💡 WiseUp! Vol. 48 — Before 2025 ends: the Best Of

📍 Let's start with a reading recommendation

10 habits of highly effective note takers

While compiling Wisereads, our editor Abi came across a meticulously written guide on the basics of note-taking for creating change. "Effective note-takers don’t just capture knowledge; they are deliberate about it. They use simple guidelines to ensure they capture information that matters — focusing on what inspires, excites, and is useful. This approach helps them organize their notes for easy retrieval later while avoiding unnecessary clutter." Add to Reader

From the support inbox

Have questions about using Readwise or Reader in your workflow? We'd love to be your guide! Reply to this email with your question and you might be featured in an upcoming issue. Even if your question isn’t featured, we’ll respond to every message.

---

❓ A Readwise question from Clara M:

I’m considering gifting Readwise to someone in my family for their New Year’s ‘read more’ goal. Do you offer those?

A Readwise subscription supports a “read more” goal by reminding you of what you have already read and liked. Each day, it revisits highlighted passages from books and articles in one place. Gift options are available for 3, 6, or 12 months.

---

❓ A Reader question from Radu:

How do I get my paid Substack newsletters into Reader?

The most reliable way to read paid Substack newsletters in full is to forward them from your email into Reader using your custom address. That way the entire article shows up ready to read. You can also use the RSS feed for paid newsletters, but those usually include only a short opening unless you save the original page by using the browser extension. Free newsletters are a good fit for RSS and can be added in a couple of different ways. Read more about the options here: How can I subscribe to Substack newsletters in Reader?

📖 New help doc of the week

Make more intentional highlights with concatenation action tags

Want to skip mid-paragraph fluff and save only what matters? Check out Cayla's updated guide on action tags. Pro tip: You can use concatenation action tags on any of our supported e-reading platforms—Reader, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and more.

Read the guide

🎬 New video of the week

New year, fresh start?

Our community manager Erin shared her process for cleaning up Reader after collecting content for three years.

Add to Reader

📰 Dec 13 - Dec 19 updates

What's new in Reader and Readwise

👀 NEW! Mark Seen API — Rasul added an option to mark documents as seen via the API, giving you more programmatic control over your library.

📄 Fixed Firefox PDFs — PDFs weren’t opening for users due to an API change in the latest Firefox update (146). Tristan fixed the recursion glitch, and PDFs should now work properly in all browsers.

🐦 Fixed Twitter Bookmarks — Rasul fixed an issue where bookmarks would be added to Reader if Save Twitter threads was enabled, instead of if Save single tweets was enabled.

💾 Improved CSV Export — Rasul updated the library export to use streaming responses, which should improve reliability when exporting large libraries.

⚙️ Fixed Account Preferences — Tristan fixed a glitch where users trying to access their Account Preferences to manage subscriptions ran into an error.

↕️ Fixed iPad Scrolling — When you tap into an article from your feed and return, you'll now stay at your place in the list instead of jumping to the top. Tapping the top-right toolbar icons also no longer causes unwanted scrolling. Thanks Mati!

👍 Three featured finds

From the CX team

Something to read 📖
Romi has been recommending North Woods to anyone who will listen. Set over many years, it tells the stories, lives, and secrets of the people who inhabit a piece of land in Massachusetts. The author's use of language is incredible, he weaves stories together and connects feelings so masterfully that sometimes there's nothing left to do but burst out laughing, be moved to tears, or get goosebumps.

Something to focus 🧠
Cayla is putting an end to tab-switching with the perfect split-screen on her new monitor setup.

Something to unwind 📚
After picking up these soft headband earphones for her son, Eleanor discovered they’re also perfect for adults cozying up with an audiobook.

💬 From the Readwise group chat

Near, far, wherever you are

Sometimes, all it takes to make us laugh is a book pun... and dumb turtle jokes. A bit on the wholesome side, feel free to steal this one for the holidays 😉