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If you want to help improve SuperMemo for Windows, add your ideas to the bottommost section (<b>Your suggestions</b>). This section will be reviewed periodically and classified into the following groups:
If you have a feature request and do not want to edit SuperMemopedia, please see [[Contact via mail]]:
* Implemented - ideas that are already implemented in the latest SuperMemo (in Apr 2007, this is SuperMemo 2006)
* In design - incomplete ideas that are likely to be implemented if their design gaps are closed and the design becomes coherent
* In consideration - ideas that have been placed on the implementation tasklist (they may or might not be implemented depending on importance, feasibility, cost, etc.)
* Not in consideration - ideas that cannot be implemented, e.g. not possible, prohibitively expensive or complex, bug-prone, or ideas that quarrel with some basic tenets of SuperMemo
* In implementation - ideas that are currently being implemented (some implementations might be rejected at later stages even if completed successfully)
* Not understood - ideas that need your further comment or explanation


If some of your ideas linger at the bottom of the suggestions list, you can move them up in "Your suggestions" section. Do not move them to classified sections.
* [[Your Suggestions]] - submit your new suggestions here. Be sure you read the lists below to avoid submitting multiple times
* [[Suggestions In Consideration]] - ideas that have been placed on the implementation tasklist (they may or might not be implemented depending on importance, feasibility, cost, etc.)
* [[Suggestions Not In Consideration]] - ideas that cannot be implemented, e.g. not possible, prohibitively expensive or complex, bug-prone, or ideas that quarrel with some basic tenets of SuperMemo
* [[Suggestions that are too general]] - suggestions that need to be more specific to be acted upon (e.g. ''Please make SuperMemo easier to use'' should be expanded with details on what specific improvements could make it easier for you)
* [[Suggestions Not Understood]] - ideas that need your further comment or explanation
* [[Suggestions Implemented]] - ideas submitted that have already been implemented
* [[Options_to_remove_from_SuperMemo|Options to remove or restore in SuperMemo]]
* [[Suggestions for SuperMemo UX]]
* [[Suggestions for SuperMemo for Android]]
* [[In design]] - incomplete ideas that are likely to be implemented if their design gaps are closed and the design becomes coherent
* [[In implementation]] - ideas that are currently being implemented (some implementations might be rejected at later stages even if completed successfully)


== Suggestion polling ==


= Implemented =
* (SM2004) Develop a cram function. Since majority of users are students, short-term cramming is a must. After all, who lives the world that items in supermemo will never be jogged earlier than calculated date. What if the teacher set up a compulsory revision lecture before exam or somehow you heard a word from radio... So there must be a way to compromise the weakness (implemented as subset Review)
* (SM2004) I would like to suggest that the feature to support text searches using non-ASCII terms be added (implemented as Search : Find Unicode)
* (SM2004?) [[Improve templates for pictures as questions]]
* (SM2004) randomise the order of the review items in the same way as normal learning process
* (SM98 and later) Auto context clue creation. Like I have a category, say history, and I tell SuperMemo to apply the history: context clue automatically to ANY extract, cloze etc. (can be accomplished with templates on subsets)
* (SM2002) Edit registry image in external image editor. Sometimes, I would like to convert the type of image even when supermemo refuses to do so. Supermemo should also allow sound, movie to be edited in external application (editing is possible, if the format/extension needs to be changed, '''Overwrite file''' in registry can be used)
* (SM2002) resume reviewing. If I review half the items in a collection yesterday, I would like to continue the other half rather than starting all over again. The existing options force you to resume reviewing BEFORE you finish learning what is scheduled for today. I hope it can keep a history so that I can choose to start all over again or resume reviewing from where I left yesterday, two days ago, three days ago, a week ago... [all imaginable combinations of learn, review, postpone, etc. are possible, even the unlikely once can be "constructed" with subsets]
* (SM2004) An option to de-HTMLize only selected portions of text. I often need to remove the light blue/beige highlighting from my incremental reading extract/clozes, and to do that I am forced to de-HTMLize the whole thing, which discards ALL the formatting. (I know that the highlighting has a purpose, but I think that it can be safely removed from an item which is ultimately transformed into a clear Q/A) [this is how it always worked; however, SuperMemo removes HTML tags and does not insert any new ones; the "deHTML-ized" text will then inherit all tags from the preceding markup; if you want to remove the effect of tags in a given place of the text then you have to edit the HTML code manually and close all inherited tags such as FONT, SPAN, etc.]
* (SM2006) [[Making textless texts unique]] (to remedy mixing up images, subscripts, etc.)
* (SM2004) [[Fast picture cloze]]
* (SM2004) [[Scaling occlusion tests]]
* [[Suggestion priority by vote]]
* (SM2006) Automatic font adjustments in import. When I import text from external sources, such as texts or Wikipedia articles, SuperMemo always uses Times New Roman. I would like SuperMemo to automatically change the font to my specifications as soon as the text is imported. Alternatively this may be done semi-automatically with a button which automatically changes the font of the selected text [you can accomplish this with templates and stylesheets]
* (SM2004) '''Plan''': An option to leave to the user the possibility of decide exactly the lenght of each activity, without any calculation by SuperMemo. (use ''Rigid'' activities, e.g. click on the ''R'' column)
* (SMWind) Multiple selection in "context" tree-view window. In windows, I can select a number of files by click and drag mouse to create a rectangle. In supermemo, I have click on EACH SINGLE "T"s while holding Ctrl [click and drag are reserved for rearranging the window. you can do multiple selections with click and Shift+click]
* (SM2006) Calendar function - it would be great if I could plan in SuperMemo the "things to do" on a particular day. Basically it would work like a regular calendar, let's say I know that on December 3 I have an appointment, so I enter the note "Appointement" in SuperMemo and schedule it for December 3. I know that a similar thing may be achieved by creating an item and manually schedule its repetition on that particular day, but that would also mean that in case I need to postpone some items, the note may be postponed too thus becoming useless. (ok, I could still use subset learning to avoid that but what the hell.. :) [it is a matter of scheduling the element with priority high enough that would prevent a postpone - if you schedule 200 such reminders, you will also not want all of them to pop-up on a given day, but address only as many as your handling capacity, taking only those with highest priority]
* (SM2006) - In supermemo2004, you can only paste in 1 image. When I paste in a second image, it would replace the previous image with the second one.  When you click on another element then go back to it, it would show nothing other than "Image#" and lost the previously pasted image. Supermemo is great for text, but it doesn't work well with pasted image
* (not software related) User reviews on the databases web site.  Some databases are really quite poor and people ought to know which and why;  on the other hand, others (e.g., Ancient Greek) are superb and deserve some recognition
** You can use this site (SuperMemopedia) to set up a collection review page. The old library will be discontinued, but most of the collections will be available one way or another. This site is probably the safest place to leave durable comments
* (always) Password-protected collections. Sometimes collections may contain data that an user doesn't want to share and/or the computer may be accessed by people who may start SuperMemo out of curiosity (ie. children), and mess around with collections without knowing what they are doing (which is very probable, considering that SuperMemo is difficult to understand even for experienced users! <- hint, hint.)
** There has always been a password to prevent access by kids. There is no file encryption though. The best way to ensure privacy is to use password protected user accounts in Windows
* (SM98) One-Click randomization of outstanding elements. I always have to accomplish that with tons of clicks using the browser, while it would be logical to accomplish that with a single click. It's very strange that SuperMemo doesn't have that, considering that it is a very basic function of almost every flashcard program
** The fastest ways to randomize repetitions is to use Ctrl+Shift+F11 (or Ctrl+Y for Mercy, if Randomize is set in sorting criteria)
* (SM2006) [[Paste for sounds]]
* (SM2006) [[CSS in SuperMemo]]
* (SM2006) [[Magnifying pictures]]
* (SM2006) Why '''Duplicate''' creates elements as siblings? Not only cannot the root node be duplicated, but also overpopulated branches have to be rearranged resulting in total mess in the tree. If duplicates where kept as the child of the original element, the problem would be solved and the duplicates would be easy to find (and they can always be dragged in the tree to sibling positions if someone needs them there)
* (SM2006) [[Importing from Wikipedia]]
* (SM2006) A Minimize To Tray option. It would be useful when you use the Alarm to plan your activities when they are external to SuperMemo, and you don't want to keep SuperMemo in the taskbar
* (SM2006) Plan: Split creates two equal parts by default. I use split because of some unexpected events. Say I do a task of 60 minutes. After 10 minutes the phone rings. I use split, and split should create the first part (10 minutes) and the rest (50 minutes). Therefore I would appreciate if split would work similar to "set" if it is used with the current task. Further, a shortcut for this function would be great. I don't want to press more than one key while the phone is ringing (You can use Ctrl+T to split)
* (SM2000) A "note bin". Sometimes while I do incremental reading I find a term or a concept which I do not know (yet). It would be useful if I could highlight the term and then tell to SuperMemo to put it in some sort of "note bin" so that I can search for more information later (You should extract the note as a separate element: use tasklists, pending queue or priority to process notes using methods that are most appropriate, or just process notes incrementally as any other topic in the learning process)
= In design =
Please help design these feature requests. These are either unclear, incomplete, contested, or hard to put together. Only you (the proponent) will know best how you want this done. These ideas are considered highly valuable. Once designed/complete, they are quite likely to be implemented.
= In consideration =
* [[Customizable imports from the web]]
* [[Smarter pastes when in HTML]]
* Importing webpages from within SuperMemo. When I import articles from the web (ie. Wikipedia) the links remain intact, and if I click on them SuperMemo acts as a browser and shows the webpage without relying on external programs. However I can't import it directly, I have to select the text first manually and then add a new topic.
