# Make Prettify templates the default templates **URL:** \ **Category:** Suggestions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2024, 4:25am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147 "2024-02-15T04:25:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sqrt-1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/sqrt-1/32/25270_2.png) [@Sqrt-1](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Sqrt-1)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 4:25am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/1 "2024-02-15T04:25:37Z")
> **[GitHub - pranavdeshai/anki-prettify: Collection of customizable Anki...](https://github.com/pranavdeshai/anki-prettify)** > > Collection of customizable Anki flashcard templates with modern and clean themes. - pranavdeshai/anki-prettify These templates should replace Anki’s default templates; as it’s hard to read centrally aligned text imo, makes Anki look much more outdated than it is, copy-pasting images leads to oversized images, and also obviously not very pleasing to look at. This will also make Anki more likeable for beginners. ---
**Author:** ![Shigeyuki](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/shigeyuki/32/23878_2.png) [@Shigeyuki](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Shigeyuki)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/2 "2024-02-16T21:24:10Z")
I like creating cool templates like these, but incorporating graphical elements causes bugs, because each device has a bit different way of displaying. Win, Mac, Linux, iphone, Android ,AnkiWeb, new Qt… ---
**Author:** ![NameLessGO](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/namelessgo/32/34298_2.png) [@NameLessGO](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/NameLessGO)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/3 "2024-02-16T21:25:59Z")
I like the idea, but these cards had problem on Mac/IOS in the bottom border > [@White line in Custom CSS](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/white-line-in-custom-css/39787): > > White Bar on Mobile - How to Fix? Hey everyone, Got a white bar showing up at the bottom of my Anki mobile app while reviewing cards. Not sure why it’s there. Already tried checking CSS and clearing the app cache. No dice. Here’s a screenshot: Using Anki on iOS. Any quick fixes or ideas? https:// [defualt.apkg - Google Drive](http://drive.google.com/file/d/19G7u38BY6Px6T76Mr8i7vB_EYTswApf6/view?usp=sharing) * * * If someone is interested in making a PR, then we can resume this discussion > > > https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/white-line-in-custom-css/39787 ---
**Author:** ![dae](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/dae/32/65_2.png) [@dae](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/dae)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2024, 10:07am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/4 "2024-02-17T10:07:36Z")
Anki’s default templates are deliberately simple. It makes them less daunting to customize, and there’s less that can go wrong due to platform differences. ---
**Author:** ![NameLessGO](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/namelessgo/32/34298_2.png) [@NameLessGO](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/NameLessGO)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 12:18am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/5 "2024-02-18T00:18:07Z")
People don’t customize cards by default, having a modern looking card will improve people perception about Anki Advanced users, capable of using HTML, CSS and JS, will always be able to change their cards to their liking ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/anki2/original/3X/0/d/0dcf0d08f56e6d3bae05601d01b9335e0f817835.jpeg) [anki-prettify/res/images/prettify-cover.png at main · pranavdeshai/anki-prettify · GitHub](https://github.com/pranavdeshai/anki-prettify/blob/main/res/images/prettify-cover.png) ---
**Author:** ![khs](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/khs/32/3012_2.png) [@khs](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/khs)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/6 "2024-02-18T00:31:50Z")
Yes, if someone likes those templates, they could install them. I like simple templates as the starting point. ---
**Author:** ![NameLessGO](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/namelessgo/32/34298_2.png) [@NameLessGO](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/NameLessGO)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 12:36am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/7 "2024-02-18T00:36:28Z")
We have Basic Cloze we can just change them to: Simple Basic Simple Cloze This way, the user who wants to try HTML and CSS can use Anki simple card to customize without being daunting Not many people download templates to use them, especially non English people, since they don’t search for “template” or “note type” Not sure how to handle the Basic Variations (Reversed and Type:) ---
**Author:** ![khs](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/khs/32/3012_2.png) [@khs](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/khs)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/8 "2024-02-18T01:28:15Z")
Simple Basic sounds weird, it’s either Simple or Basic. Let’s keep things as they are, no need to change all this. Sometimes simple CSS is better than over-complex CSS settings that might break. ---
**Author:** ![dae](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/dae/32/65_2.png) [@dae](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/dae)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 4:46am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/9 "2024-02-18T04:46:16Z")
Another thing to bear in mind is that we can’t deploy fixes to templates to users who’ve already got them in their collection. If some fancy formatting breaks in a platform update, it’s a pain for users to update their notetypes with the fix. I sometimes think that such fancy themes would be better served by an add-on like system, where themes could be downloaded and automatically updated. Currently deck authors push their preferences on their users, which makes for a lot of headaches when they’re deficient in some way. If shared deck styling focused on the basic layout of the fields, and left the borders/backgrounds/etc to such themes, it might make for a better experience. Not sure if it would work though - deck authors may want to retain styling control (which perhaps could be partly addressed by a ‘recommended theme’ feature), and themes being field-agnostic may not always work. It would also be a sizeable amount of work to implement. ---
