It's been a year dominated by Rangers, Celtic (as always, some would say), Scottish politics, and the Catholic church.
But as our annual list of readers' browsing habits shows, there are some surprise inclusions in the top 25 of Best Read articles in 2013.
Right at the top, only 48 hours after it was published, is health correspondent Helen Puttick's exclusive interview with a father who says the long hours culture of junior doctors is responsible for his daughter's death in a car crash.
It's clearly struck a nerve across the world, with around 150,000 hits in that very short period, many from readers (other junior doctors?) sharing the moving tale on social media.
Next is our version of the arrest of Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell, months before he was acquitted on all charges at Manchester Crown Court. It would be lovely to claim this as a top showbiz scoop, but the reality is that our use of "Corrie's Kevin Webster" in the headline attracted huge interest through web search engines (put it another way: lots of online readers identify more with the TV role than the real person).
Third is another example of the power of digital users to find what they want, rather than simply what publishers give them on a particular day - in this case, a three-year old Herald Magazine interview about the real story behind an Edinburgh theatre production. The involvement of "identical twins" in the play is probably a key element in attracting the 2013 audience.
And just behind: proof positive that, even in an age of haute cuisine and fusion blends, readers want simple cookery advice from a Scottish site, in the shape of a recipe for traditional lentil soup from chef and HeraldScotland food blogger Jacqueline O'Donnell.
Here's the full list (followed by some predictable, and some downright odd searches...):
Best Read on HeraldScotland in 2013
1 Grieving father: junior doctor hours require urgent review
2 Corrie's Kevin Webster charged with 19 child sex offences
4 Simply Special: good old lentil soup
5 Cardinal ordered into exile by Vatican
6 Spiers on Sport: Rangers, new club or old, and the BBC
7 The 50 greatest graphic novels of all time
8 BBC says sorry over Spence's Rangers comments
9 Celtic and Rangers have both broken an unspoken old firm code
10 Spiers on Sport: mind your language with Rangers FC
11 Top restaurateur declared bankrupt
12 Ulster unionists head to Scotland for indyref protest after meeting Rangers fans
13 Murray: I will declare my hand on independence
14 £5m wiped off Rangers shares
15 Ibrox battle intensifies: two million more shares change hands
16 Graham Spiers: 'I was back among the bears and I confess, I was impressed...'
17 Galloway attacked for SNP Catholic slur
18 Cardinal was in physical relationship with accuser
19 Time called on notorious pub Dalglish made famous
20 Fears for Glasgow Council leader's future over sex act
21 Actress commits suicide on tube
22 Spiers on Sport: what to do with the Green Brigade?
23 Rangers have to keep an eye on their spending or face financial woe again
24 Calls for probe into creationist physics teacher
25 Congregation unite in protest at suspension of parish priest
10 most searched phrases
1 Kevin Webster
2 Rangers
3 Celtic
4 Scotland
5 Lentil soup
6 Pamela Stephenson
7 Nat Fraser
8 Andy Murray
9 RBS
10 Tommy Duckworth
10 weirdest searches
1 New zombie movies to be released in 2013
2 How to make cheese sauce
3 Scottish gangsters
4 Where does Nigel Slater live
5 What Kate wore
6 Mary Queen of Scots
7 Mother's Day
8 Where is Katie Morag filmed
9 Pogonophobic (a fear of beards)
10 Why do some people feel the cold more
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