* [[Why_is_there_no_option_to_sort_the_knowledge_tree_alphabetically_in_SM2006%3F|Restore Auto-sort in Contents]]
* [[Open source SuperMemo]]
* [[Completely rewrite SuperMemo]]
* [[Suggestions poll]]
* [[Suggestions poll]]
* Moving items automatically to categories: I have many categories and since I often add items in bulk, I have to manually move them each time under their folder. I would be great if SuperMemo could automatically move items into categories using user-specified tags (ex. all the items starting with "bio:" will be filed under the Folder Biology, all the items starting with "ger:" under the "German" folder etc.)
* Better help file. I recommend supermemo help file to contain flash animation mimicking the real supermemo program. So if the users want to know how more about how to set forgeting index they found in their supermemo,for instance, they can go to the flash animation page and literally click tools-options on the fake GUI that looks exactly like supermemo. Clicking on the forgetting index bar will automatically link to relavent articles.
* Use popup tips more often than the text displayed on the status bar. Since supermemo is really really complicated, I expect popup tips to tell me even more information than current ones. As a result, if I move the cursor over "difficulty" field, I want to see "This measures the difficulty of the item in percentage. If difficulty level is greater than 50%, it is recommended to delete the item and then reformulate it". In that way, even beginners can use "professional" options.
* subset operation: automatically generate element titles from text components
*An option to visualize the articles in order of lenght in the browser, to process first the short ones. (When I have like 300 pending articles, I know that at least 40% of them are one-line articles that will be used to generate clozes. But since they are often mixed with long articles, I often spend most of my time reading new articles and postponing the "one-liners".)
*[[Warrior layout toolbar button and keyboard shortcut]]
* One can only have 9 layouts in the Window menu. When saving the 10th layout, it is not being shown in the Window menu. One has to go to the layour manager to see it. It might be confusing for users. Either it shall appear on the menu, or at least a message to the user shall be made.
* show a warning dialog after loading a backup collection (e.g. happens when a second instance of SM is started)
* Automatically display the format toolbar and anchor it to the text component I click on.
* Automatically pop up picture toolbar and anchor it to the edge of selected picture component.
* Allow user to disable splash screen.
* Make SuperMemo [[less dependent on Internet Explorer]]
* Auto complete or autocorrect option: Many people are learning foreign language or formulae. They, including me, find it annoying to copy and paste special symbols from other sources. Inventing my own variation of them does not solve the problem, because this means I have to learn a new set of wierd symbols. I hope whenever I type "(B>)", it will be automatically corrected to beta
* The possibility to duplicate and swap an item with a single shortcut. It would be a real timesaver for people who actively learn a lot of vocabulary words
* The status bar is weird. Attach it to the main window. Because if I maximise it, which I usually do, the status bar will be hidden
* [[Cloze tooltip]]
* Disable splash screen transparency. There is zero artistic enhancement for the program. Furthermore, that feature unnecessarily wastes user's computer resources. Those bells and whistles simply can't hide the fact that its GUI is terrible
* [[Grade orientation]]
* [[Grade levels]]
* [[Grade naming]]
* Importing webpages from IE (better Firefox) for incremental reading could be easier to accomplish. If you simply rely on the text of a page, everything is quite comfortable, but when it comes to including the pictures (saying more than 1000 words, remember?) the ease of use of SuperMemo has a lot room for progression. Including a function that downloads the pictures automatically to registry (even as a configurable option), so they can be viewed / and edited just like in the explorer would be very appreciated. TIA, Dirk
* [[Pasting_image_component_results_in_resizing_of_all_components]]
* ability to drag the menu and stick it to the window, like microsoft office, which allows you to drag the tool bars around, rearrange them etc
* A Firefox extension to import webpages (or pieces of webpages) to SuperMemo
* '''Improved synchronization with SMCE''': Should be as easy as synchronizing ones contacts or appointments. -> Integrate synchronization into Microsoft's ActiveSync
* Total hands-free control. Something like the Extreme English DVD, but with a Text-to-Speech engine (the one that comes with Windows is ok imho) that reads aloud the answers, so I could use a Bluetooth headset to move around the house while doing "manual" things that force me to stay away from the computer (like cleaning the house or cooking), and refresh my memory at the same time. It would probably not be as fast as being directly in front of the computer/PDA, but better than nothing at all. It would be great even as a separate, paid add-on.
= Not in consideration or not possible =
* [[Incremental reading of PDF files]]
* Put files of one collection into one big database. It is currently a pain to move the collection folder (this pain could be dished out in portions during repetition while doing garbage collection on the glued file)(what if your whole collection is 700 MB, do you want to wait forever for supermemo to load entire collection into your RAM?)
* implement neural network promised. On supermemo website, the author said he considered adding it to supermemo in the FUTURE. I am not sure WHEN  supermemo will encompass that feature. next 5 year, 10 years...? (neural networks are not well-suited to replace the algebraic algorithm - see FAQs on the algorithm)
* Replace forgetting index bar with retention rate. I used to assume forgetting index 10% = 90% retention. It turned out to be 97%. That is really misleading. More importantly, We are more interested in how much we can remember. "Forgetting index, A factor, B factor.." are too technical.
