Going backward in learning steps instead of graduating [Intervals changed without changing settings]

Anki Desktop
23

What am I looking for in the check database?

Debug info:

Anki 23.12.1 (1a1d4d54) (ao)
Python 3.9.15 Qt 6.5.3 PyQt 6.5.3
Platform: macOS-14.1.2-x86_64-i386-64bit

===Add-ons (active)===
(add-on provided name [Add-on folder, installed at, version, is config changed])
AMBOSS add-on [‘0amboss_addon’, 2023-11-13T12:01, ‘None’, ‘’]
Advanced Browser [‘874215009’, 2023-10-21T10:34, ‘None’, ‘’]
AnKing Note Types Easy Customization [‘952691989’, 2024-01-19T16:17, ‘None’, mod]
Anki Zoom [‘538879081’, 2020-04-03T20:20, ‘v1.1.3’, ‘’]
AnkiConnect [‘2055492159’, 2024-02-26T23:37, ‘None’, mod]
AnkiHub [‘1322529746’, 2024-02-29T08:26, ‘None’, ‘’]
Ankimote - remote to control Anki from your phone [‘149004221’, 2021-08-11T12:57, ‘None’, ‘’]
Batch Editing [‘291119185’, 2023-10-25T20:38, ‘None’, ‘’]
BetterSearch [‘1052724801’, 2024-03-06T11:25, ‘None’, ‘’]
Clickable Tags v20 [‘1739176371’, 2022-01-30T17:58, ‘None’, ‘’]
Custom Background Image and Gear Icon [‘1210908941’, 2023-04-18T21:19, ‘None’, mod]
Customize Keyboard Shortcuts [‘24411424’, 2023-11-01T05:17, ‘None’, ‘’]
Deadline2 [‘723639202’, 2024-02-25T22:38, ‘None’, mod]
Edit Field During Review Cloze [‘385888438’, 2024-01-03T02:19, ‘6.18’, mod]
Extended Tag AddEdit Dialog [‘1135507717’, 2023-11-11T11:58, ‘None’, ‘’]
Fastbar- with nightmode support [‘46611790’, 2023-06-27T07:47, ‘None’, ‘’]
High Yield Tags [‘1918380616’, 2023-01-10T14:14, ‘None’, ‘’]
Highlight Search Results in the Browser [‘225180905’, 2023-10-21T15:17, ‘None’, ‘’]
Hint Hotkeys [‘1844908621’, 2023-04-14T10:13, ‘None’, ‘’]
Image Occlusion Enhanced for Anki 21 [‘1374772155’, 2022-04-09T03:15, ‘None’, ‘’]
More Decks Stats and Time Left [‘1556734708’, 2023-09-24T10:08, ‘None’, ‘’]
Postpone cards review [‘1152543397’, 2023-04-14T22:29, ‘None’, ‘’]
Progress Bar cards done cards left secondscard time spentleft and ETA [‘1097423555’, 2023-10-02T04:05, ‘None’, ‘’]
Puppy Reinforcement [‘1722658993’, 2023-11-16T07:59, ‘None’, ‘’]
Rebuild All Empty All for Anki 21 [‘1810938259’, 2018-07-20T00:40, ‘None’, ‘’]
Review Heatmap [‘1771074083’, 2022-06-29T21:43, ‘None’, ‘’]
Set Card Ease [‘1387847178’, 2022-12-26T03:44, ‘None’, mod]
Special Fields [‘1102281552’, 2023-11-01T12:37, ‘None’, ‘’]
Straight Reward [‘957961234’, 2023-11-01T10:11, ‘None’, ‘’]
The KING of Button Add-ons [‘374005964’, 2024-01-27T05:19, ‘None’, ‘’]
True Retention [‘613684242’, 2017-11-19T15:43, ‘None’, ‘’]
UpToDate Addon [‘utd_anki_addon’, 2023-05-08T11:16, ‘None’, ‘’]
Web Browser - Search terms Import texts and images automatically [‘864545277’, 2023-11-17T14:28, ‘None’, ‘’]

===IDs of active AnkiWeb add-ons===
1052724801 1097423555 1102281552 1135507717 1152543397 1210908941 1322529746 1374772155 1387847178 149004221 1556734708 1722658993 1739176371 1771074083 1810938259 1844908621 1918380616 2055492159 225180905 24411424 291119185 374005964 385888438 46611790 538879081 613684242 723639202 864545277 874215009 952691989 957961234

===Add-ons (inactive)===
(add-on provided name [Add-on folder, installed at, version, is config changed])
Browser Resizer [‘1435775540’, 2023-11-11T12:16, ‘None’, ‘’]
Browser TableEditor side-by-side horizontal split [‘831846358’, 2022-01-25T17:11, ‘None’, ‘’]
Countdown To Events and Exams [‘1143540799’, 2022-06-27T07:50, ‘None’, ‘’]
Picmonic Anki Add-On [‘40737180’, 2024-01-24T11:02, ‘None’, mod]
RH copy 1 outdated [‘723520343’, 2022-07-23T03:34, ‘None’, ‘’]
Stats Plus [‘1009670238’, 2021-03-04T07:23, ‘None’, ‘’]
Zzz not maintained may not work Improved Quizlet to Anki 21 Importer [‘538351043’, 2020-11-14T21:16, ‘None’, ‘’]

24

What do you mean when you say there isn’t an initial ease set? I don’t remember changing anything before this happened so I’m not sure why it’s happening all of a sudden… I’ve checked with all of my friends and their cards are graduating properly.

25

Another thing that is interesting is that it isn’t just the brand new cards not progressing through learning intervals/progressing. There are cards I unsuspended a week ago that were progressing that I’ve pressed “again” on once or twice and reset that are now no longer progressing. So something has changed since then

26

Another thing that is interesting: My old cards all have ease that started from the very first time I saw the card:

Screenshot 2024-03-09 at 6.42.02 PM
Screenshot 2024-03-09 at 6.42.02 PM1494×1392 289 KB

But my newer cards don’t have ease that activates until they graduate:

Screenshot 2024-03-09 at 6.28.35 PM
Screenshot 2024-03-09 at 6.28.35 PM1498×1146 111 KB

^^This is very similar to what I’m seeing now, but this card properly leveled up and graduated but my cards now are not.

I’m not sure if maybe the anki algorithm/software has just changed since I started in 2022 or what, but I thought I would send along just in case it helps.

27

Nothing. It will just start and finish and rebuild your collection database. It can fix a lot of squirrelly things.

That’s a lot of add-ons – including a few that haven’t been updated recently. But you already tried disabling the add-ons (meaning you either did a shift-click open, or you manually disabled every add-on and restarted), right? And you were still seeing this issue when they were disabled?

When a card is first introduced and in learning, there’s no Ease set yet. It’s set upon graduation. Deck Options - Anki Manual
Here, the 05:10 event was it graduating from Learn, and being given a graduating interval and initial Ease.
image

That concerns me too, because that’s not typical. I don’t think that was new with the v3 scheduler, I think v2 worked the same way (but someone with more experience on v2 should weigh in). And then I see add-ons that look like they alter scheduling (what’s “Set Card Ease” up to?), some with old dates – even more concerning. But I’m not sure if that’s related or a separate issue.

Let’s give the Devs a chance to catch up, and they’ll ask for more information if they need it.

28

Yes it still happens with no add-ons

1 Like
29

Two likely explanations:

  • changing the number of learning steps while cards are already in learning can result in skipped or repeated steps
  • if cards were changed on multiple devices before syncing, you can end up reverting them to an earlier state

To avoid the latter, please make sure you always sync at the start and end of each session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkiM4DPzSVc&list=PLGgmaKOIHykFoomqkBJAyGiDQ2kyiuTao&index=1&t=224s#syncing-at-start-and-end

30

Hi! Thank you. I definitely don’t think #2 happened. I always sync before switching devices. #1 may have happened. My friend told me her “hard” interval had changed from 12.2 hours in the morning to 1d in the afternoon. Before realizing this is normal I went into my learning steps and messed with stuff trying to figure out if I could get a “hard” interval at 12.2. However, I didn’t do any cards with these settings and immediately switched the learning intervals back to what I had them as prior.
If this is the issue, how do I fix it? I’d really prefer my cards to not be stuck indefinitely haha :slight_smile:
Thanks a ton for your help!

31

I adjusted the intervals trying to help my friend on 3/7. I’ve clicked “good” on this card twice since then and it is still stuck. So it seems that it reverted from what should have been the graduating interval on 3/8 back to the first learning step and now it won’t get out of it.

Screenshot 2024-03-10 at 9.56.56 AM
Screenshot 2024-03-10 at 9.56.56 AM1508×1056 94.3 KB

32

Screenshot 2024-03-10 at 10.06.28 AM
Screenshot 2024-03-10 at 10.06.28 AM1492×1248 124 KB

Another example. Normal progression until 3/7 and now perpetually stuck

33

Will changing the learning interval lengths but not changing the actual number of learning steps cause the same issue? Like if I switched from 25m 1d 3d to 1d 3d 4d does this cause the same issue or only if I switched from 25m 1d 3d to something like 1d 3d and take away that third number

34

The cards usually fix themselves after another review or 2. Here’s the positive spin – this is more common than I realized. It’s a chore to sort through posts about learning steps/intervals changing, because most of them turn out to be non-problems, but I did some creative searches and followed the breadcrumbs to pull up a few other examples of this happening. [I suspect this happens much more frequently than that sample, but folks just don’t notice.] Every time, it has fixed itself.

I don’t know how many cards this potentially impacted, but if you are worried about them, you could probably track them down with some careful searches (targeting cards that were introduced in a certain timeframe, still in Learn, have certain interval lengths, etc.), and “graduate” them manually using “Set Due Date.” Let me know if you want to explore that.

I suspect how much that would manifest and how much you would notice would depend on how much you change the steps. In your example, changing them multiple days seems like it could impact something. That’s not a reason to never change your learning steps, it’s just a reason to be cautious and anticipate some fluctuations.

35

I hope so. I’m a little concerned because this card is still stuck after three reviews

36

I don’t really want to have to go back to a prior backup before I tried helping my friend on 3/7. I’m going to see if Damien has any ideas about what could fix it and go from there.

37

Just to be clear – I definitely wasn’t suggesting restoring from a backup. That isn’t a good resolution at all.

38

No I know! Other people I have talked to have suggested that I should restore from Thursday afternoon but I really don’t want to

39

The card in your screenshot is showing 3 steps left despite your repeated ratings of Good. Each Good should reduce it by one, so the problem should eventually correct itself. But if you want to speed up the process, you can either use Again once on the card, or reset the cards to new in the browse screen.

1 Like
40

I have flagged some cards that I unsuspended after I messed around with the interval settings so I can keep an eye on them to make sure that is isn’t going to happen to any card that I unsuspend from now on. I have also flagged some that I have pressed Again on since then. I will reach back out in a few days with an update. Thank you so much for your help!

1 Like
41

Do you have any idea the range for how long it will take to work itself out by itself?

42

Assuming other cards have the same number of steps remaining, they should graduate after 2 more 'good’s.