This is the first of many quarterly product roundups highlighting the top product updates from each quarter. We publish release notes regularly, but keeping up with them all can be challenging. These roundups showcase the product updates that have the most significant impact on your workflows.
Here are the top five product updates from the first quarter of 2025.
Access your Newspack tools faster
We cleaned up the backend of Newspack (the admin side) to make your workflows smoother and more intuitive. This update ensures that your most-used tools are easy to find.
Here’s a breakdown of the changes:
- Your dashboard has a new layout with sections and cards for quick access to tasks like creating posts, drafting newsletters, and more.
- We grouped all the settings under one menu, including Connections, Emails, Social, SEO, and more.
- Your audience management tools (Reader Activation, Donations, and Subscriptions) are now clearly separated into their own sections under Audience > Configuration, Audience > Donations, and Audience > Subscriptions.
- As part of this update, we renamed Reader Activation (aka “RAS”) to Audience Management.
- We reorganized the structure of the primary sections of the main menu, such as Newsletters, Listings, and Network.
Any big change like this takes some getting used to, which is why we created a cheat sheet to help you navigate the new menu.
Reach readers in low-connectivity areas
When you need to reach readers in low-connectivity areas, you can use our new Lite Site feature. It allows you to create a text-only version of your website that loads faster and uses less data. It’s especially valuable for readers experiencing connectivity issues, poor network coverage, or during natural disasters and emergencies when access to information is critical but bandwidth is limited.
We expanded our development of Lite Sites after partnering with the NC Local News Workshop to build text-only versions of several N.C. outlets, including public radio’s Blue Ridge Public Radio and WFD, as well as Asheville Watchdog and Enlace Latino NC, in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
If you’re enabling Lite Site to ensure readers can access critical news during natural disasters, here are a few ways you can let your readers know:
- Add a breaking news prompt: Enable a prompt using the “above header” placement with a notice linking to your Lite Site.
- Highlight coverage using social media: Pin a post with the Lite Site URL across all of your social channels.
- Use email newsletters: When sending emergency alerts via email, add a section about your Lite Site as a backup option.
- Create a domain redirect option: We can temporarily redirect your primary domain to your Lite Site if needed.
Read this article for more information on how to use Lite Sites.
Easily manage corrections and clarifications
The Corrections feature allows site administrators and editors to create, update, and manage corrections and clarifications quickly. It not only helps maintain content accuracy but also builds trust with your audience by addressing errors transparently.
The key functionalities include:
- Creation and editing: Use a dedicated Corrections Editor Modal — a user-friendly interface — to input and modify correction details easily.
- Display options: Showcase corrections on individual post pages, providing immediate context for updates.
Click here to learn how to utilize this feature.
Use dynamic prompts to engage readers
Set up prompts to capture the attention of your readers. For example, ask your readers to subscribe by adding a prompt after someone reads ten articles. It could say, “You’ve read ten free articles this month. Please consider subscribing!”
Click here to learn how to set up these dynamic prompts.
Track and manage republished content effectively
Our Republication Tracker tool provides the ability to allow other publications to republish your content on their site. For example, this article by Oklahoma Watch is available for republication.
In March, we made improvements to the tool that give you more control and custom tracking capabilities. Now you can do the following:
- Have the “republish this story” button open a republication modal, or direct the reader to a stand-alone page for republishing an article
- Add custom tracking codes to the republished content, so you can track the number of views and referral traffic
- Select from a variety of different content licenses
- Control which media other outlets can use in the republished content — this helps with licensing regulations
Check out the release notes for more information.