From curating your best work to making it easier for readers to subscribe, Q4 was all about tightening the experience for publishers and readers alike. We shipped new tools to help you present your content more clearly, streamline your subscription flows, and track fundraising goals.
Here are five features we’re especially proud of from last quarter.
1. Curate your most important work with ease
Newspack Collections is a powerful new way to group related posts into curated sets. It’s perfect for special reporting series, event coverage, themed roundups, or even full digital editions of your print publication.
Whether you’re organizing investigative work, building evergreen editorial packages, or creating rich content archives, Collections gives you the flexibility to:
- Organize digital print editions with issue numbers, volumes, and publication periods
- Mirror your publication structure using custom sections (News, Opinion, Sports, etc.)
- Highlight featured cover stories
- Offer downloadable PDFs or purchase links
- Automatically generate archive pages in grid or list layouts
It’s one of our most flexible editorial tools to date, and one that’s already being used in creative ways across our publishing community.
2. Smarter checkout for subscription tiers
We’ve made it easier to sell different versions of a subscription (such as monthly and yearly tiers at varying prices) with new support for grouping products and an updated Checkout Button block. You can now present multiple subscription plans together in a cleaner, more user-friendly selection menu.
We also added a smart guardrail: if a reader already has an active subscription, they won’t be able to purchase another in the same subscription group accidentally. That means fewer support tickets and less confusion for your subscribers.
3. A smoother way to drive conversions
We’ve also introduced a new “Primary Subscription” setting to streamline the process of upgrading or starting a subscription. Once you configure this setting, you’ll have a unique URL you can use to prompt readers to purchase or switch their subscriptions with fewer clicks and no extra navigation.
You can use this link across your site — in campaigns, newsletters, or call-to-action buttons — and it will automatically trigger the most relevant subscription flow based on the reader’s current status.
4. Show real-time fundraising progress, beautifully
The Contribution Meter block lets you visualize your fundraising goal with automatic donation tracking — no spreadsheets or manual updates required.
Choose from linear or circular meters, customize colors and thickness, and display the goal amount, amount raised, or percentage to goal. It tracks completed Newspack donation product orders from a start date you choose.
We also released ready-made patterns to help inspire effective fundraising designs directly in the editor.
5. Let loyal subscribers spread the word
For sites using Newspack features to restrict content, subscribers can now give gate-free access to individual articles using a unique shareable link.
The “Gift this article” button integrates with Jetpack Sharing (if enabled) or can appear near the post byline. Recipients who follow the link see the full article, along with a banner encouraging them to subscribe.
This is a low-friction way to turn loyal readers into advocates, while keeping control over your paywall experience.
Looking ahead
Q4 brought the polish, Q1 is bringing the power. Early 2026 is shaping up to be one of our biggest yet, with major improvements to the My Account experience, an AI-powered editorial assistant, and a whole new content gating and access control system already in motion.
We’re building for the publishers who want more control, more connection, and fewer workarounds. We think you’ll like what’s coming next.
Read the product highlights from Q1, Q2, and Q3, 2025, if you missed them.
