Setting parameters for Postpone

From: Aris
Country: {{{Country}}}
Sent: Jul 17, 2018
Subject: Postpone settings and A-Factors

Question:

Hello,

In the figure under the Parameters tab section at (http://help.supermemo.org/wiki/Postpone), "A-Factor below" is set to 1.01. This means topics with A-Factors less than 1.01 will not be rescheduled. However, since 1.01 is the lowest possible value for A-Factors, will the parameter in this example will be ignored, or does it include topics equal to 1.01? So if I set a topic to the A-Factor of 1.01, will it be exempt from rescheduling?

I would also very much like to hear from support about the ideal/recommended settings of postpone/autopostpone for heavy load incremental reading (maybe recommended settings for low, medium, high load of incremental reading).

Thank you!

I tried to post this question at http://supermemopedia.com/wiki/FAQ but didn't have the credentials to do so.

Answer:

Priority queue instead of Postpone

Postpone no longer plays a major role in incremental reading. Many of its functions and options can be replaced effectively with a simple concept of the priority queue.

It is easier to misconfigure Postpone than to improve upon it. For example, if you regularly postpone most of your items with high delay, you may fail to reach your forgetting index goals. On the other hand, defaults wired in SuperMemo should serve you well. All you need is to turn auto-postpone on.

Today, Postpone is more important for performance reasons (faster SuperMemo) than for specific benefits in learning. It generally skips top priority material, and sorting puts it to the top anyway. You can probably just see how it works in practice and look for things you do not like (e.g. too long outstanding queue, slower SuperMemo, longer processing of subsets, etc)

Technical details

If you want to go deeper, you can watch this video: Postponing elements in SuperMemo 11-17.

You are right, A-Factor of 1.01 should indeed ignore the A-Factor field for topics (which may be a good idea if you do not bother to set A-Factors, esp. that priority queue is a better tool for prioritizing topic scheduling)

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