Learnbar

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Buttons 2.1 Toolbar speed-buttons 2.1.1 Format toolbar 2.1.2 Read toolbar 2.1.3 Compose toolbar 2.1.4 Alarm toolbar 2.2 Paste an article 2.3 Extract 2.4 Cloze 2.5 Duplicate 2.6 Copy 2.7 Paste 2.8 Done! 2.9 Add note 2.10 Priority options 2.11 Learning options 2.11.1 Learning menu 2.12 Import all 2.13 Switch mode 2.14 Edit file 2.15 Remove formatting 2.16 Choose font 2.17 Template options 2.18 Help

Introduction

Learning bar (also called learn bar or learnbar), which you can find along the bottom of the element window, encapsulates the most important options used for reading, learning, and editing the collection. It was designed to make it faster and easier for both newcomers and seasoned pros to access most program functions with the use of a single hand. The functions can be executed using the mouse with the help of speed buttons and simple context menus (available with a right click). Learnbar icons have been made colorful to assist their mnemonic functions.

If you do not see the learning bar or some of its options, you need to switch SuperMemo to either Middle or higher levels first. You can do it by choosing File : Level : Middle or Professional or pressing Ctrl+Alt+F12 repeatedly until you see it.

Buttons

In addition to "big buttons" (like Learn, Add new, etc.), the learnbar includes small buttons with icons called speed-buttons.The following is the list of speed-buttons on the learnbar from left to right:

Toolbar speed-buttons

The speed-buttons in the first group display the following toolbars:

• Format toolbar
• Read toolbar
• Compose toolbar
• Alarm toolbar

For example, when you click to display the Read toolbar button, the speed-buttons of the learnbar will become temporarily replaced by the Read toolbar options. You can return to the original speed-buttons by clicking the red cross Hide the toolbar button.

Format toolbar

• Formatting options button shows the Format toolbar.
  The button features a context menu (right-click it to open the menu) with the the following options:
  • Parse HTML (Shift+Ctrl+1) - remove HTML tags from the selected text. Note that this does not make the text formatless. Tags preceding the selection may still take effect
  • Clean lead HTML - remove leading HTML formatting tags
  • Convert to plain text (Shift+Ctrl+F12) - convert formatted text in HTML and RTF text components into plain text. Plain text takes much less space than formatted text
  • Filter HTML code (F6) - filter HTML texts for easier handling by SuperMemo. This is very helpful in reducing the number of errors displayed by Internet Explorer when processing tables and rich multimedia files in incremental reading.
  • Edit stylesheet - edit the stylesheet associated with the current HTML component. This option uses the default text processor to edit the raw stylesheet rather than SuperMemo's own inbuilt stylesheet mini-editor for beginners
  • UPPERCASE - convert the selected text to upper case (e.g. Pygmy Chimpanzee to PYGMY CHIMPANZEE, pygmy chimpanzee to PYGMY CHIMPANZEE, etc.)
  • lowercase - convert the selection to lower case (e.g. DEPECHE MODE to depeche mode, Depeche Mode to depeche mode, etc.)
  • Sentence case - convert the selected text to lower case with the first letter capital (e.g. PLATYHELMINTHES to Platyhelminthes). This option is often used to convert uppercase titles and proper names.
  • Convert to metric units - convert imperial units to metric units. For example, to convert stones and pounds to kilograms or Fahrenheit to Centigrade, select the relevant measure in the processed text and choose the relevant metric conversion option from the dialog box. You can also convert related unit pairs. For example, "5 foot 7 inch" written as "5:7" can be converted to 1.702 (meters) or "10 stone 3 pound" written as "10:3" can be converted to 64.864 (kilograms). Additionally, SuperMemo allows you to convert time to speed for a given distance.
  • Phonetic transcription (Alt+Y) - replace texts with their phonetic transcription when the mouse is hovered over the component (applies to text, RTF, and spell-pad components only)
  • Translate texts (Alt+U) - translate texts when the mouse is moved over the component (applies to text, RTF, and spell-pad components only)

Read toolbar

• Reading options button shows the Read toolbar.
  The button features a context menu ( right-click it to open the menu) with the the following options:
  • Extract (Alt+X) - use the selected part of the text to create a new element and introduce this new element into the learning process. This is one of the most important options used in incremental reading. Use Alt+X on a selected text to tell SuperMemo that it is important and you want to better remember it in the future
  • Cloze (Alt+Z) - create a new cloze deletion element based on the current text selection and memorize this element.

