SuperMemo FAQs use a couple of simple conventions
that you may need to
learn
(sanju, Apr 21, 2005, 00:53:41)
Question:
I got a response from you suggesting that I use
Search : Search and Replace. What does it mean?
Answer:
Names separated by colons are used to indicate how to find an
option on the menu. In this case, you need to click
Search on the
main menu and then click Search and Replace
on the
Search menu
You can start learning English with English SuperMemo
even if your English is not very strong
(pro_hoziy,
Russian Federation, Apr 07, 2005, 12:48:15)
Question:
Sorry
for my English. I have studied it for a short while. I tried to
understand how
SuperMemo works but I could not do that. Please help
Answer:
This
is how you can use SuperMemo to learn English (even if your English is
not
strong):
You can edit elements during repetitions
(Deron
Isaac,
USA, May 21, 1997)
Question:
How can I edit texts of items during repetitions
without
backing out of the test mode?
Answer:
Choose Q to edit the question, A
to edit the answer, E to edit
all text components
or Ctrl+E to switch all
components to the editing mode. You can also edit all properties of all
components by
using context menus
available with a right button click
over a given component
You can see what items will be repeated on a given day
(Matt Cassidy, New Zealand, Aug 18, 1997)
Question:
How to review elements
to be repeated on a given day?
Answer:
Use Ctrl+W (Tools
: Workload)
and double-click the day of interest
You can easily delete an element
Question:
How do I delete an element
in SuperMemo?
Answer:
Choose one of the following:
Proceed slowly to SuperMemo mastery
(Arthur Norsworthy, Saturday,
September 11, 2004 2:37 AM)
Question:
I find SuperMemo a fascinating program but difficult to use beyond the
simplest level. There are so many things I want to learn,
but it takes too much time to figure out how to do anything
Answer:
Your
opinion is not unique. Many users feel overwhelmed at the beginning.
SuperMemo seems counter-intuitive in the way it approaches learning.
However, the consensus seems to be, that the longer you persist with
the program, the more satisfied you are likely to be. Two factors are
vital in this process:
You could start with learning simple questions and answers for a couple of days to better understand the core learning process.
Then you could slowly proceed with 25 Steps to SuperMemo Mastery
It is important you do not hurry this process. Missed steps and gaps in understanding may lead to frustration, while meticulous study is bound to produce rich rewards in learning. The most rewarding part of SuperMemo is incremental reading. However, the mastery of this skill may take months to develop. If you persist in this process, your learning will never be the same
You can install an icon representing SuperMemo on
your Windows desktop
(Judy Citron,
UK, May
26, 1998)
Question:
Your
programme has been highly recommended to me so
I've downloaded SuperMemo from the web. But when I execute it I seem to
get thrown into
the deep end. Do I get a nice icon on my desktop?
Answer:
If you installed manually (installer shall create icons for you), you
can add
the desktop icon with File
:
Installation : Install icons. To begin your work with
SuperMemo see: SuperMemo
ABC
With SuperMemo you can tackle any exam
(Anatolyi Lipatov,
Ukraine,
Jul 12, 1998)
Question:
I am using Advanced English
to enhance my English and
business English. Now
I am registering for CFA
examination (that is Chartered Financial Analyst program of Association
of Investment
Management and Research). There are several organizations developing
and distributing
methodological stuff for preparing to the exam. A lot of things should
be memorized for
passing the exam. What do you think the best way to fit SuperMemo for
memorization is and
what approach should I use to prepare my own knowledge base for
memorizing the material.
Is special programming knowledge needed for it?
Answer:
No specialist knowledge is needed to prepare simple
collections in SuperMemo. With
Alt+A (i.e. Add
new) you get the
core functionality! All advanced editing options can be worked around
by an appropriate
questions-and-answer approach. Perhaps it would be useful yet to learn
how to add images
to your items. To learn more about effectively structuring
knowledge in SuperMemo you might want to read 20 rules
of formulating knowledge
You can search for substrings with Ctrl+F
Question:
How can I search for a given string
of characters in the collection?
Answer:
Press Ctrl+F
and type
in the string
You can edit the font used with your elements
(Joe
Fosnot,
USA, Nov 23, 1998)
Question:
How can I quickly increase the size of the font used in questions and
answers?
Answer:
Here are some methods:
You can use View in the contents window to see an
element in the element
window
(Noel Clary, USA, Sep
18, 1998)
Question:
When I double click an element
without children, I get to view
it in the element window.
However, when it has children, its branch opens or
closes. How can I easily view contents
elements with children in the element window?
Answer:
Click View at the bottom of the contents
window. If you select
the Synchronize button at the
top of the contents window (Edit
toolbar), you should also be able to view elements with a
single click
In SuperMemo, Memorized<>Remembered
(jj, UK, Sunday, December
24, 2000 1:54 AM)
Question:
I have noticed in the
Statistics that the
number of elements memorized increases even when I enter
Fail when answering incorrectly. For instance, in
the
collection of US States Capitals, it was showing 100% memorized when I
was still getting many of them wrong
Answer:
Parameter Memorized indicates the number
of elements in the learning process; not the number of elements you are
able to recall correctly. If you make regular repetitions in the long
run (i.e. over weeks and months), the number of
remembered elements can be estimated with Memorized*Retention
You can set question and answer fonts
(Paul R Taubr, Wed, May 22, 2002
0:41)
Question:
I try to create a default template which is just a font and font size
(Arial 14) to use with all my items (questions and
answers)
Answer:
This is the fastest way:
If you want to set the same font for all your items, choose Tools : Options : Fonts : Question font and/or Answer font
SuperMemo in other languages
(Nuno Freitas,
Portugal, Thu, Jun 21, 2001 13:39)
Question:
I'm Portuguese and I'd like to learn English with SuperMemo.
Are the words translated to Portuguese?
If not, how can I learn?
Answer:
Collections in SuperMemo Library
do not provide foreign language translations. You have only three
options:
List of shortcuts
(kensweet21,
Nov 25, 2000)
Question:
Do you have a reference list of shortcuts?
Answer:
Yes.
See:
Keyboard
shortcuts in
SuperMemo
You can easily copy SuperMemo to a disc
(Jack B., Sun, Jun 24, 2001 2:20)
Question:
After getting the program downloaded, may I simply pay for a backup
disc sent to me?
Answer:
You can create your own backup disc in a minute by simply
copying the downloaded file onto a blank
disc.
Refer to MS Windows help files for the basics of file copying
You can define a French
keyboard for use with SuperMemo
(David
Seagull, USA,
Jul 10, 1998)
Question:
How can I define French keyboard for use with SuperMemo in Windows?
Answer:
In Window's Control Panel use Keyboard
and add French on the tab
named Language or Input locales (e.g.
French - Canadian). Set
French as default
Use Element Parameters dialog box to view element's
category
(Steve Brown, Tuesday, August 21,
2001 4:01 PM)
Question:
Is there a way to tell what category an element (e.g. Q/A pair) belongs
to without going to other windows?
