A reading new tab setup should be a small queue, not a record of everything you might read one day. The page is visible each time you open a tab, so it gives a saved link an easy chance to be chosen. If there are fifty equally prominent choices, that advantage disappears. Start with two or three pieces you actually want to open soon.
In Backs, a Notepad can show a short reading list, and the Tab Bookshelf can hold saved pages in named books. A bookmark sign works for a publication or library site you visit often. These play different parts: the note says what is next, the saved book keeps temporary pages together, and the sign is a door to a lasting destination.
Keep the queue short
Name the next piece rather than a vague category. “Essay on maps” gives you a starting point; “Read more” does not. If a reading item needs context, put a sentence in the note editor about why you saved it. You do not need to see that full explanation on the new tab. The visible title only has to help you choose.
When you finish a piece, remove its line or replace it with the next one. A queue needs turnover. If you repeatedly pass over an item, ask whether you still want it. Keeping it forever turns the new tab into a guilt list. You can archive the link elsewhere without asking it to occupy the first screen of every browser session.
Save sets by subject
Some reading is a set: three articles on one subject, a collection of primary sources or pages for a book club. Save those tabs as one named book in the Tab Bookshelf. A shelf can hold several books. Make the names specific enough to recognise after a month. “Coastal maps” is more useful than “Research two”.
The Bookshelf can save selected tabs without closing them or stash them and close the originals. Choose the second action when the pages are distracting you from the thing you are doing now. Opening a saved book later does not guarantee the pages will still have the same content or be freely available, so keep essential notes in your own records.
Give the page a stopping point
A clock can be useful if your reading has a time boundary. A long list of links is less useful when you have ten minutes; show one piece that fits. Place the note and book on a clear part of the background photograph so their words remain readable. Backs draws their colours from the photo, but you can still move them if the image is too busy.
A reading page can live in its own Space if work links keep taking over. Two Spaces are available on the free plan. Use one for the links and tasks that support work, another for the books and articles you choose for yourself. This separation is about what the new tab displays; it does not close or sort the Chrome tabs you already have open.
Questions about a reading page
- Is a saved tab a copy of the article?
- No. It saves the page address so you can reopen it later. The site can still change or require a login.
- Should I use a bookmark or a book?
- Use a bookmark for a site you return to often. Use a named book for a temporary set of pages on one subject.
- Can I keep reading separate from work?
- Yes. Put the reading layout in a second Space and switch with the Space Backon.
Photo: Volodymyr Leush / Unsplash