is the backup file the correct size? try and rename it 'new.anki' and drag the file over the anki icon

Sounds like a lot of work. Latex support is not that far away, anyway

resolve wrote:

Latex support is planned for the future

Oh man, that would be awesome.

are there any plans to make a web version of Anki?
Seems like the kind of software that would be great to run in a browser.

Still can't connect.  Hmm.

Ok, looks good now.  Thanks!

kurojohn wrote:

Am loving this software very much.  Thanks so much, resolve.  I just have one function that would make this perfect for me.  Not sure if it is possible, but I sure would like to have something like a freeze (or automatic reschedule) option.  I mean, sometimes I go places for days at a time where I don't have internet or computer access.  Other times a break just seems necessary.  During these times, the number of reviews will just pile up.  Plus I am not able to add new cards into the mix until all the due cards are reviewed.  It kind of leaves a burden over your head while you are away because you know what will await you when you come home again.  Is there anything that can be done about this?  Or is what I am talking about already possible and I am just missing it?

I've been thinking about this issue recently also.  In the end it's a psychological issue, right?  The large stack of cards waiting to be reviewed looks intimidating, so it discourages studying.  Furthermore, learning new cards often adds an element of interest and variety which you are deprived of while you slog through your expired cards.

One idea I thought of is to be able to set a number of reviews that you would like to get through before Anki lets you access some new cards.  For example, I could say that I want to review 40 cards today, and after the 40 are done I can do some new cards if I want, or just relax.  That way you can take down your expired stack in chunks (hopefully Anki would prioritize the more urgent reviews), but still get to add a few new cards if you want.

Hmm.

I understand the psychological argument, and JimmySeal's suggestion sounds pretty good. However, the cards are due for a reason - if the user puts off review for too long, they'll forget the words and their effort to learn the words before is wasted. This is a function of the interval of the card - the longer ago the card was scheduled, the more tolerant it is to delays.

Perhaps there could be an option to add a new card into the mix every 20 cards (or some user-definable number). But adding new cards into the mix is likely to make the workload increase even higher. I'm not sure what the best way to approach it is. More suggestions welcome :-)

Last edited by resolve (2007 October 01, 4:36 am)

I noticed on the AJATT site, in the comments of his latest post "Propaganda", he mentions that his online tool, Khatzumemo, has a rescheduling function to deal with that problem.  Not sure how that works but it might be useful to find out what he does.  I personally have no intentions on changing at the moment because Anki allows me to review both online and offline, plus other functions which are useful.  Here's the quote from his comments:

>the ?596 cards waiting? this sucks!
Yeah?I hated that one. So I wrote KhatzuMemo in such a way that it covers that up by rescheduling the reps?Whatever SRS you use, just do what you can. There are just 24 hours in the day and there?s just one of you.

first i want to say that really, seriously, i firmly believe in the effectiveness of SRS and the importance of following its schedule strictly.  i preach it and practice it as best as possible.

but,
i am also a very busy person, and i frequently travel on business during which time i do not have time or computer access to keep up with an SRS system like anki or this site itself.  returning from a business trip and facing 200 or more cards is not merely daunting (i am not easily daunted), but more importantly and practically, it creates a huge burden to deal with, as i will also have many extra post-business trip tasks to deal with as well. 

i find it extremely difficult to recover my schedule after such an event as a business trip, and i find that difficulty to be a little counter productive to be honest.  if i can simply put the schedule on hold for 3 days, those short term cards that i forget will get failed and resurrected, and some of those short term cards will actually probably be ok and get passed.  it will certainly create a kink in the workflow, but it will smooth out pretty quickly and without much extra effort.  but if i face 200 or more expired cards and cant get to them all on my return, it will create a bottle-neck that may effect my workflow much more seriously.

my other justification of a suspend feature is going to sound a little selfish and off-putting i realize, but really, it is not meant to be belligerent.  it is a pretty simple idea.  basically, i am an adult, and a professional.  it is really up to me to balance and set my priorities to fit my situation, desires, and obligations.  i would really appreciate self-study tools that give me the power to quickly and easily suspend and restart for those occasions when my study has to take a back burner for a short time.

granted, such features are open to potential overuse and abuse by the procrastinators and less devoted students of the world (i certainly used to be one of them).  and that is a valid concern in designing a study system, even a self-study system.  but in the end, i still feel that those engaged in self study should have as much control over their study as possible, and the burden is (and should be) really on them to take the reigns and keep at it.

specifically to anki, i feel that some function that simply stops/restarts time accrual globally would be better than needing to go into the deck and manipulate the time intervals and expiration dates.  the reason for this is that it seems to me that going in and tinkering around like that is more open to making mistakes, forgetting to reset everything correctly, etc., which could cause worse problems for workflow in the end.

i love anki, and i love this site for reviewing the kanji, but this issue has been an issue for me for a while now, and unfortunately, more recently has seriously disrupted my ability to use both.

Personally, I don't think there's a problem. I think people just need to get over the dispiriting feeling that comes when you see a large number of due cards.

As resolve says, they're due for a reason. Ideally, if the scheduling algorithm is working well, that reason is that you will be pretty close to forgetting those cards, if you haven't already. Therefore they need to be reviewed. The excellent design of Anki means that you don't have to review them all at once. You can just do them in chunks if you wish and the cards that have expired the most recently will always be shown first.

Having said this, what's called into question is the efficiency and accuracy of the scheduling algorithm. It may be possible to work out a margin of error with each scheduling. So for example, if the most recent interval for a card was 30 days, then putting that card off for a couple of days probably won't make a difference. However, if you extend the interval to 40 or 50 days (i.e. review the card 10 or 20 days later than planned) then you're probably taking a risk. I think there is potential for a 'panic button', which you could hit when it's just too much, and this would change the scheduling of cards such that it approaches the upper limit of the margin of error. To be honest, I think this would be hard to implement and it would be better just to get on with it. Although a 'pause' button would be conceptually simple, I think it completely defeats the point of spaced repetition. You would be mad to use it.

I don't know what other people's experiences are but I believe that the scheduling for consistent level 4 correct ratings is too conservative. I'm not sure because I'm not at home but I think that I have several cards where I have given 4 or 5 straight level 4 correct answers and yet the interval is only 70 days or something. My feeling is that it would be safe to go for larger intervals than this in these circumstances. This would also help with the issues discussed at the moment.

shaydwyrm wrote:

- One last idea, have an option to automatically move cards that have been expired for some multiple of their interval back to the new cards pile.  For example, consider a 1-day interval card forgotten if it has been sitting in the expired stack for more than a week.

I like that idea. Cards could be marked as unlearned when overdue by a definable factor but still have their past learning data stored. When such a card comes up again and really can't be remembered it would be treated as if it was a new card and the schedule data would be reset, on the other hand if the card is remembered correctly the rescheduling would be done according to the original schedule (or maybe half the time?).

Last edited by Kurosawa (2007 October 01, 9:22 am)

wrightak wrote:

I think that Anki currently does the exact opposite and puts due cards in order of most recent expiry first. I think that this is far better. Why would you want to risk forgetting what was due on the 24th by putting it off for a few days and reviewing the cards due on the 22nd instead?

Mine is all conjecture... I don't use Anki, and I'm happy with my halving method...

If Anki did work backwards, and the user had trouble getting through all of the expired cards, it may end up that a card that was due earlier might be pushed back a significant amount of days.

In any case, I think you're right, there's mainly a feeling of "Oh jesus, not all this..." when you return from a couple of days off and it can be really disheartening. But if you're serious about SRS usage, and dealing with Real Life, you'll need to get used to trudging through backlogs which will happen.

I guess, personally, as long as my SRS isn't fudging the numbers and remains honest, I'm happier that way.

Last edited by aircawn (2007 October 01, 9:38 am)