Introduction
Core Concepts
Cards: the universal unit
Every article, feed entry, saved link, and imported document becomes a card. Cards carry:
- Title and source — where the item came from (feed, URL, file)
- Read state — unread, read, or in progress (for longer items)
- Star — quick importance flag, separate from tags
- Tags — your organizational vocabulary, shared across the library
- Highlights — selections in the reader, PDF, or EPUB views
- Archive state — removed from active lists without deleting
Treating everything as a card means you can move between Feeds, Read Later, and Bookmarks without re-learning different item types.
Sidebar modes
The sidebar has three top-level modes that reshape which destinations appear:
| Mode | Purpose |
|---|---|
| RSS | Feeds, folders, and article collections (Unread, All, Starred, Archived) |
| Read Later | Your queue and filtered collections (In Progress, Highlights, PDFs, …) |
| Bookmarks | Reference links and bookmark collections |
Switch modes from the sidebar header or with shortcuts ⌘⌥R (RSS), ⌘⌥L (Read Later), and ⌘⌥B (Bookmarks) on macOS.
Within each mode, destinations are specific lists—Unread Articles, In Progress, Starred Bookmarks, and so on. The command palette exposes many destinations under “Go to …” without dedicated keyboard shortcuts.
Layouts: Focused and Triage
Cardmaniacs offers two primary layouts on macOS (and adapted equivalents on iOS/iPadOS):
Focused layout (⌘⌥1)
Reader-first. The content pane dominates; the card list stays accessible but secondary. Use Focused layout when you are reading one item deeply or want minimal chrome.
Triage layout (⌘⌥2)
List-first. Scan many cards quickly, batch-select, and open items into the reader. Use Triage when clearing a feed or processing your Read Later queue.
Read states and progress
- Unread — you have not opened or finished the item
- Read — marked complete (
⌘Eon macOS) or finished in the reader - In progress — partially read; common for long articles and books
Read Later collections can filter by these states. Feeds track unread counts per feed and folder.
Archive vs delete
Archive removes an item from active triage lists while keeping it recoverable. Archived articles, read-later items, and bookmarks live in dedicated archived destinations. Archive is available from the command palette and actions palette; there is no default keyboard shortcut for Archive in the command catalog.
Delete (⌘⌫ on macOS) permanently removes the card from your library. Use delete when you are certain you will not need the item again.
Tags and smart lists
Tags label cards across modes. Open Manage Tags… (⌘⇧T) from an item or use the Tag Panel in the reader.
Smart lists are saved filters—rules over fields like tag, source, read state, and media type. They appear in the sidebar when their criteria match. See Highlights and Tags for recipes and the editor.
Home
Home (⌘0) is the dashboard: recommendations, reading momentum, and entry points into your library. It is not a fourth pillar like Feeds or Read Later—it is an overview that pulls from all of them.
Command surfaces
Power users rely on three overlapping surfaces:
- Command palette (
⌘K) — search all commands and “Go to” destinations - Actions palette (
⌘⇧A) — context actions for the current selection - Menus and shortcuts — muscle memory for frequent operations
The Keyboard and Commands reference lists authoritative shortcuts from the app catalog.
Next steps
- Layouts and Navigation — shortcuts, focus handoff, sidebar destinations
- Feeds and Syndication — how incoming content works
- Read Later — queue habits and collections