    Example: You can convert the following sentence:

    In 1947 the UN voted to divide Palestine into Arab and Jewish states

    to question:

    In 1947 the UN voted to divide Palestine into Arab and [...] states

    by:

    1. selecting the word Jewish and
    2. choosing Cloze (or pressing Alt+Z).

    In addition to Extract (above), this is the most important option of incremental reading.

  • Split - split the article into multiple topics by using text markers such as headings, horizontal lines, splitmarks, etc. This can substantially accelerate decomposition of very long articles that load slowly and are processed slowly by SuperMemo. This option is particularly useful when processing Wikipedia articles. It allows you to prioritize all subsections of the articles independently
  • Highlight - highlight the currently selected text
  • Ignore (Shift+Ctrl+I) - ignore the selected text in reading by marking it with the ignore font
  • Delete before cursor (Alt+\) - delete texts before the cursor (e.g. after processing it)
  • Delete after cursor (Alt+.) - delete texts after the cursor without references (e.g. notes)

Compose toolbar

• Element composition options button shows the Compose toolbar with components you place/drop onto elements to build them.
  The button features a context menu (right-click it to open the menu) with the the following options:
  • Add HTML text - web browser component displaying formatted text, images, tables, scripts (e.g. JavaScript), etc. This is the default component used in incremental reading. Read about different types text components to decide when to use HTML text components, and when to use other text components
  • Add plain text - simple unformatted text component. Read about different types text components to decide when to use simple (plain) text components
  • Add image - picture component. Tip: You can paste images directly from the clipboard (e.g. with Ctrl+V) to automatically create an image component of the right size
  • Add sound - audio component that can play WAV, MP3, WMA, MIDI and other sound file formats
  • Add video - video component that can play AVI, MPEG, MP4, WMV and other video file formats
  • Presentation mode (Esc) - set all components to display in the way they will be seen by you during repetitions
  • Editing mode - set all components in the mode that makes it possible to edit texts, edit OLE objects, etc.
  • Dragging mode - set all components in the mode that makes both dragging and sizing possible
  • Switch mode (Ctrl+E) - cycle from presentation to editing to drag&size mode

Alarm toolbar

• Alarm and timer options button shows the Alarm toolbar.
  The button features a context menu (right-click it to open the menu) with the the following options:
  • Set alarm - set the alarm to be raised after a selected period of time
  • Cancel alarm - cancel the alarm
  • Choose music - choose an audio file to play at the alarm time

Paste an article

• Paste an article (Ctrl+N) - paste a new article from the clipboard to the current collection.
  The button features a context menu, right-click it to open the menu, with the the following options:
  • Paste an article (Ctrl+N) - same as above
  • Import articles (Shift+Ctrl+A) - import learning material from Internet Explorer. You can import the content or links to web pages currently opened in Internet Explorer. If you have more than one tab opened, you can import from many web pages at once. This option also makes it possible to close the tabs you no longer needed (e.g. during or after import), import pictures, import live pages, etc. Web import as Local pages takes only the selected portion of the text in the browser (or all text, it none is selected); this does not apply to Wikipedia articles or YouTube imports (below)
  • Import from Wikipedia (Shift+Ctrl+W) - import pages from Wikipedia. This will either import currently opened Wikipedia articles in Internet Explorer or let you specify the name of the article to import. This options also applies a Wikipedia-specific filter to help you remove garbage that will not take part in learning (margins, options, edit links, etc.)
  • Import YouTube videos (Shift+Ctrl+Y) - import YouTube videos opened in Internet Explorer for incremental learning (incremental video). This will either import currently opened YouTube videos or let you specify keywords that should be used to search for the video
  • Import pictures - import all pictures opened in Internet Explorer
  • Import mail (Shift+F4) - import mail from Windows (Live) Mail (or any e-mail client supporting EML) or MS Outlook 2000 or later for incremental processing
  • Import file (Ctrl+Q) - import a file to the currently selected component

Extract

• Extract (Alt+X) - use the selected part of the text to create a new element and introduce this new element into the learning process. This is one of the most important options used in incremental reading. Use Alt+X on a selected text to tell SuperMemo that it is important and you want to better remember it in the future.
  The button shares the context menu with the Reading options button.

Cloze

• Cloze (Alt+Z) - create a new cloze deletion element based on the current text selection and memorize this element.

Example: You can convert the following sentence:

In 1947 the UN voted to divide Palestine into Arab and Jewish states

to question:

In 1947 the UN voted to divide Palestine into Arab and [...] states

by:

1. selecting the word Jewish and
2. choosing Cloze (or pressing Alt+Z).

