I was wondering whether it’s possible to merge different backups /backup states.
The case I am thinking of is this. I use Anki in my class for students to practice. I give my students different decks and ask them to practice with each them. What invariably happens is that students delete one of the decks when they add a new one.
If I ask them to restore the situation by re-adding the deleted deck, their practice record (for that deck) is reset to the beginning.
If they restore using a backup, they end up losing the practice record on the new deck.
So I am wondering if there is any way to restore the deleted deck with its practice record without deleting the other deck.
What invariably happens is that students delete one of the decks when they add a new one.
This is interesting. I’m not sure exactly what you mean by “add a new one”. Are your students accidentally deleting decks by clicking Delete in the context menu of the deck browser page? Or is there some kind of overwrite happening when you give them updated versions of a deck?
Maybe you have never taught students before, but figuring out why and how students manage to do these things is not something that can be answered. I try to make user instructions that are as clear as possible, but they always find a way.
I think the most common problem is that they log into AnkiWeb from the Desktop app and when they get the “your Decks differ” conflict resolution dialog, they make the wrong choice.