Tips & Tricks

Tips & Tricks

Tips and hints for getting more out of Reading Forest.

Efficient Usage

1. Organize with Multiple Files (Free Plan)

The free plan limits to 20 books per file, but there's no limit on number of files. Create multiple files organized by year, genre, author, etc.

• Organize by year: "2024 Reading.rfnote", "2025 Reading.rfnote"
• Organize by genre: "Fiction.rfnote", "Technical.rfnote"
• Organize by author: "Stephen King.rfnote"

2. Regular Backups

We recommend backing up your reading notebooks regularly.

• Save to local file immediately after adding important notes
• Create monthly backups with names like "2025-01.rfnote"
• Keep copies in multiple locations (computer, USB drive, etc.)

3. Use Tags in Notes

Adding hashtags like #thoughts #quotes #questions in your notes makes them easier to search later.

4. Set Reading Goals

Set goals like "Read 50 books this year" and count your finished books. In Settings under "Display Options", enable only "Show completed books" to display only finished books and easily count them.

5. Use AI to Input Long Quotes

Typing long quotes manually can be tedious. Modern AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.) can read text from photos or scanned images using OCR technology.

• Take a photo of the book page with your smartphone and send it to an AI
• Ask "Please transcribe the text in this image"
• Copy the AI's output and paste it into Reading Forest's memo field

Even for technical books with mathematical formulas, AI can accurately convert them to LaTeX notation (the math notation format used in Reading Forest). It's faster and more accurate than manual typing. → View Math Formula Guide

Common Issues and Solutions

My recorded books disappeared?

• Are you in incognito/private mode? → Open in normal mode
• Did you clear browser cache? → Restore from backup file
• Did you load a different file? → Load the correct file again

Can't add books

• On free plan and reached 20 books? → Create a new reading notebook
• Barcode not scanning? → Try in a well-lit area, or use image file scanning instead
• Is the ISBN entered correctly? → Try entering just the numbers without hyphens

Keyboard Shortcuts

Use the following keyboard shortcuts for faster operation: