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An open source web-based flashcard studying system

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Re: An open source web-based flashcard studying system

#71
post #52

> Inspired by the larger sites that are now charging for core functionality, Scholarsome intends to be a drop-in replacement for any study workflow. What „larger sites“ does it refer to? All the comments here are about Anki but this seems to target something else?

Probably referring to Quizlet and Memrise, and the up-and-coming iDoRecall.com

Re: An open source web-based flashcard studying system

#72
post #42

Firstly, I wish you all the luck; this is a genuinely useful category of software and there simply aren't enough alternatives out there. That being said, the big hurdle with SRS software is ... lack of content. I wrote one too but gave up on it because creating the content takes too long. What I'd like to see someone create is an open and free wikipedia-type-everyone-can-contribute-content project specifically for fl…

I believe the issue is not a lack of content, but the quality of the content. There are so many decks on https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/ , including ones for Kotlin ( https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/kotlin ) and Trigonometry ( https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/trigonometry ), but most of them are of low quality or not what I want. Sometimes it's easier to just create a deck by myself.

Hmm - I've rarely used prebuilt decks but maybe I should consider that. Other services besides Anki have them as well. iDoRecall has a bunch that are tied in with OpenStax (a "free e-textbooks for all" project).

Re: An open source web-based flashcard studying system

#74

You're missing installation steps for how to use this on a phone without access to the Internet. I can use AnkiDroid with the device in airplane mode. For some users, it is absolutely critical that the spaced repetition program runs on a mobile device, because that lets them use any spare moments they have in any situation anywhere for the purpose of studying. It's a web app, but the installation talks about Docker c…

Correct, it’s a web app. It’s run on a server that you will need connection back to - it’s not an Android or iOS app. Again, this is still very early in development. It’s likely that we will look into offline functionality in the future. In the future, we may potentially look into adding companion apps that can sync back to the server, but that is a far ways off from now.

I mean, you can always wrap your mobile website in a native-app skin (with Ionic or whatever the modern version of Phonegap is)

Re: An open source web-based flashcard studying system

#75
I want to also mention an SRS site that has gotten really polished and isn't nearly as well known as Quizlet and Memrise and the rest - and it's not open source - but the science and the polish are all there (you can even create cards while watching a Youtube video and it will link to that spot in the video as an optional source reference) - it's called iDoRecall.com, worth checking out. (I found it in an old thread here on Hacker News where the creator posted about it when it was new - I followed the link and was stunned at how polished it had become)

Re: An open source web-based flashcard studying system

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't yet seen this tool, but here's a quick answer. A few years ago, after skimming through the docs, I gave up on Anki because it seemed too complicated . I was using SuperMemo back when it was a DOS (and later Windows 3) application, I consider myself a fairly sophisticated user (e.g. I have a good expertise on LaTeX, even coauthored a textbook, I know Emacs very well, also authored a textbook), I've been a hobb…

Anki is badly designed and inefficient, largely I think because it was the first project for its author. It's also become venerable and battle-tested, and features have been developed through the needs of a very large userbase. I don't think that anyone denies that Anki could be a lot better if it were completely rewritten with the experience of having had Anki for years and knowing its pain points. You just have to…

> Anki is badly designed

yes

> and inefficient

no. You can tweak every aspect of srs for each deck as you wish, if it’s inefficient for you - adjust the settings.

Re: An open source web-based flashcard studying system

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't yet seen this tool, but here's a quick answer. A few years ago, after skimming through the docs, I gave up on Anki because it seemed too complicated . I was using SuperMemo back when it was a DOS (and later Windows 3) application, I consider myself a fairly sophisticated user (e.g. I have a good expertise on LaTeX, even coauthored a textbook, I know Emacs very well, also authored a textbook), I've been a hobb…

Anki is badly designed and inefficient, largely I think because it was the first project for its author. It's also become venerable and battle-tested, and features have been developed through the needs of a very large userbase. I don't think that anyone denies that Anki could be a lot better if it were completely rewritten with the experience of having had Anki for years and knowing its pain points. You just have to…

"inefficient" in what way? (not really used it myself)

Re: An open source web-based flashcard studying system

#79
post #4

After skimming the site and code: Do not use this, just use anki. Anki has a free web version (anki web), and has free-as-in-AGPL desktop apps as well. Maybe one day this software will be comparable to anki, but right now it's missing spaced-repetition (which is the only thing that really makes large decks usable), and practically all the other features of anki.

Anki also has an independent FOSS reimplementation for Android called AnkiDroid. They can exchange data. Years ago I used Anki to prepare some decks which I then used with AnkiDroid. I think AnkiDroid is mostly written in Kotlin now.

I've never managed to make pronunciation work on ankimobile personally, I'm using another app

Re: An open source web-based flashcard studying system

#80

It's a good start! Keep working on it - Anki has aspects that are very, very dated (IMHO) and an open source competitor would be good for everybody.

I'm curious which aspects of Anki you find to be "very, very dated"? I haven't used Anki for very long, nor have I looked into any advanced-looking features, so perhaps I haven't run into those aspects you were referring to.

Where's the button to pronounce the sentence on Android? This is a required feature for me and that's why I'm using a competitor
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