* Make the font size compatible with Microsoft Word. Somehow, size 10 in supermemo looks as big as size 12 in microsoft word.[if this refers to HTML components: the size of the font depends on Internet Explorer settings, not SuperMemo]
* Advanced Backup option - zip the entire collection as supermemo is performing backing up. Then insert into the archive the time the database is backed up. [it was implemented and voted out from earlier versions - it seems more practicable to use one's own favorite backup/compressor program]
* [[Remove levels|Remove levels such as Basic, Professional, Warrior, from SuperMemo]]
* [[Remove Next repetitions stage]]
* [[Extracting words to a separate category]]
* Supermemo should send out more news and let people know what you are doing and what the result might be. Right now, I don't know anything about supermemo's new move, or whether all the programmers are enjoying afternoon coffees or plan to write supermemo 2006 ["no announcements" is a very old policy to prevent vaporware - probably not likely to change, "no mass mailing" is also several years old, if a software line was to be terminated that would certainly be announced hence, in 2006, you can always safely assume that sm2006, or at least sm2007 is being worked on, even if the direction of change is not always to everyone's liking]
* the old Undo problem: History Manager - Newest changes in supermemo will be saved as restoration points. If users did silly things, they can go back [changes are too complex to effectively store for undo purposes, the size of files stored would be very large, or garbage collection would slow down operations, millions of bugs could show up, copying the entire collection would be simpler, but this ... user can execute on his own at his own choosing and his own time][some FAQs at supermemo.com explain this problem, i.e. how many files and in how many places are modified when a simple change is done such as reformatting an element]
* lock the occlusion shape with image item that is not set to stretch mode. So if the window is resized, the occlusion will still cover the image item that is set to normal mode. It has been a nightmare to me that all the occlusion shapes are misplaced when I maximise the window on computer with different screen resolution [this would require checking shapes and images on each resize and moving them around accordingly - often with results unexpected by the user; all resizes would then be very slow on weaker computers; instead of chosing "lock occlusion" option, choosing the right stretch mode once seems a more practicable solution]
* [[Separate presentation and editing modes]]
* Analysis function should be available for every item, branch, rather than just for whole collection. I have two folders set to different retention rate, so analysis for the entire collection is no longer accurate. A simple statistic function is avaialble, but not as advanced as the 2 D curves. The analysis window should also clearly indicate which folder or collection it is analysing [data used in Analysis is HUGE, it cannot possibly be kept for individual branches on the tree, it can only be collected upon request; 3D graphs refer to HUMAN MEMORY not LEARNING DATA, i.e. if they were to be kept for indidivual branches, they would only be less accurate, i.e. not an iota more informative]
* Make "workload", "plan" available for each subfolder, rather than exclusive for the entire collection [this data is too big to be kept for collection subsets, see: workload.dat; however, a slow-running subset Workload could theoretically be added, it would probably open for a few minutes ...]
* allow user to choose what error to fix, how to fix, what items will be affected BEFORE doing the repair. It should also explain what does "parent mismatch" mean and the consequences if it is not fixed [this is not specific enough, number of possible data errors is so enormous that if each was to receive dedicated handling, SuperMemo would quadruple its size; this would not add to user's learning power and as such would compete with usability functions]
* A shortcut for the "Queue Cloze" and "Schedule Cloze" options. Manually forgetting the items one by one is annoying ,I am currently forced to interrupt my daily cloze generation (because the next day workload is already too full) or do complicated operations with the browser to do something that could be done with a simple shortcut. [pending queue should not be used as a prioritization tool; incremental reading includes a long-list of more sophisticated prioritization mechanisms; pending queue concept is retained only for the possibility of creating "unused" collections for others]
* Drill the postponed items first,so that some items will not end up being postponed twice if I have no time to learn all of them [learning should proceed along a strictly defined priority criteria, those should be defined by the user, postponed-first is just one of many possible choices, always sorting the collection by default would take time and penalize all those who opt for other criteria]
* '''Ad-ware'''
** '''Suggestion''': I don't mean the kind of software that peeks at users' computers. Supermemo can have an ad banner in the program. I have the feeling that supermemo program project is severely underfunded from the quality of the program. Since open source is not quite practical, introducing a small ad banner can at least provide more money to fully polish the program. The author at least is able to employ a REAL & PROFESSIONAL delphi programmer who writes programs for WINDOWS! I prefer seeing a much better written program with low price to having another crippled version with staggering cost
** '''SMW: No advertising policy''': Unfortunately there is a policy in force (since 1999) that SuperMemo is not advertised through commercial channels (except via partners who opt for their own solution). It relies entirely on supermemo.com and word-of-month. The pricing is consistently kept below $40 and all older versions are available at lower price or as freeware. For similar reasons, there is no advertising allowed neither in software nor at supermemo.com
***"Unfortunately there is a policy in force (since 1999)" Welcome to 21st century! Option 1: some less annoying Ads + better faster cheaper Supermemo Option 2: no ads, little feature and design upgrades--> not so many people choose to upgrade --> less profit --> no ads, little feature and design upgrades==> so on. you can't have both.
