Anki as a knowledge base (with a "massive cloze note")

[01101]

Is it possible to have normal cloze ones and typed cloze ones in the same text?

[kleinerpirat]

I have no experience with typed clozes, but I don’t think it’s possible by default.

[01101]

I have this add-on Fill the blanks - Multiple type:cloze support - AnkiWeb and if i create a cloze note type and change {{cloze:Text}} to {{type:cloze:Text}} this happens:

Every cloze becomes typed, but because of that i can’t create normal clozes too, only typed ones. So would be awesome if could switch between typed ({{type:cloze:Text}}) and non-typed ({{cloze:Text}}). Let’s say, Ctrl + Shift + C for normal clozes and Ctrl + Shift + B for typed ones, or even some change in the syntax or, like in “Closet”, this thing:

I think typing, despite of being time consuming, is good for memorization. Sometimes I get a cloze wrong several times and i wish i could transform it in typed one, that way i would have to pay more attention to answer it right next time. I’ve heard that other space repetition tool, i think it is Quizlet, punish you like that when you get a card wrong.
Imagine if cards tagged with “leech” were automatically transformed in typed ones, at least in my opinion, would be great.

Any idea how could implement a simple way for switching between typed and and normal clozes? Forget about the “leech” thing, i know that would need an add-on and too much hard work.

[SvenAERTS228]

@kleinerpirat

<script>
setTimeout(() => {
    if ((cloze = document.querySelector(".cloze")) != null) {
        cloze.scrollIntoView({
            behavior: "smooth",
            block: "center"
        })
    }
}, 0)
</script>

Ah - yes - copy/pasted it in both windows - cool it works, both in the anki app on my laptop and on my smartphone !
Thank you soo much! Can I buy you a coffee or something?

[Radorion]

@Radorion

And, of course, that’s not a problem with your amazing script, but it didn’t work on AnkiDroid, which I think only works with “Persistent Editor - AnkiWeb” (which, if you could add it to the script, I’d be immensely grateful, as I’m a programming potato).

Actually @kleinerpirat what is needed to work on AnkiDroid is “persistence” in GitHub - SimonLammer/anki-persistence: Persist data between both sides of an anki flashcard., or https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1051511270, that I have no idea how to implement in your script.

Sorry for the indication error.

[kleinerpirat]

I don’t think persistence is needed, but maybe I misunderstood what you’re trying to achieve. I’ll send you a new note type in the evening with a couple of new features and AnkiDroid compatibility.

[Radorion]

@kleinerpirat I have no idea what it would or would not be necessary to make the script work on AnkiDroid, I suggested persistence as someone had already suggested it to me too, anyway, I’m grateful for your effort with this.

Here is the FRONT of the card (where the script stay):

Here is the BACK:

[kleinerpirat]

Here is a demo of a sample deck/note type I’ll share with you soon:

It’s one of 257 cards created from one note (if you spotted some cloze syntax in there: I forgot nesting them isn’t possible by default).

Features

• auto-scroll to active paragraph
• scroll indicator + indicator for active paragraph
• extra info hidden by default, shown on click anywhere
• individual colors for topics based on tags
• AnkiDroid compatible

Todo

• button to auto-scroll back to active paragraph

---

About the general concept

On another note: You want to use Anki as a knowledge base. However, the cloze syntax is really distracting. @davidcortez mentioned the following workaround:

@davidcortez

He creates a lot of notes with the same text in the extra.

Duplicate text has some drawbacks, mainly that you have to edit everything twice, and should therefore be avoided.

The following draft will eventually turn clozes to web components, so it will be much easier to change their appearance with an add-on. Because there are more pressing issues, it will take some time until this makes it into Anki, though.

Clozes as web components

I suggested a batch-editing feature to increment/decrement cloze numbers, but there are some problems with that idea.

[Radorion]

WOW…

@kleinerpirat I am impressed by this note.

When I was experimenting with the first one you posted here, I came across exactly this problem of the number of clozes, as I had forgotten to hide a part of the text at the beginning and had the unpleasant task of needing to edit cloze by cloze until the end with the intention to keep the note organized.

