What shipped
What shipped in 1.8.0 and 1.8.1
Every page type now opens with its own picture, and an old page catches up with one upgrade command.
- The answer, three facts, then the page's own picture.
- 1.8.1 changed looks only: labels, callouts, flow steps.
- An old page keeps its old look until you upgrade it.
What changed, and what to do
Both released 15 October 2026The numbers
What you do differently
- Update the plugin. Then restart Claude Code.
- Preview an old page's upgrade. A dry run changes nothing.
- Upgrade the page. Your words and pictures stay.
- Make a page again when you want the new parts.
Take: 1.8.0 changed how every page opens. The only work it asks of you is to update and upgrade.
- What the first screen shows nowThe answer as the headline, three facts as cards, then the page's own picture.
- What got calmer to readOne Reading tools button, a quieter chapter and calmer colour.
- What 1.8.1 fixedSmall fixes to labels, callouts and flow steps, three hours later.
- What an upgrade doesFour moves, and when to make a page again instead.
Chapter 1 of 4, about 1 minute
What does the first screen show now?
Before this: every page type now opens with its own picture, under the answer.
A review of 21 real pages found that 19 types opened with the same first phone screen. A status report looked like a release note until the third screen.
- The answer sat in a box with a thick bar down its side.
- The three facts shared one yellow box.
- Every type showed the same chapter map next.
- The answer is the headline, with no box.
- The three facts are three cards side by side.
- A section called At a glance shows the type's own picture.
Take from this: the first screen now says what kind of page this is, before any chapter.
A status page opens with its health board beside a timeline. A runbook opens with its steps as a checklist. A research page opens with its findings, ranked by trust.
Show the new parts and the pictures a page draws itself
- New parts:
div.duofor two columns,div.colsfor state columns,ul.findingsfor findings ranked by trust, andol.layersfor a system in layers. - Drawn by the page:
div.runbook-overview,div.filmstrip,div.rulingsanddiv.qprogress. Each is filled from parts already on the page. - Checker: a page made by 1.8.0 or later with no glance gets a warning. Older pages are never warned.
Remember: the answer is the headline, and the page's own picture comes next.
Chapter 2 of 4, about 1 minute
What got calmer to read?
Before this: the first screen now shows the answer, three facts and the page's own picture.
The other half of 1.8.0 removed things that competed for attention.
- Six tool buttons sat in two rows.
- Four look-alike bars framed every chapter.
- The before side of a split was tinted red.
- Tile numbers took the colour of their state.
- A runbook's check and failure lines were green and red boxes.
- One Reading tools button holds all six.
- Two bars a chapter, and only Remember is tinted.
- Both sides are white, and the after side has a thin green rule.
- Tile numbers are plain ink, with the state as a glyph and a word.
- Check and failure lines are quiet lines with a glyph.
Take from this: colour is spent on meaning. Yellow stays the one large fill because it means keep this.
Remember: one Reading tools button, one tinted strip per chapter, and colour only where it means something.
Chapter 3 of 4, about 1 minute
What did 1.8.1 fix three hours later?
Before this: 1.8.0 redrew the page, and 1.8.1 touched its look and labels only.
The fixes came from a close look at the gallery, the examples and real pages at 390 and 1280 px, in both themes. The release changed no markup.
- Labels in spaced capitals, such as the chapter kicker.
- A tip, warning or stop was a full tint with a thick left bar.
- A flow step's number sat over its text and squeezed it.
- Sentence case: "Chapter 1 of 5, about 1 minute".
- A white card with a hairline in its colour and a glyph before the title.
- The number sits beside the title, and the line below uses the full width.
Take from this: each fix removes a little noise, and none changes what a page says.
Two more fixes finish the round. The mini-map scrolls on a phone instead of shrinking its labels to 7 px. The atlas's quiet snapshot line also works after the chapter map.
Remember: 1.8.1 changed looks and labels only. An upgrade brings the fix to an older page.
Chapter 4 of 4, about 1 minute
What happens when I upgrade a page?
Before this: 1.8.1 changed looks only, and an old page keeps its old look until you upgrade it.
An upgrade is safe to try. On 21 real pages brought up from 1.7.0, phone height fell by a median of 9%, and by up to 15% for a runbook. No markup changed.
- Save a backupThe page is copied to a .bak file first.
- Swap the codeThe page's style and script become the current ones.
- Check the pageThe checker runs on the result.
- Keep or restoreA page that passed before and fails now is put back.
Take from this: an upgrade changes the design and the script, and keeps your content byte for byte.
An upgrade does not add the new parts of a release, such as At a glance. Ask the agent to make the page again for those.
Show the exact commands
claude plugin marketplace update html-explainer-skill
claude plugin update html-explainer@html-explainer-skill
node <skill folder>/scripts/upgrade.mjs docs/explainers/my-page.html --dry-run
node <skill folder>/scripts/upgrade.mjs docs/explainers/my-page.htmlRestart Claude Code after the update. Add --force only for a page with hand-edited styles. The backup keeps those edits.
Remember: update, preview, upgrade, and make a page again when you want its new parts.
Recap
- The answer is the headline, and the page's own picture comes next.
- One Reading tools button, one tinted strip per chapter, and colour only where it means something.
- 1.8.1 changed looks and labels only. An upgrade brings the fix to an older page.
- Update, preview, upgrade, and make a page again when you want its new parts.