Vivaldi adds a sidebar panel to manage the Reading List with new options
A couple of weeks ago, Vivaldi added a new feature called the Reading List. We have already told you how it works, the latest snapshot release brings another way to manage it, along with some new options.
Vivaldi improves the Reading list experience with a sidebar panel
Vivaldi is, in many ways, a sidebar centric browser, at least for those who prefer to use it that way. The panel is now home to a new button that you can use to view and manage your Reading List.
Don't worry, if you like the Reading List pop-up panel that appears in the top-right corner, it's still there, and can can be accessed via the button next to the address bar. If you don't need the button, you can disable it from the settings, and use the sidebar instead, or use both if that's what you like.
That said, the sidebar panel has a few additional features which make it the better choice over the other. Unlike the pop-up modal, clicking a saved item on the sidebar doesn't immediately take you to the page, double-clicking the list item it will open the corresponding page in a new tab.
Once an item has been selected, you can use the - button to remove it from the list, or click on the eye button to mark the saved page as read or unread. To add the current page, hit the plus button, this behavior hasn't changed.
The side panel has a search bar that you may use to filter the reading list, it can recognize URLs, and words in the page's title. The Reading List sidebar has a sort menu which provides 4 ways to sort the list. You can reorder the list by the title, read state, date updated, or the address.
The sidebar has a right-click menu that lets you open the selected item (in a new tab), copy its address, mark the entry as read, or remove the saved item from the list.
Vivaldi has added a third way to add pages to the Reading List, you can mouse over a link, right-click on it, and select the option labeled "Add to the Reading List", from the page context menu. I'd still like to see a context menu option to save the current page to the reading list, it can be useful if you want to re-read an article later.
There are no default shortcuts that are assigned to manage the Reading List, but there is an option under the Page section of the Keyboard settings, that lets you define a hotkey, which when enabled, lets you add a page to the reading list.
Similarly, the View section lets you customize the key combo for toggling the Reading List Panel. You may want to set the hotkeys for these options for accessing the list quickly.
The new sidebar is available in Vivaldi Snapshot 2581.4, that you can download from the official website.
It's refreshing to see a browser add new, useful features and improve them, while others keep removing features for no reason, or add completely useless ones. I'm looking at you, Mozilla and Microsoft.
@ASHWIN
> It’s refreshing to see a browser add new, useful features and improve them, while others keep removing features for no reason, or add completely useless ones. I’m looking at you, Mozilla and Microsoft.
The way you speak in absolutes with hyperbole is not professional, even for an op-ed.
If you think it’s funny, it’s not. Yet if you were serious, then that’s even worse.
FYI: among other things, Vivaldi is for nerds pretending to be geeks.
Proprietary nonsense.
This sounds very much like Vivaldi’s own implementation of Firefox Pocket. I never needed it and I disabled it, I certainly don’t need it in Vivaldi as well. I was partially gratified to find that its a user option, but its extra code that will never be used, it would be much better to leave it to the user to uninstall it, but that would complicate the lives of the developers.
I suspected that Pocket was a telemetry tool, I feel the same way about this.
Peter Newton [London UK]
Shouldn’t all these features be offered as user choice extensions instead.
Was that not their original intention.?.To create an extension store or is the browser itself becoming the store.?
> Shouldn’t all these features be offered as user choice extensions instead.
No. Why would anyone want another chrome/fairfox?
In addition, extensions in current browsers are very limited in their capabilities: especially in the interface part (add new buttons, menus, panels, change the position of the tabbar – extensions can not).
> Was that not their original intention.?.
No. Their original intention: Feature-rich privacy-aware browser.
Lemegaton.
So when does this feature enrichment of the browser end precisely.?.
How long before the download size of this browser reaches over 100mb,which is precisely what will happen if this trend continues.
You call it features but i call it for what it is…feature creep.
When the well of features dries up…then what.?.
I recall their developers proposing a vivaldi extension store but considering their lack of manpower which can be seen in the number of bugs,i doubt this will materialize.
> So when does this feature enrichment of the browser end precisely.?.
Two variants:
1. when the majority of users of this browser say that no more new features are needed.
2. like the evolution of living organisms: when the browser ceases to exist.
> How long before the download size of this browser reaches over 100mb,which is precisely what will happen if this trend continues.
Did you choose the browser you use now based only on this criterion – download size?
Would you change your browser if the download size became larger than the largest competitor (to that competitor)?
Right now I checked the latest versions: Vivaldi’s installer is a little over 2 megabytes LESS than Chrome’s installer and 10 megabytes LESS than Brave’s installer. There doesn’t seem to be anything to worry about.
> You call it features but i call it for what it is…feature creep.
You can call it whatever you want, no one cares.
> When the well of features dries up…then what.?.
The speed of requests for new features from users clearly exceeds the speed at which Vivaldi team can implement them. At this point, your fantasy scenario is unrealistic.
> I recall their developers proposing a vivaldi extension store but considering their lack of manpower which can be seen in the number of bugs,i doubt this will materialize.
The usefulness of such a store is highly questionable. Opera has its own store, and it is very sad, both in terms of content and updating the existing one.
Maybe in the future they will make their own store, but how does this affect the availability of built-in features? Do you want a chrome clone with a chrome store clone after all? It doesn’t seem like Vivaldi users want that.
“… It’s refreshing to see a browser add new, useful features and improve them… ”
Thanks, Ashwin!
I’ve never used Chredge or Chrome as my default browser, only Firefox. However, of late I am using Vivaldi. I’m finding the dual-level tab stacks and the built-in vertical tabs/windows very useful. I like how it tracks closed tabs and windows in the latter. Although I don’t use extensions very much, it is good to know that I can install any Chrome extension without issue. The list goes on… and I haven’t even tried the newest features, which include Notes, Web Panels, and Tab Tiling.
@Norio
I agree! I too just started using Vivaldi and love all the fresh-looking options and features! Best of all, it comes loaded with bookmarks of great services and places to shop! Vivaldi is the best! Everyone should use it ASAP!
“… or add completely useless ones.”
Like loading few articles on one page.
Please, turn back to the previous behavior. It loads pages slower and doesn’t improve anything. The neverending page scroll is the most awful online trend in the recent years.
Don’t follow the dumb masses – stand out.
About Vivaldi: It’s slow, it’s clunky, it’s uncomfortable to use; the interface is laggy, the pages are slow, and the overall design is a counter-intuitive, convoluted cluster f**k made by aliens.
I’ve been excited about Vivaldi numerous times, and just as many ending up being disappointed and replacing it with another browser. I’ve tried to give it so many chances, but the developers just don’t want to learn. I suggested back in 2017 to implement a Download Pop-up window like Firefox and Opera and it took them until 2022 to implement it. What a joke.
They keep bloating their browser with useless things, while Vivaldi remains the slowest Chromium browser of the bunch in literally everything – from Cold/Warm launch to loading websites, to tab handling, to UI responsiveness. It’s a slog no matter how you look at it.
I think the comment section should be shown as default. Hiding it automatically makes me not want to visit this site anymore.
woo-hoo, whoop-de-do
I have to click “Show comments” AND a new article also automatically loads as soon as I scroll to the bottom of the page??
Horrible, horrible design! Revert this nonsense back please. I value the comments section on this website so I want to see it right away, and also do not shove the previous article on my screen just like that. If the subject interests me, I will check it myself.
BAD design
It’s about getting more accurate data about people coming here, being active from clicks on comments. But why you bother anyway, you never had anything interesting to say beside countless mentions about using the long-term supported Windows 10.
Brinkmann, it’s enough the quality of content dropped significantly over last 2 years (thanks to new “editors”) – don’t make site more user hostile.
Not to mention that the link to the comments section (near the top of the article) is now broken. It only works if the comments section is already open. This is change for the sake of change…
I fully agree with Yulia. This is awful.
+1. im ok if there is show/hide reply though.