The problem I see here (correct me if I’m wrong in my premise) is that Anki is designed to atomize thought into several notes, and notes (not just cards) must also be atomized. The suggestion here is a kind of “countermovement” leaving the first part (front) following the principle of minimal information, while the second part (back) shows all the content.

In a perfect world, Anki could change the number of clozes as the note itself changes, that would be ideal, let’s say I want to add a paragraph between c4 and c5, it could be c391, which leaves the confusing organization.

Of course for most users this won’t matter much, but I see it matters to you and me.

The system (or add-on) would need to detect the change in the cloze according to its position in the text and still transport the scheduling information from the card to the other cloze number. This can currently be done manually with the add-on Transfer scheduling data from one card to another - AnkiWeb, but it is a solution that is not feasible on a multi-cloze note for the same reason that it is not feasible to change cloze by cloze when adding or deleting a paragraph in the middle of long text with multiple clozes.

A temporary solution that can solve our problems (at least in the short term as long as there is no native or add-on function to increase and decrease the number of clozes and card scheduling with them) is to create only between 5-10 paragraphs per note and give them the same title. So maybe it’s easier later to attach a “History of technology” (with latest inventions) to “History of technology” (with first inventions), which will automatically change the final clozes to larger numbers… but I don’t know about the scheduling: since it is one thing to detect the clozes and their numbers in ONE same note, it is quite another to migrate the scheduling (and not just the text) to the note that will “receive the attachment”.

Logically, this solution may remove the very meaning of making this “massive cloze”, since all the information will not be presented in the back. To get around this, another possibility would be to try to separate the information into specific titles, such as “Technologies of the first half of the 19th century”, with the disadvantage of eliminating some possibilities of wrong answers and making the card easier. However, as this type of card (for me at least) will be used for factual (and not conceptual) data, I imagine the logic of close facts grouped in a title by date, type, species, etc. don’t hurt the actual information you are trying to remember through the clozes.

Another solution would be to “space clozes”, for example, instead of following the canonical order given by the program c1, c2, c3… Start with c5, c6 and c7 in the first paragraph, in the second paragraph start with c10 and follow in c11, c12 and so on, so you would give yourself “room to make mistakes” and to add supplementary information later. The disadvantage is that it would not be possible to do the occlusions “automatically”, having to change the first occlusion in each new paragraph manually.

In conclusion, in an attempt to generate a greater view of the whole in the note, other problems arise from Anki’s own rigid nature about the idea of ​​what a note should or should not have, that’s neither good nor bad, it’s how the program was designed, however is a barrier to implementing what was suggested (and created in your incredible note).

Thanks again for the effort and I look forward to releasing this note with these amazing features.

[davidcortez]

I still don’t see why you consider important to have the clozes numbers in order. It would only be relevant if you want to review the cards in order, right? Is there any other situation where it is relevant?

[kleinerpirat]

It’s mainly my mild OCD haha. From a deck creator’s perspective, it just seems wrong to create cards that don’t fit into the initial order.

I’ll give the whole concept some more thought. With that sample note, I wanted to take @Radorion’s suggestion ad absurdum to check if the idea is feasible - and indeed, it seems to be useful. I have never created that many flashcards in that short of a timespan. Took me less than an hour.

[Radorion]

@kleinerpirat

It’s mainly my mild OCD haha

I can’t agree more, it seems wrong if they are out of order haha…

@kleinerpirat

I have never created that many flashcards in that short of a timespan

At least the person who has the ability to put the idea into motion found it useful, so that was luck.

But could you please share this already amazing note and work it out in increments while we test it? Because people who also find the methodology interesting could shed more light on the subject.

I can’t help it, after seeing the note and all the features I’m very excited to start working with it.

[Michaelz35699]

With the demo seen here, I am definitely looking forward to this demo. The main idea of a single lecture note to a massive amount of cloze notes seem interesting

[kleinerpirat]

@Radorion

But could you please share this already amazing note and work it out in increments while we test it?

Sorry for taking so long. I wanted to resist the urge to post every little advance on the first impulse and make sure things are fleshed out before sharing (Edit: guess this one was still a bit to hasty haha). Here is a demo deck that uses the note template I worked on the past few days.

https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1218229865

Items may be separated with

• an ordered list (<ol>)
• a <table>
• <br><br> (paragraphs)

---

Companion Add-on: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1584489236

I wrote an add-on you might find useful when editing large notes:

It scrolls to the cloze responsible for the selected card in the browser. It is a feature I have written a while back for my own private note type, but now that there seems to be an interest in this, I generalised it a bit and made it work with tables too.

The add-on is currently set to only work with the demo note type to make sure there are no issues with your other note types.

---

There seems to be some issues both with the note type and the add-on. If anything doesn’t work as expected, please notify me here or per dm, so I can fix it.
Edit: I updated the demo deck listing. Let’s see if this one is more stable.

[01101]

So, how am i supposed to use the Add-on?
Maybe i’m missing a button or hotkey, but couldn’t make it work.

[cqg]

I’ve just downloaded the deck, but cards are displayed as blank cards, both in review mode and in preview mode (Windows version). Is there something I need to do?

[kleinerpirat]

@01101

So, how am i supposed to use the Add-on?

Edit: Found the issue. I used some fancy JS syntax that I found out about just yesterday - and that only worked on Linux. A fix will come shortly.

It should automatically search for the relevant cloze and scroll to it - as long as the note contains either an ordered list or a table.
For lists you can either use the native Anki 2.1.46 buttons or https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/295889520 for lower versions.

Also, since the note type id of the demo deck is hardcoded into the add-on, it won’t work on different note types (as a safety measure to prevent unwanted styling).
I will write some config logic so you can define which note types will be enabled.

Sorry for the inconvenience - it’s all very rough and experimental currently. This will take me some time.

---

@cqg

I’ve just downloaded the deck, but cards are displayed as blank cards, both in review mode and in preview mode (Windows version). Is there something I need to do?

That’s strange. I will check on Windows to see if I can replicate this. Edit: So far I couldn’t. Would you mind sharing the error message - if there is any - per dm?

According to my tests, it should currently work on the following clients:

• Anki Desktop (Linux & Windows, Mac not yet tested)
• AnkiDroid
• AnkiMobile
  • (Here the header won’t behave like it should (position: sticky) due to a different document structure. I’ll have to ask the forum for help.)

[01101]

Hey, the Add-on seems to work right now, by the way how can i strip basically all the styling from the template?

I want a normal cloze note type regarding the style, but i don’t want to loose any functionalities like the indicator for active paragraph.

I’m looking for something similar to this, but with the indicator and the rest of functionalities.

@Radorion

Screenshot_20210804-102510_AnkiDroid1080×2400 246 KB

[kleinerpirat]

@01101

I want a normal cloze note type regarding the style, but i don’t want to loose any functionalities like the indicator for active paragraph.

It can’t look exactly like the normal cloze note type for several reasons (mainly the scroll functionality), but I updated it to be more plain by default:

https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1218229865

Changes

• Remove all color functionality
  • I had forced this upon you without it being requested and never explained how to use it.
• Simplify styling
  • The default style is now as plain as reasonably achievable.
  • I commented some variables and left definitions you can tweak on top.
  • CSS that is meant to be preserved for the note type to work is now minified.
• Extra information is now blurred on the backside, not completely hidden
  • it can be revealed by
    • scrolling
    • clicking/touching anywhere
    • hitting Tab (key can be changed, search for “keydown” in the code)
• Demo deck contains fewer notes (one for each method).
• AnkiMobile is now supported.
  • Header stays fixed now.
  • Some buggy visuals on card flipping have been observed on my old iPad.

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@01101 I left the default accent color blue as this is what most people are used to. If you want the clozes to be green, you can use something like #04aa6d for the variable --accent-color. Please let me know if this is any better.

[01101]

That’s perfect! Thanks a lot. Every time i’ve asked you for something you’ve gone above and beyond to provide a solution, you’re definitely an inspiration for me.