Hello dae (damien elmes), i have a very important suggestion for you

Anki Suggestions
1

Hope you’re well.

For me Anki is the best memorization system no matter what they say, it is superior to all existing study techniques because it combines active recall+space repetition, and it also has many functionalities.
However, and I think I will speak for many medical and health students (you know that there are thousands who use Anki), the system for adding new flashcards is complex for two reasons:

  1. You cannot change the order of the flashcards easily
  2. As students in the health area, we often have to read from different sources, and sometimes we have to add flashcards in the middle of existing ones. This cannot be done easily currently in Anki.

It is true that the objective of Space Repetition is to be able to study concepts from different approaches, mixing their order. However, in the health area, ideally the linear scheme of the information should be understood (which can be done perfectly in “added order”) and then it is possible to study it randomly to enhance memorization.

It is also true that it is said that to use Anki, you should have already studied the topic previously and then make flashcards in Anki. Personally I consider it counterintuitive, due to lack of time.

In this sense, my real suggestion (and I have seen that need in many of those who post here) is the following:

Currently Anki’s system for adding information is fine, but it would be perfect if:

1. In the browser, the order of the flashcards as created could be moved using a Drag and Drop system or similar.

2. In the browser, some extra flashcards could be inserted in the middle of two pre-existing cards using a button with the “+” sign or similar, and at the time of review, they appear in that specific order.

Currently the solution that Anki proposes is to use the “reposition” tool, but it is also counterintuitive to have to look for the due number of the flashcard from which I want to create new ones, then go to the end of the flashcards and look for the new ones created, and change the due number of these, and then update ► It is not very useful.

I have seen that many users have this same problem, and in view of this they have developed strategies such as:

  • Import from CSV
  • Import from Notion (via toggles) using https://2anki.net/
  • Import from Obsidian using the Obsidian to Anki plugin
  • Addon Duplicate and reorder
  • Addon Remote deck: Anki collaboration using Google Docs

All strategies are the important need that Anki users have to be able to more easily enter and organize their flashcards, but each one has its advantages and disadvantages, and the vast majority fail to be unfriendly over time to do so.

If Anki had the two functionalities suggested above, it would be the perfect application!

Muchas gracias! :colombia:

2

I’m not Damien but regarding the reposition, there’s the Fast cards reposition addon. The UX is still not optimal, it adds keyboard shortcuts in the browser to move cards up, which only works when they are sorted by Due, but doesn’t support full drag-and-drop.

Regarding adding cards while studying, isn’t that already possible by clicking Add or pressing A? I didn’t understand what’s missing there. Maybe you’re using some no-distraction addon that hides the Add button during reviews?

The only thing is that when I’m studying a large e.g. shared deck and I want to add a card to the beginning, so that it will be the next “new” card, I have to add it first and then reposition it in the browser. So personally I would find it useful if it would be possible to implement a Shift+A or Shift+Add for an “Add card to beginning” option (if this already exists and I missed that I’m sorry). Not sure if this is something that can be done on addon-level (didn’t develop addons yet).

2 Likes
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Hello, thanks for the feedback. Sorry, I already improved the suggestion

What I mean by “add cards while studying” is adding cards in the middle of two pre-existing cards in the browser (I made a mistake when placing “editor”), without having to use the “reposition” tool that involves seeing the due number of the previous card to where I want to place the new one and place it on the latter (plus one), because it would mean doing it for each new card ► more time consuming

Indeed the “add” box does work, but I mean doing it from the browser for when cards are going to be added in the *middle of two pre-existing cards.

As for the Fast cards reposition addon, it is useful, but not so much when it is a deck with many cards, because it would involve moving the new cards from the bottom to the required location in the deck. I have also tried the Duplicate and reorder addon, which has a function to duplicate a card and place the duplicate immediately below it, and then modify it ► would be a solution, but it is constantly having errors, and sometimes places the duplicates very below the original.

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Hello, I think I have found a temporary solution with the Duplicate and Reorder addon ► Which leads to a possible solution to enter cards in the middle of two already existing flashcards.

I had previously used the Set Added Date addon, and generated the same creation time for all flashcards in a deck (I did this for a different purpose), this may have created some bug with the operation of the Duplicate and Reorder addon.
When I created new cards again without using the Set Added Date addon, it worked perfectly and within the browser it placed the duplicate immediately below, allowing me to modify it and enter other information, and also allowing me to move the flashcards up and down (requires sorting according to time created)

I leave this feedback in case it helps someone