Answer:
The simplest way is to press
Ctrl+Shift+P (Category combo in
the Element Parameters dialog
box). If you would like to quickly see the location of an
element in the contents, choose
Shift+Ctrl+X (Ancestors window)
If Add New does not create needed components, you can
redefine the template
(noam-at, Israel, Aug 04, 2001)
Question:
When I click
Add New, I get a new item, but SuperMemo doesn't
create two
editing fields for the question and answer. Instead, I see the gray
screen of SuperMemo without any fields
Answer:
Add New uses the
default template to
create new items. If you delete all
components (e.g. question and answer fields) from the default template,
Add New
will add
new elements that look empty. If you want to restore your question and
answer components, you need to redefine the template. If you are not
very fluent with
templates, locate an element in your collection that looks ok
and choose
Template : Save as default (Ctrl+Alt+M)
on the element
menu. This will save the look of the selected element in the
default template.
Add New will then replicate this look
To check system integrity use File : Repair collection
(rocky eversman, Sunday, July 08,
2001 7:35 PM)
Question:
I
encountered a message that stated there were problems terminating
recent session and that I should use system recovery to check system
integrity. How do I do it?
Answer:
Use File
: Repair collection
to verify collection integrity and repair file errors (if possible).
Historically, this option has been called
Recover, but users suggested a change to more
meaningful Repair
You can join SuperMemo eGroup for community self-help
(Tami Laughlin, Monday, October
16, 2000 6:55 AM)
Question:
Other
than reading the material and keeping at working with it, is there
anything else you could suggest to learn it? Is there a discussion
group somewhere maybe?
Answer:
Yahoo eGroup has been created for SuperMemo at:
http://supermemopedia.com/wiki/What_happened_to_SuperMemo_Yahoo_Group%3F
We no longer produce printed manuals
(Neville
Bailey,
Australia, Dec 5, 1998)
Question:
I have previously used SuperMemo 6 and SuperMemo 7. There was always a
printable
manual file with the software. I cannot find anything like that on your
website.
Is there a manual to download or order?
Answer:
No. As of 1997, all our documentation is provided as
hypertext that does not
have a structure that can be printed and/or processed linearly (i.e.
page by page).
We are proud to adopt the environmentally-friendly electronic
publishing.
Last but not least, we believe that the only rational and effective way of reading and learning is: incremental reading. Incremental reading requires that your learning material be submitted in electronic form
Add New and Learn stand for 90% of value of SuperMemo
for most people
(Tosh B., Saturday, August 04,
2001 10:50 PM)
Question:
I am unable to see any collection.
Although I can access the 2 dialog boxes for the Add New
question-answer formats, I can not do much
more
Answer:
Once you are able to create questions and answers with Add
New, all you have to do to begin your work with
SuperMemo is to
click Learn.
You have to do it regularly. Preferably once per day, until you see
the message: "Nothing more to learn".
Then you can add more questions and answers. Remember that you will not
experience the benefits of SuperMemo earlier than in 1-2 weeks. As
the first optimum intervals in learning last up to a week, your first
week will bring no better results than traditional learning. The power
of spaced repetition will show and increase in weeks, months and years.
If you want to use more advanced functions of SuperMemo,
you can later venture into this Guide.
In addition,
do not miss the concept of incremental
reading
You can easily install SuperMemo on two PCs
(Steve Brown, Wed, Aug 15, 2001
14:00)
Question:
I
just recently purchased SuperMemo and have successfully downloaded to
my home PC. I would also like to load it on my work PC. How can I get
another download going?
Answer:
You can simply copy the downloaded file onto a
disc or USB drive and transfer it to another PC. Please note that it is
not easy to synchronize large collections. The simplest method is to
use
File : Copy
collection and copy entire collections between the two PCs
Good answers should be scored Pass
or higher
(Frank
Gaval, USA,
Oct 16, 2000)
Question:
What is the meaning of grade buttons: Bright, Good, Pass, Fail,
etc.
Answer:
Bright, Good and Pass are used
to indicate that you remember. Fail
or less indicates forgetting.
For more details, pause the mouse button over each button. For more
details see: Repetitions in
SuperMemo
Writing advanced collections is easy!
(Boris
Milikic, Slovenia, Nov 27, 1999)
Question:
Is there a quick guide to
building collections such as
Advanced English? I have the knowledge tree and the contents
on paper
Answer:
See: User's Guide. The
most important things to learn in
the beginning are:
You can change the size
of the question and answer windows
Question:
How can I change the position of the question field on the screen?
Answer:
Alt-click the question twice.
It will become draggable.
Alternatively, you can choose Mode : Dragging mode
on the question's menu
or Components : Mode : Dragging mode on the element menu (in the
latter case, all components will become draggable). If your element
uses a
template, this change will be global. See: Using templates
You can add chemical formulas to SuperMemo
(Charles Maggio, USA, July 7, 1997)
Question:
I use ChemDraw to create structured formulas of
organic substances. How can I
paste them to an image component?
Answer:
You can copy your ChemDraw formulas
to the clipboard in the
picture format and just paste them to your elements (e.g. with Ctrl+V).
You can also try to use OLE
components to keep your
formulas in SuperMemo. This way, you will be able to modify the
formulas with ChemDraw
from within SuperMemo. Use image components (the
first method) if you
do not need to modify the formulas (simplicity, disk space, etc.). Use
OLE
components, if you constantly need to rework your formulas
You can duplicate items
(Ryszard
Kosowicz,
Krakow, Poland, May 16, 1997)
Question:
How can I quickly copy the text of an item to another item without
using the clipboard twice (for
the question and for the answer)?
Answer:
Use Edit : Duplicate on the element menu
(or press Ctrl+Alt+D
on the copied element)
Memorized material always comes back for repetition
(Leitnick, David, Monday, December
17, 2001 10:56 PM)
Question:
I created my first list of 100 peg words in a file I call "Mnemonics".
I scored
Bright or Good on everything
until I got to the end of the list. It's been 2 weeks and SuperMemo
never
gave me a review for that file when I select it. Shouldn't I still be
prompted for a review at some point in time?
Answer:
You should have already been prompted for review. It is not
enough to open your
Mnemonics collection. You need to choose
Learn to execute repetitions. Use
Tools : Workload (Ctrl+W)
to see on which date the repetitions have been scheduled. Make sure you
do not manipulate the date in the computer, do not input "dummy" grades
and do not trick SuperMemo in any other way to overestimate your memory
You can use categories to influence where new
elements are added with Add new
(R.K., Sun, Jun 17, 2001 17:54)
Question:
I would expect SuperMemo to add a new item as
a straight neighbor of the previously added element in the contents
window. Why isn't it so?
Answer:
Selection
in the contents window is too
transient to be the basis of choosing the insertion point for new
material. This would require constant user attention as to the present
selection. As a remedy, the concept of a
category has been
introduced. Each category, such as biology or
geography, has its own insertion point called a hook. Now,
all you have to do is to select a category, and
Add new
will add new elements to that category. Added elements will be listed
sequentially as neighbors
Keep your collections in one piece
(David
Mckenzie, New Zealand, Apr 8, 1998)
Question:
Is there any point in keeping collections
separate?
Answer:
No. Once you master
categories, templates
and Postpone,
there is no point. You gain global search, global registries,
global repetitions, global optimization, etc. This would not be
advisable back
in SuperMemo 7 as item difficulty measure (E-factor) was dependent on
the
average difficulty of items
in the collection.
Presently, the item difficulty measure (A-Factor,
or absolute difficulty factor) is absolute and does not depend on the
context in
which an item is placed (see: SuperMemo
Algorithm).
Only the length of the first interval will significantly be affected by
the
average difficulty of items in the collection. However, this shall not
bear
dramatically on the speed
of learning.
Especially that variable forgetting
index
for individual items makes it possible to set different first intervals
for
whole contents categories
or branches
of the knowledge tree
You can check the element number with Ctrl+G
(Doug
Edmunds, USA, Nov 4, 1997)
Question:
What is the fastest way of checking the number of the currently
displayed element?
Answer:
Press Ctrl+G
or look at the
caption of the element data window
Swapping the question with the answer
(Eric Chen, Japan, Thu, Jun 21,
2001 12:09)
Question:
I
would like to swap questions with answers during learning. The closest
hint I found in your website is to create a duplicate and then swap the
components. But this would require me to do this duplicate-and-swap
procedure for each item, which seems to take a lot of time and labor
(not to mention that the knowledge base would be doubled in size).
Answer:
Duplicate-and-swap
approach is indeed the recommended solution here. These are two
keystrokes that should take much less time than the time needed to
recall individual pairs over months. Moreover, pure word-pair solution
rarely works (there are various one-to-many semantic associations
between words which should be reflected in the question, e.g. via
contextual examples). Each decision related to the swap and
reformulating the question and/or the answer should be conscious,
deliberate, and will pay in the long run.
As for doubling the size, pure swap does not duplicate the texts. Only
when you reformulate the question,
the unique texts will be stored separately
Collections
self-restore
(Siow
Yew Nam, Singapore,
May 12, 1999)
Question:
When I delete a collection in Windows Explorer, it is
automatically restored when I
return to SuperMemo! How can I go around it?
Answer:
Use File
: Delete collection.
When you start SuperMemo, it tries to open the last collection used.
Even it it has been
deleted, SuperMemo creates an empty new collection of the same name.
This is why it is more
convenient to delete collections from within SuperMemo
You can see the function of menu items by enabling
hints and the status bar
(Glണia, Brazil, Monday, July 16,
2001 9:04 PM)
Question:
How can you see the function of a given menu item in SuperMemo? I want
to see its description on the status bar
Answer:
You must select
Window : Hints to enable displaying hints and
select
Window : Status bar to make sure the status bar is
shown
If you paste an image, image component size will be
adjusted (#5767)
(Patrik Nilsson, Monday, July 16,
2001 3:36 PM)
Question:
How can I simplify the following sequence:
1) Create an image component
2) Paste a picture (from the clipboard)
3) Make the picture the answer
4) Stretch the image or move the sides of the rectangle to adjust the
size
Answer:
Instead
of creating the image component, paste the picture. This way you will
save on creating the component and adjusting its size. All you will
need to do is to select
Answer and moving the component to the desired
location
SuperMemo does not interrupt learning new material
(#8121)
(Leitnick, David, Monday, December
17, 2001 10:56 PM)
Question:
I downloaded the
GRE vocabulary off of the freeware section of your
site. It was
overloading me with information, like it was going to show me all
1,000+ words before it stopped. I was getting information overload
Answer:
In SuperMemo you need to distinguish two phases:
1. Learning new material
2. Reviewing old
material.
SuperMemo will schedule repetitions of the old material for you.
However, it is up to you to decide how much new material you want to
learn. It all depends on your time or patience. Once your time is up,
you feel tired, or you predict you will not be able to cope with future
repetitions, you can stop learning. SuperMemo will not interrupt
learning new material
Upgrading SuperMemo is easy
(tdepoty, Mon, May 20, 2002 23:01)
Question:
Can I upgrade to SuperMemo
2000-15 and still retain all the items I have stored in SuperMemo 99?
Answer:
Yes. Choose
File : Open
collection and the
upgrade will be executed automatically. The upgrade is irreversible. If
you want to go back to SuperMemo 99, you will need to create a backup
beforehand
You should never manually modify files or folders
created by SuperMemo
(Jean Adelia
R, Tuesday, February 19, 2002 2:49 AM)
Question:
I
have just accidentally deleted all the info I put into your program -
hours of work. Here is how it happened. Your program put icons on my
desktop for Bins and Systems. To unclutter my desktop I put them all in
one folder in my desktop along with other info I downloaded on how to
use this software. However, after awhile new bins and systems folders
appeared on my desktop. When I moved those to the same folder all my
work vanished
Answer:
You should not move or delete files handled by software applications
unless with a clear understanding of their
function!
This rule is universal and applies not only to SuperMemo. If you move
files in Windows folders, you can crash the whole system. Most
applications use various DLL, INI or data files that will render
software unusable if you move them out of the
designed locations. Similarly, if you move MS Word data folder with
your documents, your data will appear lost once you try
File : Open. The same happened in your case. You
moved data
away from SuperMemo's view. Your learning material should still be
visible in the SYSTEMS folder you have moved. Before you restore it
though, please read:
How to backup your learning
material. This is to make sure you do not miss files or
folders that SuperMemo will later try to recreate
adding to confusion
You can search a given branch
(T. Moore, Oct 03, 2001)
Question:
How can I search for some text in a single branch?
Answer:
Select this branch in the
contents window and choose
Ctrl+F
You cannot use the same collection with two instances
of SuperMemo
(Herman Van
Cauwelaert, Belgium, 16/05/2002 23:03:52)
Question:
SuperMemo has just displayed the following error:
"Access denied!
System locked by another SuperMemo:
c:\sm2000\systems\003 spieren.Kno"
Answer:
This is a harmless warning which indicates that you could not
open your
"003 spieren"
collection due to the fact that another copy of SuperMemo has already
opened the same collection. One collection cannot be used by two
instances of SuperMemo (even if they are running on different
computers)
You can start your learning all over again
(tdepoty, Mon, May 20, 2002 23:01)
Question:
I
stopped using SuperMemo a few months ago. How can I now reset the
program to start again at the beginning with the items I already have
created
Answer:
Choose
File : Tools :
Reset collection (you may need to choose File : Level : Professional
first)
Plain text and font size
(Jan Gorski, Poland, Thu, May 23,
2002 16:20)
Question:
Converting to plain text has some bad side
effect: the text is made very small
Answer:
You need to set Tools
: Options
: Fonts : Question
font and Answer font to adjust the size
of font in
components that do not define their own font. If you disallow font
changes to
HTML components in Options, you can change the
default size of the font
as used by Internet Explorer
In reporting problems, please list the error messages
you receive
(maura trevino, Mexico, Sunday,
October 28, 2001 1:03 AM )
Question:
SuperMemo does not work. I try to install on a new laptop and it does
not work
Answer:
It
is very important you include the error messages or other symptoms that
could help diagnose the problem. It is also important to indicate which
stages have been
successful (order, download, unzipping, running the exe
file,
etc.). Please send as detailed a description as possible. You do not
need to use technical terminology but details are vital for diagnosis
Your backup strategy will depend on the value of your
material
(Don Frankel, Sunday, October 07,
2001 8:05 PM)
Question:
Do you recommend several collection backups on the
C:\ drive in different directories?
Answer:
It
depends on the value of your material. If you have invested a lot of
time in your collection, you should spare no effort to provide multiple
and versatile backups. For example, for your main body of knowledge,
you could do a daily backup on your hard disk. You could also change
your backup drive if you have more than one physical disk to reduce the
likelihood of disaster in case your hard drive fails. Then you should
do some less frequent backups on other computers via the network, on a
CDR drive, or at some Internet location. If neither is an option, you
should seriously consider investing in a backup device (e.g. a ZIP
drive). Once you lose your learning material, your learning investment
will be eaten away quickly by the power of forgetting.
Backups in different directories are not much safer than backups to the
same directory
unless the directory in question is in danger of being accidentally
deleted
(e.g. on a family computer)
If you learn vocabulary, adding your own material may
be a good strategy
(Ricardo Romero dominicana,
Venezuela, Sunday, June 02, 2002 6:36 PM)
Question:
I wish to use SuperMemo to expand vocabulary. Do I need additional
moduli to accomplish this?
Answer:
No. Your best strategy might be to manually add the
vocabulary you want to remember.
You can paste Chinese pictures with
Shift+Ins
(Leitnick, David, Fri, Dec 07,
2001 1:51 AM)
Question:
I've found a good Chinese/English dictionary at
http://www.ok88.com/go/svc/ecdict.html.
It displays the Chinese characters as
.gif pictures. How do I paste these pictures to
SuperMemo
Answer:
First copy the
picture to the clipboard. Then you paste it with Shift+Ins
or with Ctrl+V. Be sure
that no text component is in the editing mode. That would attempt to
paste text.
If you are not sure what editing
mode is,
simply press Esc 2-3 times (this will take you to
the display mode)
Stop button is equivalent to Esc
(Leitnick, David, Monday, December
17, 2001 10:56 PM)
Question:
What does the
Stop button do? And when do I use it?
Answer:
You can use Stop to stop repetitions.
You
rarely need to use Stop as you can achieve a
similar effect by quitting SuperMemo or simply navigating to another
element.
Stop will complete the repetition cycle of the
currently
executed element. In addition, it will ask you if you will like to
proceed with the
final drill if
there are any elements in the final drill queue.
Stop is equivalent to using Esc
Feedback from users is vital to improving the
documentation
(Safecity Training Academy,
Australia, Sat, Dec 29, 2001 5:59 PM)
Question:
SuperMemo
documentation needs to be better organized. Even a simple feature such
as changing the default background colour is still a mystery after
reading volumes and volumes of explanations which lead to more
explanations and no solution at all
Answer:
Answer should only show at answer time
(Raquel Keshishian, Uruguay, Thu,
Jun 20, 2002 8:52)
Question:
I created three categories with my first template. When I choose
Learn, I can see two components (question and
answer) at the same time
Answer:
Please check two things:
Community forum for support questions
(Jon Lawrance, Mon, Jun 17, 2002
19:47)
Question:
How about a forum? It is much better for support questions and lets me
read the support issues others are facing
Answer:
A user from Germany has set up a
Yahoo
eGroup that might serve this
function. See also: SuperMemopedia
Introducing equations to SuperMemo
(Adam Kumiszcza, Sat, Jun 08, 2002
20:40)
Question:
I am preparing for an exam and produce lots of SuperMemo elements with
many equations. The problem is I don't know how to introduce them
efficiently to SuperMemo
Answer:
The fastest and most popular method is:
Other alternatives: OLE (not very stable), HTML (limited formatting), LaTEX notation (text only), binary component (any file format visible on button click).
You can easily move collections between computers
(JaM, USA Educational, Monday,
January 21, 2002 4:33 AM)
Question:
It appears that SuperMemo uses various absolute links. For example, in
the
collection.ini file:
Image=C:\MY DOCUMENTS\JAM\SM2000\SYSTEMS\WORK\temp\
Does it mean that my collection will malfunction if I move it to
another computer?
Answer:
No.
The path you quote is the default image import path. If you try to
import an image on the new computer, SuperMemo will notice that this
path does not exist and substitute the default directory
path instead. It will act similarly in many other cases. However, you
may experience some problems with external links from SuperMemo to
other files. For example:
Using external link is rare, complex, and is generally not recommended. With typical use of SuperMemo, all it takes to move your collections between computers is to copy them with File : Copy collection (or manually). The same refers to SuperMemo itself. You can copy SM15.exe to another computer and it should work fine
You can easily see the number of outstanding
repetitions
(Verona, Brazil, Tue, May 29, 2001
16:33)
Question:
How can I see the number of
outstanding repetitions for today?
Answer:
You can see the number of outstanding repetitions on the
status bar (second field). If the status bar is not visible, check
Window :
Status bar.
Alternatively, you can press F5 to display the
Statistics window. You can also open this window and save it
permanently in your layout with
Ctrl+Shift+F5.
If you would like to see repetitions scheduled for other days, choose
Tools : Workload (or
press
Ctrl+W)
You decide how many items to learn from a given
branch or category
(Fernando Chapa, Sunday, September
01, 2002 1:12 AM)
Question:
I
currently switched from
supermemo.net to SuperMemo for Windows. In supermemo.net, you can
control how many items are introduced per day from each category. How
do I do this in
SuperMemo for Windows?
Answer:
There is no such automatic option in SuperMemo
for Windows. You can only select a given category, learn as many items
as you feel
you need, then select another category and learn as much as need and so
on. You
can also use subset operations
to construct a
repetition queue that will dish the material from different branches in
your
chosen proportions
You can drill yourself on a subset of elements
(Michael Passmore, Canada,
Thursday, September 19, 2002 12:15 AM)
Question:
Is there a possibility in SuperMemo to drill myself on a subset of
elements from my collection?
Answer:
Yes.
Open the subset in a browser and select one of the following:
You can merge two or more collections into one body
of knowledge
(Joanna Symonowicz, Poland,
Monday, September 30, 2002 12:04 AM)
Question:
I have just purchased the Quotations,
Quips, & Proverbs collection. How could I import it
to my master collection?
Answer:
Open
your new collection and use File
: Merge collection
to merge it with your main collection
You can learn elements that belong to a given branch
or category
(Magdalena
R., Poland, Friday, October 04, 2002 11:37 AM)
Question:
I have recently purchased
Advanced English.
I am mostly interested in
business English. How could I learn the vocabulary related to business?
Answer:
In Advanced
English, all specialist terminology is organized in
categories. The category for business English is called Business
and Economics. If you would like to learn from this category,
do what follows:
Hints option must be checked for hints to be displayed
(#310)
(Malcolm Macgregor, Saturday,
October 05, 2002 7:24 PM)
Question:
I have turned on the status bar, however, no hints are displayed no
matter which button or menu item I select?
Answer:
Check
if Window :
Hints is checked.
Alternatively, you could also check if the Hints checkbox on the Actions toolbar is checked (you can access the Actions toolbar by selecting Window : Toolbars : Actions from the main menu)
Many options are not available in the Basic and
Beginner difficulty levels
(sargeguy, Sunday, October 06,
2002 4:20 AM)
Question:
I have been advised to access the Options
dialog box via Tools
: Options.