* '''remove plain text and RTF components'''
** '''Suggestion''': remove rich text and plain text field in "edit" menu. Supermemo has progressed to HTML. Why do we still need those options?
** '''Cons''': Consumers who use code page fonts for learning Chinese, or RTL text in RTF for learning Arabic would eat you alive! :)
* Retain user modifications to the statistics display.  One can move the various items (retention, burden etc.) around within the statistics display, but the changes are not retained if SuperMemo be closed and re-opened
** This option has been removed from SuperMemo due to confusion caused by reshuffled statistics (incl. simple errors in interpreting the statistics once fields changed places)
* [[Replace component types with just a component]]
* Compile the entire set of SuperMemo Help pages into a single file, e.g. PDF.  Also add an index to the file.  This would facilitate searching for guidance on a Supermemo feature. I find the current help pages hard to navigate.  The Search utility that goes with the web site is also not very useful: The results of a search are a list of phrases in very tiny text that are hard to read.  Furthermore the phrases are not linked back to their specific web content, but rather to the main FAQ page to which they belong (PDF is more suitable for printing, HTML is more suitable for "navigating" - the documentation is hyperlink-rich, HTML docs are regularly updated)
* I would like to see chm support as easy as reading the internet. A cool addon would be if the chapters of the chm could be translated into branches --> keeping the inner logic of the chm file in the knowledge base (CHM are kept only for those who work without access to the Internet, HTML is always more accurate due to frequent updates)
**This only holds true, if you think of chm files as help files. Most of modern computer books are published as chm files on the containing CD. One only finds errata on the correspondig webpage. So it DOES in fact make sense to have the ability to import pages from chm files.
= In implementation =
These suggestions have been implemented or are being implemented in the currently developed version of SuperMemo for Windows. '''Important:''' Listing a feature here does not guarantee it will show up in the final release. It may simply not pass the grade at alpha or beta-testing stages of development (e.g. too complex, too buggy, too unwieldy, etc.). Your further input on these items is vital as the ultimate shape/design of the feature is usually not determined at the present moment.
= Other SuperMemos =
* [[Suggestions_for_future_versions|SuperMemo for Pocket PC]]
* [[Suggestions for other platforms]]
= Not understood =
* "Wikipedia-mode": This would facilitate in-depth exploration of a single topic by keyword, good for reviewing before a test, presentation, or other topic-specific event.  This would entail a separate learning mode where each word in the question field would be clickable (ideally, after answering the question and grading the response, the words would become clickable).  Clicking a word would search for it within your knowledgebase and return results as a subset which would automatically be queued to Outstanding reptitions.  The current outstanding repetions would be replaced each time a new search is generated, to keep the questions topic-centric.
* "Super link" - basically, it's like adding a hyperlink in a component. But in this case, the same desired word contained in all components from the collection will carry that link.
* Learn drill function for the branch - sometimes I create tons of new items and only want to learn a sub-branch at a time [this has been possible with subset learning for a number of years already]
* picture occlusion - allow a special object to be put on a picture, then like generating cloze Q's for articles, an item with picture+occlusion is created. Put second object on, another item is created. This is really important because I use diagram a lot. So far, there is way I could duplicate item in SM 2004. SO it is painfully slow!!!
* [[Change the behavior of the tree]] - this requires elaboration/explanation
* Integrate [[SuperMemo Recently Used File List Cleaner]] with future releases of SuperMemo
* The possibility to minimize the entire application at once
** '''Explanation:''' SuperMemo only lets me minimize its "internal windows". There is no option to minimize SuperMemo in its entirety, I must click on another application in the taskbar or on "Show Desktop" if I want to leave the application without closing it.
* Put all the technical settings, such as A factor, B factor, repetition factor, into "advanced settings" window, while leaving everyday options available to beginner, basic level users, just like Windows
* [[XML for mindmapping]]
* Warn of identical items // items may have identical texts but differ in layout, color, pictures, etc.
* Make toolbars able to be closed. It's really annoying in SM2004 that if I minimise the program window after closing a toolbar, all the toolbars I have ever used will jump out when restoring the window!
** you need to save those "closed" toolbars in your default layout (e.g. Ctrl+Shift+F5)
***'''I am just a normal Windows user. Why are things so complicated that I have to remember another command while I just want to close toolbars with a click?'''
* [[Improve where Zoot is better]]
* [[Timed drills]]
* Make all the templates read-only. If the user changes the template, a window should pop up, asking two options: save changes to template or detach template. I didn't know there was an option called "detach template". Whenever I resized the text field to fit the text for a particular item, all of them changed. That is so annoying
** Why would templates be read-only if they can easily be undone? It is like making MS Word texts read-only (for good) for fear of introducing changes? Naturally you can make element "templates" "read-only" by just imposing the template (seeems similar to what you need). Why would globality of template be annoying? It might surprise one first time it is spotted, but then the user should know: use a template (make it global) or impose it (make it local)?