**Author:** ![NameLessGO](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/namelessgo/32/34298_2.png) [@NameLessGO](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/NameLessGO)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 7:22am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/10 "2024-02-18T07:22:58Z")
What if we add a button in `Note Type > Add Note Type` called `Get/Add/Install Templates` which redirects users to ([https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks?search=Template](https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks?search=Template)) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/anki2/original/3X/b/2/b26da037b4402e5fc99b979e3ec7a0dd63f73361.png) Sure there will be templates that will be missing for this search, but the majority would be there Docs changes: - [Adding a Note Type](https://docs.ankiweb.net/editing.html#adding-a-note-type): To download templates navigate to `Tools > Manage Note Type > Add > Get Templates` - [Sharing Decks Publicly](https://docs.ankiweb.net/contrib.html#sharing-decks-publicly): For template deck authors, please ensure that the “Template” is included in your “Title” or “Description” when sharing. Positives - Users will use shared decks more often for searching/testing newer templates - Might boost template deck authors to create more creative note types Negatives - No deck/template update - [AnKing Note Types (Easy Customization)](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/952691989), [Flexible cloze 2](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1889069832), [Enhanced Cloze (for Anki 2.1)](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1990296174) updates their own note type, maybe we can have a deck/template checker add-on (or native), which will see if the note type has updates or not - Increases Add Note Type window size - Need to add the button in AnkiDroid and AnkiMobile ---
**Author:** ![dae](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/dae/32/65_2.png) [@dae](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/dae)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 10:27am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/11 "2024-02-19T10:27:52Z")
The problem is those templates are not just styling, but also a list of fields. That makes it difficult for users to switch between different templates when experimenting or when they run into issues, which a dedicated theme feature would allow. While linking to that page would partly address the stated goals, I’m not sure it’s worth doing as a temporary measure. ---
**Author:** ![WGroleau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@WGroleau](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/WGroleau)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/12 "2024-02-20T19:56:58Z")
I see five votes against (four plus my vote) and 1½ in favor. After thirty years in software engineering (10+ doing web work), I can assure you that the further one strays from the [K.I.S.S. principle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle), the more likely the result is **NOT** portable. The purpose of Anki is to present/study **information** , not eye candy. ---
**Author:** ![Sqrt-1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/sqrt-1/32/25270_2.png) [@Sqrt-1](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Sqrt-1)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 4:18am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/13 "2024-02-21T04:18:28Z")
I am reminded of [this reply](http://bettermotherfuckingwebsite.com/) to [this website](https://motherfuckingwebsite.com/). While professional developers are comfortable with terminals, command line interfaces, and reading manuals for software, for a vast majority of people such software is not just unusable but also repulsive and ugly. My suggestion wasn’t that we _have_ to use Prettify templates, just that for new users by default, some other slightly-nicer but still bare-bones template would make Anki more friendly for new users, while the current default would still be there for legacy or developer reasons. ---
**Author:** ![vstollen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b782af/32.png) [@vstollen](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/vstollen)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/14 "2024-07-21T16:29:00Z")
Hey everyone, I’ve just signed up for the Anki Forums to support @Sqrt-1 in his point. While I do see that simple templates help portability, I believe two small fixes could greatly improve the default experience: - Give the card content a maximum width - Left-align (or right for RTL) the text The prettify cards might already be overkill (e.g. the zoom feature for the images). The default template does not need to be particularly fancy. However, I believe the current setup actively hinders readability and accessibility. ---
**Author:** ![guillerless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/77aa72/32.png) [@guillerless](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/guillerless)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/15 "2024-12-17T00:52:10Z")
I’d definitely support an in-between solution–new default basic and cloze templates with just a few tweaks to the CSS. In decreasing order of importance: - Left-aligned text - More line-spacing - A responsive width that keeps the line length readable - _Maybe_ a system font-stack - Hear me out–an additional “notes” field that displays on the back of the card in a de-emphasized text style - And, while we’re at it, an `hr` without that weird design. I’ve shared [my preferred minimalist designs here](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/better-designed-card-templates/53270/2) (but they’re too idiosyncratic to be the defaults). ---
**Author:** ![sorata](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/sorata/32/34115_2.png) [@sorata](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/sorata)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 7:57am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/16 "2024-12-17T07:57:12Z")
I don’t see a dedicated theme feature anytime soon so some of the suggestions here should get implemented. My own priority list: - More line-spacing - Left aligned text - Margin at top which makes it more readable I think. - Then the `hr` > [@guillerless](#): > > an additional “notes” field that displays on the back of the card in a de-emphasized text style This one will make documentation/onboarding harder I think. It’s easier to understand notes/cards when they have only two fields, especially for the reverse cards. * * * If there’s someone interested in actually sending in a PR, > > ---
**Author:** ![guillerless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/77aa72/32.png) [@guillerless](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/guillerless)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/17 "2024-12-17T18:06:19Z")
Thanks for adding this. I forgot about whitespace at the top, and I agree about the problems with adding new field. I’m fairly new to coding, but don’t think I want to make a PR for an issue with so little apparent consensus or demand. I’ll write up an issue and start a thread here about it. (But it might not happen today.) ---
**Author:** ![guillerless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/77aa72/32.png) [@guillerless](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/guillerless)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/make-prettify-templates-the-default-templates/41147/18 "2024-12-18T20:39:34Z")
I’m continuting the discussion [here](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/modernize-default-card-template-for-readability-and-simplicity/53356) and on [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Anki/comments/1hhb4tz/should_anki_modernize_the_default_card_template/) before creating a PR.