However, there is no Tools
menu in my version
of the software. Do I need a different copy of the program?
Answer:
No. You are probably in the Basic
or Beginner
difficulty level where the Tools
menu is not
available. You can switch to another level with File
: Level
Increasing search speed
(Richard King, Nov 06, 2002)
Question:
My
collection is 500MB text and it used to be searched in a second.
Recently it takes 2 minutes! Repair does not help. Is it related to
SuperMemo. Have I passed any magic limit?
Answer:
You
could begin with defragmenting your hard disk (it helps in most cases).
See also if you have not reduced the size of virtual memory or other
important Windows parameters. See the list of processes in
Windows Task Manager to make sure no stealth process is slowing down
your computer (e.g. a virus or
spyware). If it used to take 1 second to search 500 MB of text, it
should roughly take 2 seconds to search 1 GB. There is nothing in
SuperMemo that could slow it down with size. The problem must be with
your
Windows
Adding components of various type
(Michael Smith, Canada, Tue, Jun
04, 2002 21:09)
Question:
Is there any tutorial on how to produce different types of components
(e.g. graphics, etc.)
Answer:
All components are added in the same way (by using the
Compose toolbar). They
also use a uniform set of properties available with the
right click over the component.
Once you learn to add one type of components, it is easy to add other
types
All versions of SuperMemo are suitable for learning
vocabulary
(EDGAR QUEVEDO, Colombia, Sun, Jun
30, 2002 3:29)
Question:
I have Advanced English. I want to be able to create my own vocabulary
data base to study French. What SuperMemo product would you advise me
to get for this purpose?
Answer:
All
versions of SuperMemo should work well for the purpose of building your
own vocabulary and/or grammar material. Once you start learning, see
the limitations of your present version (SuperMemo 8) to consider an
upgrade (or platform change). It may appear that your present SuperMemo
will entirely meet your needs
Global Search and Replace
(mikecondron,
Friday, July 26, 2002 7:13 PM)
Question:
Is there a way to do a global search/replace text?
Answer:
Do the following:
Backing up on CDR
(Dave, Saturday, July 13, 2002
9:40 PM)
Question:
I need to know how to backup SuperMemo
15 on a CDR. Is it difficult?
Answer:
It
is enough you back up the file you download from the Internet. The
hardest part is handling CDR software itself. If you lose your file,
you can always download again from supermemo.com.
It is more important (and slightly more complex) to back up your
learning material. Here are the instructions:
Backup
Incremental reading tools provide for fastest
conversion of electronic material to learning material (#11772)
(Robert Bailey, Wednesday, July
10, 2002 6:27 PM)
Question:
I have several word lists and databases to memorize. Can I convert
these to SuperMemo learning material?
Answer:
Yes. Paste it with
Ctrl+Alt+N, use Extract (Alt+X)
to extract individual pieces of information, and use
Cloze to generate questions and answer (Alt+Z).
See also: Incremental reading
You may also convert your material to a question-answer format importable directly to SuperMemo; however, once you try extract and cloze tools, you will know that this is the most efficient method in which you learn while processing and prioritizing your file
Incremental reading may be a remedy against the
monotony of repetitions
(Roel Camorro,
Philippines, Tuesday, June 18, 2002 3:54 PM)
Question:
SuperMemo
has helped me a lot in systematically memorizing definitions in my
legal studies. But can we find a way to make it more attractive say, by
adding more graphics, etc?
Answer:
If you have not tried
incremental reading yet,
you could try and
see if this can add to "attractiveness". Incremental reading is by far
more challenging and colorful than typical repetitions. Naturally, you
can also import there graphic rich material to make learning more
enjoyable
There is no point at which an item is memorized "for
good" (#16401)
(Desmond Sin, SatMar1,2003 11:10
am)
Question:
If you answer
Bright every time, after how many repetitions and
what period of time will that question be dismissed?
Answer:
Elements
are never dismissed automatically! Memories are always subject to
forgetting. The more repetitions you make, the slower the forgetting
process (for well-formulated knowledge). However, forgetting never
stops. Theoretically, you might dismiss an element if you are sure you
will die before the next repetition. SuperMemo will always schedule the
next repetition, even if the interval is to grow beyond several
decades.
You can use Dismiss for the following purposes:
Remember button is grayed on memorized items
(#18384)
(pulpdoctor2000, TueAug12,2003
5:31 pm)
Question:
After I press
Alt+A to add an item, the Remember
button is grayed out. Why?
Answer:
As
of SuperMemo 2002, SuperMemo for Windows automatically introduces newly
added items into the learning process. This change comes from the fact
that
incremental reading makes
the concept of
the pending queue outdated for collections created by the user.
Prioritization tools provided by incremental reading are far superior
to the simple first-come-first-served mechanism of the pending queue.
Pending queue is still useful in large ready-made collections (e.g.
Advanced English), where it determines the optimum sequence for
memorizing the learning material.
Technically speaking, the button Remember is
enabled only if the following three conditions are
all true:
See Tools : Workload (or Ctrl+W) to inspect the schedule of repetitions and thus verify that the said elements are indeed memorized. See also: SuperMemo ABC
Why does not SuperMemo stop asking questions?
(Robyn, May 27, 2004, 09:21:35)
Question:
I bought Basic Spanish. SuperMemo is just firing question after
question.
How does one just work with 10 questions until they are mastered?
The software seems to want to go through the entire list before
anything is reviewed, clearly impossible
Answer:
If
you want to master only 10 questions at a time, stop repetitions after
the 10th question. Optimally, you will not review these questions for
some time (e.g. 3-4 days). When the time comes, these questions will be
presented for review. In the meantime, SuperMemo is trying to fill up
your free time by introducing more material into the process. It is up
to you to decide how much you are ready to take on
Where are those advanced menu options?
(Serguei Koureda, Sunday, October
20, 2002 11:08 PM)
Question:
Why is there no option
Categories in Search
menu?
Answer:
You need to be in
Professional
level (File
: Level) and you need full access on
(Tools : Options : Access). If you
use different levels and mode settings, some menu options may be turned
off
Certain shortcuts do not work in the editing mode
(JP,
Monday, December 02, 2002 9:32 PM)
Question:
The Ctrl+Alt+C
shortcut key responsible for selecting a category
from the category combo box
available in the Tools
toolbar doesn't work when I review elements, which use HTML
components.
Answer:
The
shortcut key will work once you exit the editing mode (e.g. by pressing
Esc)
Learning a subset of knowledge
(Wladimir
Nossel, Thursday, April 04, 2002 11:04 PM)
Question:
I would like to tell SuperMemo that currently, I need to be tested only
on countries whose language is Spanish
Answer:
If you do not have relevant elements stored in the same
branch or category, you can best use unique string
labeling for such purposes. For example, precede your questions with "Lang:
Spanish". You will then be able to use search combined with
subset learning:
Ctrl+F (search for "Lang: Spanish")
and Ctrl+Alt+L
(Learn the browser subset)
Problems with shortcuts in HTML component
(MM, Netherlands,
10-07-2002)
Question:
I use Language
"Nederlands" with some words on the navigation
toolbar such as Next = &Volgende
and
Search = &Zoeken.