***'''Well, I was really actually confused by the options. I admit I don't know anything about "impose template". But why does supermemo make it so hard??? MS word templates ARE read-only, and you will have to save a separate document if you press ctrl+s. If you want to edit the template, you need to browse for template file. There is nothing wrong about making templates global. It is, however, very annoying for newbie who find ALL items changed and ctrl+z does not undo the change. Do I need to be IT professional to use supermemo?'''
* I know that I can progress into 'deeper' knowledge with IR, but sometimes I am not harvesting knowledge for myself but to transfer it and for this purpose a guided path would be very helpfull. Setting certain ways and hiding specific knowledge until a specific piece of information can be viewed as learned makes sense from my point of view
** '''Explanation:''' Even reading the internet with IR-technique I am not able to accomplish the originally asked feature of making certain parts of the knowledge base only available after a groundlaying item is successfully memorized (e.g. learned). What comes to my mind is a feature to state a number for a root knowledge element to make its children available for learning only after the learner has successfully repeated the root item for the given number of times. This feature would make the progress of a learner through a topic more guidable.
* The option to enter a "Queue" or "Schedule" mode, where all my generated articles and/or clozes are scheduled for repetition on a given day, or simply put on the pending queue. As I understood this was the behaviour of older SuperMemos, so it can be called "SuperMemo 98 Mode" or something like that.
** This sounds exactly as '''Schedule extract, Queue extract, Schedule cloze and Queue cloze'''. SuperMemo 98 did not include any incremental reading tools. SuperMemo 2000 is the first to make a move from reading lists to incremental reading.
* Collection task list options-This function can let users learn each collections in a fixed order or randomised order. Users can put data into separate collection folders and don't have to go through recent list to learn all the collections.  Putting everything into one collection is simply too dangerous. As the collection size grows, it will get slower and slower. I hope it also allows different collections to share measured data, so that there is no difference from using only one collection
** collections do not get (visibly) slower with size (on a mid-range PC); it is unclear why keeping data in one collection is dangerous (unless you cannot effectively back up due to collection size, e.g. when only floppies are available, etc.); a collection damage that makes it unusable can be effectively prevented with a regular backup
* [[Better automation in the learning process]]
= Unprocessed suggestions =
Those should be reviewed and formulated as individual propositions:
* http://supermemo.org/users/samson.pdf - suggestions by Samson, some are controversial and would best be summarized and commented on: [[Samson on SuperMemo 2006]]
* http://homepage.ntlworld.com/contactnathan/Supermemo/doc/Supermemo-0.htm
= Too general to address =
* improve the documentation
** you need to specifically say what changes you would like to see - improving the documentation is always a high priority job
* more windows and wizard in GUI design - So many functions can be grouped onto one window or wizard, and prevent the frustration of not finding the function I need
** simplicity is a serious consideration, but for this to be addressed, you need to specifically list functions that should be handled by wizards (and preferrably: how)
***{search element, search text, search string, search template, search catogaries, search registry etc, search and replace}--> one search window with each option on a drop down list, mouseover the list will give an explanation of the function and possibly examples. Once selected,the window will go to next tab, which allows people to search. Of course, leave two popular search function ready for acess on that search window, and leave other less used ones in the dropdown list. A tab for search and replace function, like the one in IE. Similar things apply to import {import file, Q&A, email, bla bla}: a window with dropdown list, a directory selector and an explanation of what will happen. Anyway, some "pro" may not like it, but those kinds of silly bloated menus have to go. Otherwise, it will remain awfully ugly.
* Supermemo Assistant - don't have to be a cartoon character as in MS office. It just change colour whenever it has a tip to tell the user. For instance, if a user is changing the content of an old item, the tip includes "radical change may affect the difficulty rating, you should reset history for that item" Context-based assistance or advice is really important since 99.9999% users can't be bothered to read through the manual or retain it in the memory. Supermemo 2004 just sits there dead, expecting users to rummage through tons of functions and be expert to themselves. The material called up by "F1" is useless because most of the time it only tells you what this button does, no SHORT and CONCISE information on how to use it effectively, and neither does it give important tips or point out common mistakes.
** SuperMemo always attempts to provide as much assistence for hard-to-understand tasks; however, it is also being criticized for providing too much assistance or bombarding user with choices instead of defining a default action. In your example, it seems easier for the user to understand the need to rememorize elements that have changed than to understand ''radical change may affect the difficulty rating, you should reset history for that item'' where he or she might wonder about the meaning of ''radical change'', ''difficulty rating'', ''reset'', ''history'' and even ''item''. Your will find many examples of similar criticism in reviews of SuperMemo posted on the net!


= Your suggestions (add new ideas here) =
== Website suggestions ==
* I strongly agree with "http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/supermemo/message/2118" message. The program designer should use supermemo to memorize Windows application GUI guidelines before starting next version of supermemo. It's about what customers like, not about the designer's personal preference. and "Then they should memorize the places where their program conflicts with the standard Windows user-interface conventions, which will become evident as they undertake this process."
