplied anytime.

Version 8.6.1

Fix: Update user plan correctly when user subscription got renewed in Chrome Extension and in Web App

Version 8.6.0

Improve PDF viewer: Web Highlights sidebar is now integrated inside the PDF viewer's sidebar
Fix: Enable PDF highlighting for PDFs on URLs that do not end with *.pdf
Show recent testimonials as a Wall of Love on the Landing Page: web-highlights.com
Show Wall Of Love with all Chrome Web Store reviews on: web-highlights.com/testimonials

The new Web Highlights PDF Viewer: The sidebar is now integrated into the PDF viewer

Version 8.5.7

Fix issue of editing tags of highlight, when a tag is selected in the extension sidebar

Version 8.5.6

Fix endless update loop for some users with low network speed
New prompt to ask users for feedback in the Chrome Web Store
Improve SEO meta titles and description for web app

Version 8.5.5

Integrate Paddle as a new payment and subscription provider to handle subscriptions for Premium and Ultimate plan
Use latest Firebase Sign Up to make Google-Authentication more robust and less error-prone
Remove Firebase dependencies completely from Chrome extension built to make it compliant with the Chrome Web Store Remote Hosted Code policy.

Version 8.5.4

Small CSS and design fixes

Version 8.5.3

Performance improvements

Version 8.5.2

Fix smaller issues for Kindle import

Version 8.5.1

Show cover image for kindle bookmarks in learning & recap session

Version 8.5.0

Kindle Import feature:
- Now, you can quickly move all your Kindle highlights to Web Highlights with just a click of a button.
- Now, you can go between your Kindle books on the Kindle reader website and mark your highlights and notes again using our web-based highlighter tool.
Improve design of sidebar for creating tags and taking notes
improved sidebar elements with chip-list and rich editor to only show rich editor when being activated

Version 8.4.2

Include button in learning session to all highlights & notes of the current learning item
Improve performance for learning feature
Improve design of learning feature in web app

Version 8.4.1

Fix timezone issue to make learning session work correctly everywhere in the world

Version 8.4.0

Learning feature:
- Daily Highlights Recap & Learning: You can now regularly learn your selected highlights & notes. Every day, new highlights will be selected to be reviewed.
- Learning cards will be reviewed based on the spaced repetition principle to bring your learnings into long-term memory.
- The daily learning reminder can be enabled or disabled
- The learning session can be started within the Chrome Extension and also within the web app.

Version 8.3.0

Improved Highlight Formatting: Previously, the highlighted text in the sidebar didn't retain the original formatting from the websites. Now, the line breaks will be maintained in the highlighted section, reflecting the format found on the website.