Editing text in a HTML-component is problematic. When I want to type a
"z" the search window appears. When I want to type a
"v" SuperMemo shows the next
element
Answer:
This
problem occurs mostly in some older Windows installation. Updating to
the newest Internet Explorer is likely to resolve this problem. If it
does not help, however, you may need to remove the shortcuts from
interface translations (&Volgende would
become
Volgende). You can change translations in
Tools : Options : Language.
Advanced: This problem comes from an
incompatibility in
Microsoft's WebBrowser control and Borland Delphi VCL component model.
SuperMemo goes around this incompatibility, but the workaround does not
work with some earlier WebBrowser
controls
Cannot use File : Merge collection
(Robyn, Monday, May 24, 2004 2:25
PM)
Question:
I
have two collections: ABC and the Most Common Spanish Verbs. I would
like to merge these into one large collection. Unfortunately the
Merge collection option does not appear under the
File menu
Answer:
There may be two reasons for which
Merge collection does not appear on the File menu:
It is possible to import formatted questions and
answers
(johndouglas2005, MonJan26,2004
11:03 am)
Question:
Is
it possible to import formatted Q and A files? I want to prepare some
formatted
questions that use bold type or underlined words or maybe even
different colored
words
Answer:
Yes. You can use HTML in your Q&A text file. You
could also use the XML format to produce formatted material importable
to
SuperMemo. However, the simplest and fastest method is to write the
whole
formatted text into a single file, paste it into a single topic (e.g.
with Ctrl+Alt+N)
and then process it easily with incremental reading (Alt+X
and Alt+Z)
In SuperMemo "registry" is used to mean a collection
of objects
(JTP, May 31, 2004, 05:04:00)
Question:
I
receive various registry errors. It is not a surprise to find that the
registry files are missing. We have had issues with Trojans and spyware
and such. Removing these things sometimes requires changes to the
registry. We launch the regedit command and voila! - the computer
develops bugs
Answer:
It is important to note that
SuperMemo has always used the term "registry" to mean a "collection of
objects" (such as pictures, texts, sounds, etc.). The confusion with
Windows registry began when Microsoft launched Windows 95. Editing
Windows registry is not likely to affect SuperMemo, unless you
introduce systemwide errors/problems. However, viruses can indeed
inflict damage that can result in loss of files. SuperMemo registry
files are kept in each collection's individual folder in the subfolder
named "registry". If by any means these files are deleted, emptied,
corrupted and/or locked, you can receive "missing registry files"
errors
You may find SuperMemo counterintuitive
(R, May 27, 2004, 09:21:35)
Question:
I
am
supposed to drill earlier elements before adding new ones. Why do new
ones keep coming up first? I find this program very awkward and
counterintuitive
Answer:
The
goal of SuperMemo is to provide a requested retention at minimum time.
This goes against a widespread myth that the more you repeat, the
better. When you first start learning with SuperMemo, you may be
surprised that it waits a couple days before it starts drilling you on
the newly added items. However, this is exactly the shortest path to
your retention targets. It is no surprise that for many, SuperMemo
seems counterintuitive at first. The only thing you can do is to grit
your teeth and trust the science behind SuperMemo
Some reading that may help:
Use the HTML component to paste text with embedded
images
(schmera, Tuesday, November 12,
2002 4:49 PM)
Question:
How can I paste text with embedded
pictures into my SuperMemo element?
Answer:
Use the HTML component
for this
purpose
Change functionality level to see more advanced
options
(Donald Summerton, South Africa,
Monday, December 09, 2002 8:27 PM)
Question:
My
first impression upon running SuperMemo for the first time is that it
seems to be incomplete as I can only get the screen which has the File
in the main menu, the Contents, Search,
etc. buttons at the top and the Learn
and Add new
buttons at the bottom of the window. I am sure that there must be more
to it than this single screen. What has gone wrong?
Answer:
You are right that SuperMemo offers more than meets the eye
at the first. SuperMemo implements four difficulty levels: Beginner, Basic, Middle, and
Professional, each displaying a different range of options.
What you
see is the Beginner level,
which is the default difficulty level at the first start-up of the
program. To change difficulty level, choose File : Level
You can check the version number of your SuperMemo
(nleric2002, Sweden, Wednesday,
December 11, 2002 2:54 PM)
Question:
How can I check which version of SuperMemo I am running?
Answer:
Choose Help
: About from the main menu.
In the Build field can you check the version number
of the program, while the Date field shows the day,
on which this version was
released. Change File
: Level
to higher if you do not see Help menu
You can easily copy the learning material for someone
else to use it
(#12270)
(Veli-Matti Salo, Finland, Monday,
August 05, 2002 8:05 AM)
Question:
I
bought Basic Spanish. I would like to know is it possible to divide it
so that
two persons can use it independently. My wife would like to give it a
try too
Answer:
All
you need to do is to copy your collection (File : Copy collection)
and
give it a new name (e.g. Wife.kno). If you have
already started learning
in
Spanish.kno, you should yet reset the
Wife.kno copy with File
: Tools : Reset collection
to remove your learning process from Wife.kno.
If you want to log in as a separate user and never see your wife's
collection, you can copy the entire SuperMemo folder (instead of just a
collection). Once you have separate shortcuts to separate
installations on your Windows desktop, you will never need to see your
wife's
copy and vice versa. You will, naturally, lose 5MB of disk space though
on
duplicating SuperMemo folders
Swapping questions with answers
(Perseus Missirlis, Canada,
Sunday, August 04, 2002 3:08 AM)
Question:
How do I swap questions and answers?
Answer:
Use
Edit : Swap Q&A on the element menu (Ctrl+Shift+S)
What if a shortcut does not work?
(KH, Thursday, August 22, 2002
6:58 AM)
Question:
I wanted to add an e-mail to my collection but the shortcut
Ctrl+Alt+E does not work!
Answer:
Please check if you do not define this same shortcut in
Windows (it will take precedence over SuperMemo).
You can easily paste pictures to an element
(Fl, Sep 27, 2004, 06:09:04)
Question:
I do not like that it takes many keystrokes to add an image to the
registry and create an HTML link to it in a component
Answer:
If you copy a picture to the clipboard, it should take only
one keystroke to paste it:
Ctrl+V or Shift+Ins. This will
add the picture to the
image registry, create a new image component, link the new component
with the picture in the registry and size the component to match the
size of the picture.
If you happen to be editing HTML, SuperMemo will yet ask you if you
would like to (1) paste to HTML as a local image or (2) paste to an
image component (as described
above)
You can easily increase the size of fonts
(Robert
B, Oct 04, 2004, 10:30:34)
Question:
Is it possible to go to a larger font size with the click of a button?
Answer:
Yes. You can click the font size button on the
Format toolbar, or just use the standard
Ctrl+]
shortcut from the keyboard. If you are using HTML, remember to first
select the text that is to be enlarged (otherwise the entire text will
be affected)
Can SuperMemo Guide be improved?