*  There should be a separate page allowing people to specifically discuss the hopeless GUI. The functions in Supermemo are already numerous and what bothers user most is the design. Among current versions for PC, PALM etc, the one for Windows has the worst GUI. "Basic, Middle, professional" level and a long list of shortcuts are just ways to hide this problem. It's time to deal with it since its GUI has changed little in the past ten years. Advanced users usually stop complaining that much because they know the GUI will not get better anyway. None of them will say they LIKE it, they simply say they find a way to COPE.
* One Low-cost way of solving option clutter in supermemo is to fully implement option windows or wizards wherever possible so that several similar functions can be neatly grouped together. You don't have to change any code, just reaarange some items. "Find text, string, unicode etc" you can simply put them on one window with radiobuttons. Plus a brief explanation and several example for exactly what the program will look for on the left side when that option is selected. =====> More options does not mean more mess, it depends on how you present them. ====> by the way, I'm talking about "professional" level. I just find other lower levels lacking too many features. I think the program designer should aim to allow beginners to use higher levels without having to refer to help file if they want more options


* "Paste As Object Here" in the context menu --> when I copy a picture and want to paste it as an object, I don't have to go thru "edit==>add components==>image" all the time. If I have text on the clipboard, a html object will be created and so on.
* [[Website suggestions]]
* Options confusion needs to be solved. I once accidentally used "links -registry member" function on a html text field, thinking that I could create a html hyperlink to the selected member. I ended up having to recreate the item. After that, I realised that "links" refer to that component, rather than to the highlighted text. I'm sure this kind of ordeal won't end here


* I would like to see predefined Item templates or an Item generation assistant. Like selecting basic layout (Single Choice, Multiple Choice, Q&A, Grafic Component, etc.) then select options according to the first selection (2, 3, 4 choices, option field, grafic to be displayed as question, grafic to be displayed as answer, etc.) and have the Item autmatically generated according to my selection
== Unprocessed suggestions ==
* Make Supermemo Databases portable - use relative links
  I cannot easily use Supermemo elements on another computer other than the one I have created it on.
  The reason is that images that I have downloaded are given absolute links in the html elements.
  Those absolute links don't work on another computer.  What I wind up doing is using Notepad
  to replace absolute references with relative references.  This is very time consuming and tedious.


  Another possible way to fix broken links is to have a "Find References" command.  Invoking that
Those should be reviewed and formulated as individual propositions at SuperMemopedia. Please help converting those ideas into suggestions:
  command would require Supermemo to search the local Supermemo folder for unresolved links and then
  change the element file accordingly.
  I apologize in advance if there is a current easy way to do what I want or if someone else has
  posted a similar suggestion


*Add and Swap Option. I use SuperMemo mainly for languages and I often have to swap items. More often than not I already know that I am going to swap that particular item, so it would be useful if SuperMemo could automatically create a separate swapped item when requested.
* http://supermemo.org/users/samson.pdf -- suggestions by Samson, some are controversial and would best be summarized and commented on.
* If you cancel a merge (I was merging a subset, in fact), it just goes ahead and merges what had been written into the temporary file up to the point of cancelling rather than aborting the entire merge operation.
** '''all suggestions in source pdf transcribed to wiki page:''' [[Samson on SuperMemo 2006]] -- still needs to be reviewed and formulated as individual propositions
* Merging does not carry over all statistics, so that historical repetition counts, retention etc. are lost.  This could be considered design rather than flaw.
* http://web.archive.org/web/20070802000101/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/contactnathan/Supermemo/doc/Supermemo-0.htm
* Searching does not work with accented etc. characters, which limits its utility on non-Roman language searches or even accented Indo-European languages.
** see [[Nathan on SuperMemo 2002]] -- (processing incomplete)
* In supermemo2004, you can only paste in 1 image.  When I paste in a second image, it would replace the previous image with the second one.  It would be great if you can create new feature that allows me to paste in an image to the Question box and a second image into the Answer box.  I need this since OCR does not recognize these organic chemistry reactions with arrows and stuff, so it would be neat if you have it available.  Supermemo is great for text, but it doesn't work well with paste image, I'm trying to find a software just for that.  I was going to write a new software for it, but instead, I thought it will be faster if you just add this feature.  Thanks.
* it would be great if some sort of complexity level could be implemented in the learning process, making deeper knowledge available (possibly even automatic), after the broader concepts have been understood and say successfully repeated for a configurable number of times. Often I have excerpts that include the big picture as well as detail level information. So i have an item (overview) with a number of childs (detail). It would be great, if I could set my learning course from first knowing the top-level items and then, regarding my progress for each item dive into the details on an automated basis.TIA, Dirk [comment: ''The big picture'' problem is formulated here as borderline-AI, but present [[incremental reading]] tools are all targetted at sensible progression into the depths of complex knowledge]
* Support for the 7z compression algorithm ([http://www.7-zip.org]) for backup purposes. I noticed that by switching to .7z my backups are about 20/30% lighter than before. I was using RAR which is already more efficent than ZIP, but 7-zip is even more, and also opensource.
