I used to use Quizlet to make my flashcards, but since the information I wanted to remember had more than an A->B relationship, I grew frustrated with the way it was set up. Then came the final nail in the coffin, Quizlet began threating to prevent me from using the “Flashcards” mode without paying them money (A decision that they noticeably backtracked on). The damage to my trust was done, and I knew I needed an alternative.
I had this idea about multi sided flashcards, I had programming experience and wanted more, I (wrongly but I’ll get to that) couldn’t find a site/program which already had my idea implemented. So although I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, I was certain it was a challenging idea. So I spent hours on my first mid-large web app learning a lot about frontend and backend development as I went.
In the end I did more than I thought I would be able to and It came out as something I feel as though I can be proud of.
Of course after this I found that Anki already does everything this site does and more with its “Notes” system (I immediately jumped ship when I found it). I’m still proud of this website as an endeavor.
Another problem that I failed to even consider while programming this site was how the scheduling would work. This site has what I now know is called a “Pass/Fail” mechanism for reviewing cards (which isn’t inherently flawed). The problem, however, arises from the scheduling (How far in the future you are shown a card after reviewing it) itself. It uses a method I still don’t know the name of that ,being a Quizlet refugee, I lifted entirely from them
(“Quizlet’s successful so what they’re doing must be the best” - Past self (He doesn’t know how much of his finite life he’s going to waste by assuming this))
I’ll just call the “If you get it right, I’ll hide it till you get everything else right, If you get it wrong I’ll show it you again when you have reviewed all other cards” method, which based on what I just coined it needs no further introduction. This is miles inferior to even SM2 (SM2 is pretty bad), Honestly I have no idea how I managed to handle doing my one 500 card Quizlet deck with this method.
Morale of the story:
Oh and just because this site taught me CSS, don’t expect it to look any good 😭.