Edit Attributes

[cweinhofer]

I have a vocab list that I have been working with for some time. In order to focus on certain vocabulary, I want to edit attributes such as test state and level in the edit function. However, the only fields that seem to be available are the text fields. Anyone know how to edit the other ones?

Also, my need to isolate certain classes of words might also be solved if there was a way to choose a list of words to review other then just by category or level. Maybe there is and I don't know. I am currently working off the PPC version only and so maybe the limitation is due to that platform. Having to use Stackz on the desktop seems much less convenient then the PPC, but I would make due if it gave me the added control.

[Chris]

The "test state" represents the statistics of your test activities, i.e. how many times the word was declared as known or unknown. You can't alter these values, but you can reset them.

The "level" corresponds to the column where the card is located. You can move the cards manually to a different level, e.g. using the cut and paste functionality. Or, in the stack edit dialog, use the context menu "maintenance/move to stack...".

To isolate some words, the recommended practice is to group them into a lesson. Cards can be moved from one lesson to another in the same way it can be moved from one level to another (cut/paste).

In what way would you like to isolate cards? If it is according to the "type of word", then it is best to split the cards into individual lessons representing the required types. If it is according the current learning state, then using the accumulated "test state" (without modifiying) in combination with the appropriate "ColorMode" would be the best solution.

Please note that at the moment there are no "tags" that can be attached to the cards and then be used for isolating matching cards.

[cweinhofer]

Thanks for your suggestions. I think changing the level under "Maintenance > Move to stack..." will do the trick. Let me describe a little bith more about what I am trying to isolate in case someone else has the same question or Stackz decides to add a function to the program:

I am working on the vocabulary lists from a textbook (Genki) and at this point have about 75% of the vocabulary memorized. What I realized however is that 30-50% of the remaining unmemorized vocabulary are words I am not likely to use often (like the word for space alien for instance) and I want to spend my time focusing on the useful unmemorized words as opposed to those. The problem is that I have no way of sorting the remaining unmemorized vocabulary for priority without altering the current file (which is broken into lessons and reviewed periodically )beyond what I would prefer.

For the time being I can use your suggestion above to artificially move the unmemorized but un-useful words up to level 5 and where they can be more easily ignored.

[Chris]

The problem is that I have no way of sorting the remaining unmemorized vocabulary for priority without altering the current file (which is broken into lessons and reviewed periodically )beyond what I would prefer.

For the time being I can use your suggestion above to artificially move the unmemorized but un-useful words up to level 5 and where they can be more easily ignored.

You are right, there is no concept in Stackz at the moment of classifying the entries according to "relevance" or "importance". Every entry is considered as of equal relevance.

Your idea certainly will work fine, but only with the ColorMode "RepeatAdvisor", with difficulty estimation set to "promotion level". In this setting, the repetition interval depends on the card's refresh date and the promotion level (longer for high promotion levels, see Repeat Advisor ColorMode detail settings). The other ColorModes are based on the card refresh date and/or past success/failure counts, which does not depend on the promotion level.

Background: The ColorMode visualizes the card's "good or bad" state with a color, and the study tools process the selected cards in the "bad to good" order. The ColorMode "RefreshDate" simply uses the last positive test for classification (the oldest card is processed first). The RepeatAdvisor extends the RefreshDate algorithm by highlighting (and processing first) the cards that are "overdue", i.e. "current difficulty estimation is worse than the threshold (for this level)". This corresponds to the well known "spaced repetition" algorithm.

The question is just whether you want to have the "not so important" words in your list in the first place. You could also move those cards to different lessons (e.g. "Lesson 1 optional", or "all optional words") or even to a special file. But then you would have to decide yourself when you want to study those words, as opposoed to the algorithm telling you to look at a less relevant word (while you are studying relevant words).

Future considerations in the Stackz system go in the direction of adding "flags" for the entries. A parameter "relevance" could be an extended flag (or parameter). Such developments have low priority at the moment, and we also try to avoid overloading the system.