* JPEG2000 Support
* Now that I'm using SuperMemo every single day, it would be great if I could add my goals and affirmations to appear daily or on a scheduled cycle.  For instance, at the beginning of (or end or randomly throughout) my review, it should show me each of my goald and affirmations one page at a time.  The point is that it would show these daily, unlike the current elements.
* From a users point of view I don´t really care what type of document I extract my knowledge from. Incremental reading of docs, presentations (ppt), sometimes even exelfiles, http or for most scientific papers (yes, it´s pdf [again ;)] is what I would find very usefull. Seeing the comments on how specific requirements can be accomplished I should add, that I prefer it the convenient way (one click - finished)... So comments like: 'click here, set for this case that option, open this kind of component and then mess it all up by not having selected a third option hidden in another menue' are not the direction my suggestions are heading for.
* I´d like to make extracts from live:pages in incremental reading
* It would be cool if the format (CSS) of extracted texts would remain
* Have you ever thought about importing a text only once. If extracts or clozes are made this information could easily be stored as offsets reducing the overall data to keep in the collection. This way you would have the data (text), regarding my last recommendation a related style information (format), metadata for reading / extraction and metadata for learning and that´s it.
* I would appreciate a standard window setup like windows explorer for instance. left would be what now is named "content". in the detail window one would see, well the detail of the selected item in the tree-window. on top of the application window a menue bar with selectable toolsbars -like in word for instance (except for the standards [file, edit, view, etc.]) on bottom of the window the edit-toolbar would reside (again like in office (e.g. powerpoint) or concerning the mode I am in the rating buttons.
* Make extract-functionality available in IE / Firefox via plug-in technology => as part of the contextmenue one could simply select interesting text and export / import it to SuperMemo
* implementation of RSS streams in IR, conveniently making text-extracts possible from the presented live pages
* I get various errors regarding javascript when reading imported pages
* following links on imported pages I somehow get into reading mode again (live:page I presume), preventing futher import from linked page
* synchronize content and other window by default (who needs this to be turned off?)
* provide a GUI mechanism to rate the importance of a text (or it´s extracts)
* fill out the references tags for imported webpages automatically. At least URL and Date can be filled out this way per default. As an add-on the author could be filled out if stated in the meta-part of the webpage (wow looking at the suggestions 14 from the last 15 suggestions are from me, but none answered yet)
* Possibility to predefine learning days. I have my copy of SM installed on my corporate machine. Thus I will definitely not learn on saturdays and sundays. It would be helpful if the computation of spacings could be accomodated with regard to a predefined availability schema. Adding holidays to this would be even greater!
* An option to repair a collection which is impossible to open for some reasons. The current "Repair Collection" option can only repair a collection which is already opened. I recently encountered an unexpected "range check error" which probably  ruined a year of costant daily repetitions (partially, thanks to a relatively recent backup). I really don't know why this error showed up, nothing strange happened in the meantime and SuperMemo was correctly closed the day before. I think that something should be done to improve the reliability (or at least the recoverability) of a collection. After all we are talking about collections which, ideally, should last for a lifetime.
* Collection mirroring. An user may specify a secondary directory (ideally on an another hard disk) where a "mirror copy" of the collection is written each time something is modified. So if the "main" collection gets ruined for some serious reason such as hardware failure there is always a recent backup available. To avoid delays and errors replication the backup collection may be write-only.
* Get rid of those annoying tabs in the menue bar. Yes I want to be able to click "Text extract" and in the same process re-format my extraction. So why do I have to switch the tabs each time? Make the menue bar as flexible as in Office, where I can select which icons from which section are shown. Most of the icons are no use for me, I would like to turn them off.
* It would be cool, if the plan function could integrate with Outlook. Appointments and Tasks from Outlook could be imported to plan and vice versa. So both applications are synched and the plan function in SM could help more granular prioritize the tasks in Outlook (which is an annoying limitation in Outlook compared to the flexibility of SMs plan function).
* display a coloured border as a warning for images that are not registered in image registry, so that when I move the whole collection, I won't be surprised that all the pictures are gone. Alternatively, you can put a translucent icon at the corner of the image components, such as IE icon to indicate that the image is linked to internet, and trash icon to show that image is still stored in temporary folder.
* I hope the shape object is fixed onto the picture object depending on the settings. I rarely use stretch option for display pictures because it will affect the look. If I add shape object onto the picture that is set to normal and then resize the window, the shape object will no longer cover the required area!!
* restore the crtl+shift+enter to dismiss, but not remove all text.  As it stands, I have to go to the content, and select dismiss from the menu functions.
* Element priority dialog box: Position: -> Position [1 - Total]:
* RTF rtl to HTML rtl conversion: If the font controls (type/size/style) as well as the rtl command was available by keyboard shortcuts, then at least it would be possible to create a macro to quickly fix an item, or a group of items using a program like Hotkeyz.
* Firefox toolbar & Firefox-compatible Wikipedia import for SuperMemo 2006.
* Compatible to other browsers like: Opera, Firefox, etc (for web-import).

Revision as of 14:51, 8 October 2017

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Those should be reviewed and formulated as individual propositions at SuperMemopedia. Please help converting those ideas into suggestions: