Highlight User Guide

This blog post will explain in a simple way how the highlights you make on a webpage are stored, and how you can organize your highlighted notes through the management page.

How are your highlights stored?

When you make highlights on a webpage using Eink Mode, these highlights are not stored in the cloud or on a remote server, but are directly stored in the browser on your own computer.

The browser has a built-in small database called IndexedDB. You can think of it as your browser's "private notebook"—only your browser can access it, and no one else can see it.

Every time you make a highlight on a webpage, the extension automatically saves the following information in this notebook:

  • The text content of your highlight (e.g., "This sentence is important")
  • The location of that text in the article (used to ensure the highlight displays correctly in the same place next time)
  • The color you selected (yellow, blue, pink, etc.)
  • Your notes (if you added any)
  • The time you made the highlight
  • The URL of the article (with the parameters in the address bar intentionally removed to eliminate any personal or tracking-related information)

In addition, the system keeps a "page summary" for each article, which includes:

  • The title of the article
  • The tags you assigned to that article
  • The time of your last highlight

This way, when you open the same webpage next time, Eink Mode can find your previous highlights and display them again.

Because the data only exists on your device, switching to a different computer or browser will not bring your highlights along. This is to protect your privacy: your reading habits belong solely to you.

How to access the management page?

The management page allows you to see all the articles you've highlighted at once and helps you tag them or delete unwanted records.

Here are the steps to enter the management page:

  1. On any webpage where Eink Mode is enabled, call up the control panel using the default method.
  2. In the control panel, find and click the “Notebook” icon to open the highlight notebook for the current article.
  3. On the notebook page, again use the default method to call up the control panel. This time, the control panel represents the notebook's control panel, where you will see the "Highlight Management" icon—click it to enter the management page.

The management page will list all the webpages you've highlighted, allowing you to easily organize these records.

How to view articles you've highlighted?

Once you enter the management page, you will see a list of all the webpages where you have made highlights using Eink Mode. Each record will display:

  • The title of the article
  • The URL of the article
  • Your tags for that article (if any)

You can switch between "list" or "card" layouts, choosing your preferred presentation method.

Click on any article's link to jump directly to that webpage for re-reading. Once redirected, Eink Mode will automatically activate, displaying all your highlights.

How to add tags to articles?

Adding tags in the notebook

In the notebook, you can directly add tags to articles for easier classification and organization. The tagging option is located under the article title.

Adding tags through the management page

Tags can help you categorize articles, making it easy to find related content later. For example, you could tag some articles as "Work" and others as "Recipes."

Here are the steps to add tags:

  1. In the management page list, find the article you want to tag.
  2. Click the “+ Add tag” button next to the article.
  3. Enter your desired tag name and press Enter to confirm.

Once the tags are added, they will appear as colorful small tags next to the article.

If you want to remove a tag, simply click the × button next to the tag to delete it.

Clicking any tag will also filter the list by that tag, showing only the articles with that tag. To clear the filter, click "Clear filter."

How to find previous articles with the search bar?

If your collection of highlighted articles is growing, and you want to quickly find a specific one, you can use the search bar at the top of the management page.

Enter part of the article title or URL that you remember in the search bar, and the list will filter in real time to show only the relevant results.

For example:

  • Enter "Recipe" → find all articles with "Recipe" in their titles
  • Enter "example.com" → find all articles from the website example.com

The search bar and tag filtering can be used simultaneously, allowing you to find the articles you want more precisely.

Other useful features

  • Export Markdown: Clicking the "Export Markdown" button allows you to export all highlights into text format, making it easy to paste into note-taking software (like Notion or Obsidian) for storage.
  • Batch Delete: Clicking "Batch Remove" allows you to select multiple records for deletion at once, rather than removing them one by one manually.
  • Storage Space Display: The top of the management page shows how much storage space your highlights currently occupy, helping you monitor usage.

References