(fdobfan, Oct 05, 2004, 18:53:32)
Question:
SuperMemo Guide seems
more like an FAQ. After all, you wouldn't care about backup if you
weren't
shown a first round of typical usage
Answer:
The Guide is
prioritized on the basis of user feedback. If you believe it should be
re-ordered, please write.
As for this particular suggestion, note that the first step of the guide informs the users that Add New and Learn make up most of the value of SuperMemo for most of users. It is vital we insist on regular backup as early as possible in the guide. There were many stories of users adding thousands of questions and answers with Add New, and losing it all due to a virus or another mishap
You will start making repetitions only after a few
days
(Uyen Trinh, Wednesday, October
23, 2002 11:34 AM)
Question:
I tried using
Add New and Learn. After a few
times of repetition, I got the message
"Nothing more to learn"
Answer:
That
is correct. SuperMemo will schedule your first repetitions in a few
days. Only then you will be able to review this material with
Learn. Until that time, SuperMemo assumes that you
stand a 95%
chance of correctly recalling this material. For that reason, it will
not bother you with questions. Naturally, in the very beginning,
SuperMemo does not know you well and may schedule repetitions in
intervals that are too long. That will change. All you need now is some
patience for SuperMemo to get to know you. Before your first
repetitions come, you can invest your time in adding more material with
Add New
Changing background color
(Rorce Lam, Canada, Tuesday, July
27, 2004 11:05 PM)
Question:
Where can I find the command to change the background color?
Answer:
To change the color of the element background use
Color on the
element menu.
To change the color of the SuperMemo background use Window : Layout : Background
color on the main menu (for this to work,
Window : Background must be checked)
Trouble with terminology, e.g. What is a subset?
(Wayne, Oct 28, 2005, 10:01:16)
Question:
When
transferring material between SuperMemo 15 and Pocket PC, I am
supposed to use a subset of elements. I have no idea what a
"subset" is. I am not a computer wizard
Answer:
A subset is
any set of elements in SuperMemo (e.g. your biology material, your most
difficult material, your top priority material, or all elements
containing the word "virus"). Unfortunately, some functions of
SuperMemo work only with subsets (e.g. for performance reasons, they
are not practical for large collections). Whenever you encounter a
difficult term, you can refer to
SuperMemo glossary or to
explanatory links.
Initially, you may do more link traversal than learning; however, in
the end, your investment will pay back. SuperMemo can be used in the
ABC mode and learned in a couple of minutes. However, to fully utilize
its potential, you will need a few months of practise and study.
If you discover particularly difficult
paragraphs in the
documentation, please write back to suggest improvements
Optimally, you should keep your knowledge in one
collection
(Uyen Trinh, Wednesday, October
23, 2002 11:34 AM)
Question:
Before I add new material, do I need to create my own collection?
Answer:
Optimally,
you should use only one collection. Beginners might try a few
collections for experimental purposes. By default, you will start with
ABC.kno collection. It is recommended that you go
through this
material and add new material to this same collection. However, you can
also start a new collection with
File : New
collection, and focus 100% of material you create for
yourself
Reviewing a category
(Dariusz Murakowski, Jan 20, 2006,
03:38:38)
Question:
What's the most efficient way of reviewing a category (e.g. before an
exam)?
Answer:
SuperMemo decides which material you learn first
(Jorge Sanchez, Aug 16, 2005,
02:23:54)
Question:
I added new learning material with
Alt+A. I also used ALT+Z to
do cloze deletions. But when I press
Ctrl+L to start the repetitions, I go to the old
material instead of the new one. How I can select the text I need to do
repetitions?
Answer:
SuperMemo
determines the order of learning by choosing first the material that is
most likely to be forgotten. In a basic learning mode, it is SuperMemo,
not you, who decides what to learn next. However, you can override this
process by using subset learning (e.g. when reviewing a portion of
material before an exam). For example, you can search for "calculus"
with
Ctrl+F and then press Ctrl+Alt+L
in the browser. This way you will repeat only the
outstanding material in the subject of calculus
Circular terminology used to explain SuperMemo
(Elizabeth C. Brown, gru 17, 2005,
08:15:00)
Question:
The
help starts to use the lingo of SuperMemo right away without clearly
explaining it, and the definitions of terms are very circular
Answer:
Except
for some computer-related terminology (e.g. child, sibling, tree),
SuperMemo introduces a body of terms that may seem intimidating at
first, but soon becomes familiar. You can best use the
Glossary for reference. This
will help you
discover that only a fraction of listed terms are in frequent use.
Circularity is always a problem when describing new concepts. This is
why in many dictionaries proteins are defined as a string of amino
acids, and amino acids as a constituent part of proteins. Only with
your help we can resolve such circularities. If you encounter a term
that is not defined in the
Glossary or whose definition
is circular, please forward it via e-mail with an explanation of what
caused the
difficulty
Merging collections
(Robyn, Jul 09, 2004, 12:50:31)
Question:
I have two collections for learning Spanish.
How do I merge these into one collection?
Answer:
Adding sounds to sound components
(Arthur Norsworthy, Monday,
September 06, 2004 5:33 AM)
Question:
I
would like to add sound to the flashcards. I can get the sound
component recording box on the screen but I do not know how to add sound
Answer:
The simplest method is to right-click over the sound
component and choose
Import file (to import a wav
or mp3 or midi file). If the
sound component is active (e.g. being edited), it is enough you press
Ctrl+Q. If you do not care much about the quality
of recordings, you could also switch to
Sound : Panel : Recorder and click the microphone
icon to start
recording
your own sound (e.g. from a microphone, DVD, sound playing in Sound
Recorder,
etc.). The click the microphone again to stop recording. To read more
about the function of individual menu items in the sound component,
read the list of functions available from the component
menu
You can use pictures as answers
(Joan Mayberry, Sep 15, 2004,
04:39:28)
Question:
I have been trying to import images into the answer portion of
SuperMemo from my scanner
without success
Answer:
Here is the procedure:
You can use SuperMemo on the same computer with your
kids
(C Andress, Sep 17, 2004, 08:50:14)
Question:
Is
it possible to set up SuperMemo for family use, so that it can be used
by more than one person? Our family has only one computer
Answer:
Yes. It is enough you create separate learning collections
for everyone with
File : New
collection. You can then create collections named SON.KNO,
DAD.KNO, MIKE.KNO, etc. Everyone needs to begin the day with
File : Open
collection and with
choosing his or her own learning material.
Be sure you regularly backup all learning data. Apart from rudimentary
password protection, you cannot prevent your kids deleting your or
everyone's learning material
You can change grade names
(R., Geoffrey K., USA Government,
Nov 07, 2006, 18:59:12)
Question:
How can I change the names of grade buttons?
Answer:
Use
Tools : Options : Language : Localization
language to create a new localization table (e.g. type
'My grades'). Then click the
Localization table button, scroll down to grade names and
type new names on the right side
(in the Translation column)
You can use incremental reading to employ SuperMemo
to learn about SuperMemo
(nibalart, Italy, Oct 13, 2004,
22:25:44)
Question:
How to include the help file in SuperMemo and apply to it incremental
reading?
Answer:
You could follow this path:
SuperMemo Help does not provide many "How to"
techniques (#1851)
(Florian, Sep 27, 2004, 06:09:04)
Question:
Documentation
tends to involve detailed programmatic instruction, rather than having
the form of "how do I do X" where X is some desired result, followed by
detailed instructions
Answer:
SuperMemo for Windows is a
relatively complex application where the same thing can be done in a
number of ways. The documentation focuses on the tools and actions
executed by the tools. Indeed,
rarely does it specify step-by-step instructions for accomplishing
individual goals. These are left largely to user's inventiveness. The
number of possible multi-step sequences is simply too large to
document. However, each time a problem arises, we try to enrich FAQs
that are jam-packed with specific how-to questions. In the long-term,
FAQs influence the documentation in that apart from the description of
an action associated with a given option, you will also see a couple of
examples of where a given option appears useful.
If you believe, a very valuable set of simple steps is difficult to
"assemble", you may suggest expanding the
Hints&Tips page
Add, Insert and Add New play vitally different
functions (#1986)
(Joe
C., Friday, October 01, 2004 2:26 PM)
Question:
Why are there
Add, Insert and Add New
buttons?
Answer:
You will most often use
Add New to add many new items to the current
category.
Add and Insert in the contents window are used
far less often. You use them at times when you want to add elements to
a specific location in the
knowledge tree (i.e. not
to the default attachment point, or hook, of the current category).
Add adds an element as a child of the selected
element, while Insert
replaces the selected element. These two operations make it possible to
build a complete tree without ever using drag&drop. Without
Insert, you could only build the tree if you added
all elements
in the appropriate order, or if you used drag&drop to reshuffle
the
elements in the
tree
How to create a cloze deletion? (#17942)
(Robyn T., Feb 12, 2008, 15:59:54)
Question:
How
do I do cloze deletion on a sentence I type in as a question? I get the
word I want to delete highlighted in orange and then I'm stuck. I am
not doing incremental reading yet
Answer:
Cloze deletion
options convert a sentence into a question-answer pair. This is why you
need to start with a sentence (which in SuperMemo must be a
topic), not with a
question (which in SuperMemo is an item). For example, instead of
typing in your sentence after
Alt+A (which is used to add items), type it after
Alt+N (which is used to add topics). Once
you have a sentence typed in, select the keyword and press Alt+Z.
Even though you say you "do not do incremental reading", cloze deletions are part of the incremental reading toolkit, and are best discussed in articles related to incremental reading. Technically, you are using a subset of incremental reading.
Can SuperMemo
reduce comprehension?
(Ricardo
Gonzalez, Jul 21, 2010, 01:56:25)
Question:
I would like to ask you about something that
has worried me since I learned about SuperMemo. If one starts using
supermemo and storing information on long term memory, is it possible
to lose some of the ability to comprehend? In other words, is there a
tradeoff between remember information and comprehension? If you become
better at remembering information, will you become worse off at
comprehending? I was raised with the belief that I should try to
memorize as little as possible, and comprehend most if not all the time
except for math tables obviously
Answer:
You should
rephrase your comprehension rule from "memorize as little as possible"
to "memorize as little as necessary". It is a well known fact that if
you understand you learning material well, you will expend less energy
on learning it. If you do not know Chinese, it is very hard to memorize
a poem in Chinese. The same poem in English may be learned in no time.
The reason is that in case of the Chinese poem you need to cram it
character by character, including the character structure. In English,
you store in memory references to ready-made concepts or entire
phrases. After rephrasing your rule, and making sure you understand
before you memorize, your comprehension is likely to increase, not
drop. For example, if you learn geology, and learn the concepts such as
plate tectonics, seismology, fossil, silica, Cambrian, sediment, etc.,
you will find it easier to read texts in the subject. The key is to
build on the basics, and not start cramming complex concepts before it
is absolutely necessary.
This reassurance should not serve as a warranty. It is still your
responsibility to choose your material wisely and formulate it well for
long-term learning. It is still possible to waste time with SuperMemo
by cramming unnecessary stuff. Needless to say, wasting time will
negatively affect the comprehension of things you will not have time to
study.
You can drag an
element and drop it in between the branches of the tree
(Gussy
Villa-Real, Monday, November 01, 2010 18:38)
Question:
There is an option missing in SuperMemo: Modifying the tree using
drag&drop operations: Replace target. In this mode, if you drag
a branch onto another branch, the dragged branch will replace the
target branch and the target branch will move one position down
Answer:
Instead of dropping the element onto a branch, you can achieve the
above effect by dragging an element and dropping it in between the
branches of the tree
Using SuperMemo once per week will also work nice
(marjur, Wed, 2 May 2012 18:56:53 -0700 (PDT))
Question:
My friend is thinking of using SuperMemo to study. However, due to her work, she says she will only be able to use SM 3-4 days a week. Given this sporadic use, will it still be beneficial for her to use SuperMemo, or is it a waste of time? We're asking because we've read in many places that SM's algorithm is quite sensitive and it's generally harmful when one doesn't do repetitions every day. How harmful for the effectiveness of SM's algorithm would a 3-or-4-day-per-week working schedule be?
For someone who can learn only on weekends, using the priority queue, auto-sort and auto-postpone would be recommended to better manage the flow of knowledge in conditions of minor investment of time. The results should still be excellent.
You should keep all your lifetime knowledge in a single collection.
(joao eira, Sat, 2 Jun 2012 19:17:06 +0100)
Question:
Is it better to have multiple collections (1 per discipline) or to have it all in one place?
Answer:
You will get much better results if you keep all knowledge in a single collection. If you learn different branches at the same time, learning will be more fun, your attention will improve, you will better see the priority of individual pieces of knowledge in the whole body of knowledge. You can still keep different subjects in different branches and process these separately in need (e.g. doing subset review, subset prioritization, pre-exam cramming, etc.). Naturally, you can have many collections dedicated to various purposes, e.g. photo album, music collection, experimental collections, tasklists, mail collection, research collections, creativity collections, video collection, project collections, etc. However, for your long-term knowledge you should rather keep all material in one place, easily searchable and easy to prioritize. If you are a beginner, you can experiment with various collections and various learning strategies. You can later merge your experimental collections into a single body of knowledge.
SuperMemo uses sleep cycles to time the review
(gmail, Jan 12, 2011, 16:01:46)
Question:
I like Supermemo very much, but there is one
thing I'm missing in it. The learning period in supermemo is 24
hours and can not be changed. I would like to have a learning
cycle for example 5 hours long, after each 5 hours supermemo would
set all the values as if new day had begun. I know that is doesn't
mean much programming for you, and this little change
would radically help me in intensive learning for university exams
Answer:
SuperMemo
uses days as the minimum unit to express inter-repetition intervals.
The main biological reason for this is that our circadian cycle is
roughly 24 hours long and we express one long period of sleep in the
cycle. Reviewing the same material twice within the same waking period
is wasteful. It might be useful in cramming before exams (and you can
use some options in SuperMemo to enable this in emergency). However,
for long-term learning, you will gain most by reviewing items not more
often than once per day. Doing more reviews invokes the spacing effect
that wastes time and undermines long term stability of memories.