The button shares the context menu with the Reading options button.

Duplicate

• Duplicate element (Alt+D) - create a copy of the currently displayed element. The duplicate will be added as a child of the current element (in the Contents window).
  The button features a context menu, right-click it to open the menu, with the the following options:
  • Duplicate element (Alt+D) - same as above
  • Transfer element (Shift+Ctrl+T) - create a copy of the currently displayed element in a different collection
  • Move element (Shift+Ctrl+V) - move the currently displayed element to a selected location in the Contents window
  • Swap QA (Shift+Ctrl+S) - swap the question with the answer (as in standard flashcard programs). Usually you need this option to swap questions with answers when you learn bilingual pairs of vocabulary. It is most useful in conjunction with Duplicate element (see above).
  • Copy element - copy the current element to the clipboard
  • Paste element - create a new element with the contents pasted from the clipboard

Copy

• Copy (Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Ins) - copy the selected text or image to the clipboard (to copy objects in HTML components the way Internet Explorer does, first use Browser menu from the HTML component menu).
  The button features a context menu, right-click it to open the menu, with the the following options:
  • Cut (Ctrl+X or Shift+Del) - remove the selected text or image and copy it to the clipboard
  • Copy (Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Ins) - copy the selected objects (e.g. text, image, etc.) to the clipboard (to copy objects in HTML components the way Internet Explorer does, first use Browser menu from the HTML component menu)
  • Paste (Ctrl+V or Shift+Ins) - insert the contents of the clipboard at the selected location
  • Delete (Del) - delete text or image
  • Select all (Ctrl+A) - select the entire text in the currently edited text component

Paste

• Paste (Ctrl+V or Shift+Ins) - insert the contents of the clipboard at the selected location.

The button shares the context menu with the Copy button.

Done!

• Done! (Shift+Ctrl+Enter) - terminate the review of an article in incremental reading. You can delete portions of the text or the whole text to save space. If the article has children, SuperMemo will propose to dismiss it. Otherwise it will propose to delete the article altogether.
  The button features a context menu, right-click it to open the menu, with the the following options:
  • Done! (Shift+Ctrl+Enter) - same as above
  • Dismiss (Ctrl+D) - ignore the displayed element in the learning process
  • Delete component (Ctrl+Del) - delete the current component
  • Delete components - delete components selected from the list of all components (currently edited or sized components are selected by default)
  • Delete element (Shift+Ctrl+Del) - delete the currently displayed element and all its children

Add note

• Add note (Alt+N) - add a new note to the current concept group. A note is a topic that uses the default topic template (originally, a single scaleable HTML text component). Use this option to type in rough notes into your collection. You can then process your notes in the process of incremental reading

The button shares the context menu with the Paste article button.

Priority options

This option group consists of a field displaying the element's priority and a button for modifying it:

• Priority as percentile from the top (Priority as a position in the priority queue)
• Priority (Alt+P) - open the Element priority dialog box that makes it easy to modify the element's priority (by position or percent). It also makes it possible to modify the interval, forgetting index, etc. Once you choose a new priority, you can also see what elements precede or succeed that priority in the priority queue. You can also see those elements with a click.
  The button features a context menu, right-click it to open the menu, with the the following options:
  • Priority (Alt+P) - same as above
  • Forgetting index - set the element's forgetting index
  • Parameters (Shift+Ctrl+P) - open a dialog box with the element's parameters (e.g. ordinal, A-Factor, concept group, etc.)

Learning options

• Interval displaying the element's current interval, i.e. period of time in days between the last and the next repetition/review
• Repetitions showing the number of repetitions of the displayed element. If the element had been forgotten, the number of memory lapses is also displayed. Once the element is not recalled correctly, the count of repetitions begins from scratch (i.e. Repetitions equals 1 again).
• Next repetition - the date when the next repetition of the displayed element is scheduled (that date is preceded by the grade issued in the learning cycle at the time when the grade changes the next repetition date). The value is displayed against the mnemonic dismissed, pending or memorized colors corresponding to the element's current status
• button: Execute repetition (Shift+Ctrl+R) - execute a repetition now and determine the new interval and the date of the next review
• button: Calendar (Ctrl+W) - view the repetition calendar

Learning menu

Both Execute repetition and Calendar buttons share a context menu (available with a right-click) with the following options:

• Outstanding - lists outstanding elements in the browser
• Calendar (Ctrl+W) - displays the repetition calendar
• Execute repetition (Shift+Ctrl+R) - execute a repetition now and determine the new interval and the date of the next review
• Reschedule repetition (Ctrl+J) - decide when to make the next repetition of the element
• Move to later today (Shift+Ctrl+J) - schedule the element for review later today
• Dismiss (Ctrl+D) - ignore the displayed element in the learning process
• Remember (Ctrl+M) - memorize the element and introduce it into the learning process
• Forget - remove the currently displayed element from the learning process
• Mercy (Shift+Alt+M) - redistribute outstanding elements equally in a period of time

Import all

• Import all from web (Shift+Ctrl+A) - import learning material from Internet Explorer. You can import the content or links to web pages currently opened in Internet Explorer. If you have more than one tab opened, you can import from many web pages at once. This option also makes it possible to close the tabs you no longer needed (e.g. during or after import), import pictures, import live pages, etc. Web import as Local pages takes only the selected portion of the text in the browser (or all text, it none is selected);

The button shares the context menu with the Paste article button.

Switch mode

• Switch mode (Ctrl+E) - switch from presentation to editing to drag&size mode.
  The button features a context menu, right-click it to open the menu, with the the following options:
  • Switch mode (Ctrl+E) - same as above
  • Presentation (Esc) - set all components to display in the way they will be seen by you during repetitions
  • Editing - set all components in the mode that makes it possible to edit texts, edit OLE objects, etc.
  • Dragging - set all components in the mode that makes both dragging and sizing possible
  • Tile components (Shift+Alt+T) - tile components. By default, only components set in the editing or dragging modes are tiled, however, you can change that by checking components on the component list. Components are tiled in the area demarcated by the top-left corner of the top-left component and the bottom-right corner of the bottom-right component (only selected components are considered in determining that area). Some options automatically tile selected components (e.g. pasting images may tile image components if you confirm that you want them tiled)
  • Title (Alt+T) - set a new title. Either use the currently selected text or open the title window to edit the element's title. Use Alt+T to quickly generate a title from text selections or text fields in the element. In HTML components, if you select a text for generating a title, Alt+T will also insert the title [reference tag (#Title:). Note that default titles given by SuperMemo, and titles that are identical to the first text in the element are automatically updated once you change the first text. Once you set a unique title, those updates will not take place. If you want to set Unicode titles, write the text in the HTML component first and use it to set the title with Alt+T.
  • Edit reference - modify the current element's reference
  • Select reference (Alt+Q) - open a reference dialog box that helps you quickly mark portions of text with reference tags

Edit file

• Edit file (Ctrl+F9) - edit the file associated with the component (e.g. sound file in sound components, image file in image components, HTML text in HTML components, etc.). Edit file will use the default editor assigned for editing files of the selected type. To quickly edit files, use Ctrl+T to switch to the appropriate component and press Ctrl+F9.
  The button features a context menu, right-click it to open the menu, with the the following options:
  • View file (F9) - view the file associated with the component in the default viewer application (e.g. Internet Explorer for HTML, MS Word for rich texts, etc.)
  • View source (Shift+Ctrl+F6) - view or edit the source file of richly formatted texts (in HTML or RTF format). View source is useful with HTML components if you want to edit the text in all components that use the file (editing the text inside the component will only change that particular text in that particular element). View source is also very useful if a given HTML code does not edit properly in SuperMemo. You can tweak individual HTML tags and make sure the code is edited clean and exactly to your specifications
  • Edit file (Ctrl+F9) - same as above
  • Import file (Ctrl+Q) - import a file to the component. The file will be integrated with the registry corresponding with the current component (e.g. image registry in the case of an image component). Import file creates a link from the current component to the newly created registry member (e.g. the imported picture or sound)
  • Save file - save the file associated with the component in a selected location

Remove formatting

• Remove formatting - remove formatting from the selected text or the entire component.

The button shares the context menu with the Formatting options button.

Choose font

• Choose font - choose a font for the selected text or the entire component

The button shares the context menu with the Formatting options button.

Template options

• Apply template (Shift+Ctrl+M) - use a selected template from the template registry to modify the look of the element.
  The button features a context menu, right-click it to open the menu, with the the following options:
  • Apply template (Shift+Ctrl+M) - same as above
  • Save template - save the currently displayed element's layout as a template
  • Save as default - save the current element's layout as a template and make it the default template in the currently selected concept groups
  • Impose template (Shift+Ctrl+F2) - overwrite the source template with the currently applied template
  • Detach template - restore the original look of the element from before the time the template was applied with Apply template (above)

Help

• Help - display this help file explaining individual functions of the learnbar.