How does the empty cards function work?

Anki Help
1

I just re-read this page in the documentation: Card Generation - Anki Manual. And, I wanted to make sure my understanding on some things was correct before I rely on it.

I have been messing around with this idea of making some card’s empty on purpose. The idea is that for each definition I learn of a word, I will add the definition to the note for that specific word and then the previous cards generated will become empty. I know this kind of goes against the “test one thing” principle, but I feel like it doesn’t go too against it.

For example, if I have a note like this:

word: pronounce
audio of word : (audio of someone saying the word pronounce)
number of definitions: 1
definition 1: make the sound of (a word or part of a word) in the correct or a particular way.
definition 2:
definition 3:

with these card templates :

Only definition 1

{{^definition 3}}
		{{^definition 2}}
				{{#definition 1}}
					<u>Give all definitions to the following word.</u>

					</br></br>

					<span style="color:blue; font-size: 25px;">({{number of definitions}})</span>

					</br></br>

					{{word}} 

					{{audio of word}}

					</br>
				{{/definition 1}}

		{{/definition 2}}
{{/definition 3}}

definition 1 and 2

{{^definition 3}}
		{{#definition 2}}
				{{#definition 1}}
					<u>Give all definitions to the following word.</u>

					</br></br>

					<span style="color:blue; font-size: 25px;">({{number of definitions}})</span>

					</br></br>

					{{word}} 

					{{audio of word}}

					</br>
				{{/definition 1}}

		{{/definition 2}}
{{/definition 3}}

definition 1, 2, and 3

{{#definition 3}}
		{{#definition 2}}
				{{#definition 1}}
					<u>Give all definitions to the following word.</u>

					</br></br>

					<span style="color:blue; font-size: 25px;">({{number of definitions}})</span>

					</br></br>

					{{word}} 

					{{audio of word}}

					</br>
				{{/definition 1}}

		{{/definition 2}}
{{/definition 3}}

I would want only card 1 to be created and cards 2, and 3 to not be which I am confident will happen. The thing I don’t really understand is if I edit the note to this:

word: pronounce
audio of word : (audio of someone saying the word pronounce)
number of definitions: 2
definition 1: make the sound of (a word or part of a word) in the correct or a particular way.
definition 2: declare or announce, typically formally or solemnly.
definition 3:

What will happen to card 1? Will it still exist and come up for review? What will happen to its review history? Does Anki “regenerate” cards each time the note is edited? (I remember I ran into a situation where I think I created a new card type or something and Anki didn’t create new cards for it. I don’t really remember what I did, but I did realize it had to do with card creation so I ended up deleting a card type and recreating it or something.) If I do Tools -> Empty Card, will this function delete the note or will it delete the empty card?

Basically my idea with this is that I will always get a fresh new card automatically each time I add a definition without having to remember to reset the card. I would generally be memorizing one definition of the word at a time, but I am ok with having to group many new/unfamiliar definitions together as “one” question. I can add more fields to accommodate words with more definitions. Does anyone see any other issues with this approach that I might not be?

2

That function deletes your empty cards, not notes.

If you edit the note again, it will create another fresh card, as you deleted the previous one.

1 Like
3

When you add something to the def 2 field, card 1 will have a blank front. Yes, it will still exist and it will still come up for review – the difference will be that the front will say –
image

Yes, it will still have its review history – that is actually the reason (one of the reasons?) that Anki doesn’t immediately delete cards that become blank. If Anki deleted the card automatically, the review history would be gone with it – whether you intended that to happen or not. It’s a high price to pay for a typo, right?

If the change you make causes cards to be created, then yes.

Try it. Fill def 1, card 1 is created. Fill def 2, card 2 is created and card 1 becomes blank. Empty def 2, card 1 is restored (with its history intact) and card 2 becomes blank.

The card – just like it says. And you’ll have an opportunity to preview everything on the chopping block, so nothing gets accidentally deleted. But deleting that card will also delete all of its review history.

When these blank cards come up for study, if you aren’t sure what you want to do long term, you can just suspend them.

I would say it’s a lot of trouble to go to. I think it’s more efficient to do the work up front to get everything you need into your notes and onto your cards. Do your research and make sure you’re addressing the common definitions to start with, rather than starting to learn in complete cards.

Then, in the rare cases where another definition sneaks up on you – of course you can add it to your note, but you don’t need to start that card over from New. When that happens (for me, it’s synonyms that sneak up on me), I usually use Set Due Date to make sure I see the active cards for that note in the next couple weeks or so, and I’ll remember the new definition or I won’t. If I don’t get it, I grade it Again, but a lapsed Review is a far cry from introducing the card as New with no history [especially using the FSRS algorithm].

1 Like
4

Yea I didn’t think of that. That’s a useful feature.

Yea, you are probably right. I’ll probably ditch this idea after messing around with it for a while.

Thanks for the detailed explanation!

5

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