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What Is New
In SuperMemo 2.0



This information is for users of previous versions of SuperMemo. It shows and explains new features found in SuperMemo 2.0.

Download SuperMemo 2.0 and install it on top of your older version, i.e. do not delete the older version from your handheld first.

Customers who purchased previous versions of SuperMemo for Palm OS can upgrade to SuperMemo 2.0 for half the price, i.e. $9.97. Customers who purchased SuperMemo for Palm OS in 2006 can upgrade for free - contact us for your new code.

Purchase your upgrade here


Here is a list of new features of SuperMemo 2.0:

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*   Hi-res icons and graphics

If you have a high-resolution display, you can benefit from nicer user interface that uses smoother high resolution bitmaps while preserving the small size of the application (below 100 kilobytes).

SuperMemo will work on high resolution displays as well as on low resolution displays. It will work on color displays, greyscale displays as well as on black&white displays.

    Hi-res SuperMemo icons in color, grayscale and black&white Hi-res Category Template screen
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*   Support for hi-res fonts

The Card View screen can now use high-resolution fonts. This makes your cards look nicer, and if you use SuperMemo for learning languages with complex characters (e.g. Japanese, Chinese or Korean), the hi-res fonts will allow you to see more details of the characters.

    New button for mini fonts
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*   New mini fonts

The Category Template screen now has one more font button. It is the first button in the row, labeled "m" for "mini". This doubles the possible font combinations from previous 128 fonts to 256.

    New button for mini fonts



This screen shows font example on a high-resolution display. Note the last two paragraphs with "more text" and "even more text" that use minifonts. These mini fonts are half-sized and allow you to fit more text without the need to scroll the card.

This feature is only available on high resolution screens as the small size of the fonts means they would not be readable on low resolution display.

    Mini fonts in high resolution
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*   Text and background color

For each paragraph you can select text color and background color. Tap one of the small color buttons to pick the colors. The upper button is for text color, the lower button for background color. Next to the small buttons you can see a sample ABC text in the colors you have selected. You can also tap this sample text to pick both the text and background colors.

    Color buttons and sample text Color picker screen



The color picker screen displays the available system color palette of your handheld. If you want to select white color, tap the white color square (the first one). If you want to select black color, tap the black color squre (the last valid color).

    Pick white color Pick black color



If you select any empty color slot after the last one (black), it will mean "no color". Paragraphs that use no user-defined color will display in system colors. This can be black for text and white for background, or some other colors, depending on your system color scheme. The system color scheme can be selected in the built-in Prefs application.

    Pick no color No user-defined text and background colors



Tip: If the displayed card is shorter than the screen height, the background color of the last paragraph defines the color of the rest of the card.

Here you can see three examples of the same card with different color templates.

    Sample card #1 Sample card #2 Sample card #3
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*   Smooth card scrolling

Cards can now scroll up and down smoothly. In previous versions of SuperMemo, scrolling was done in jumps as you can see on the first animation. The second animation shows smooth scrolling.

Note: If you do not see the animations it means your browser does not support them or you have turned animations off in your browser settings.

The speed of scrolling can be set up in the Card Scrolling options screen. You can disable smooth scrolling completely by setting the speed to its maximum value (i.e. 10).

    Jump card scrolling Smooth card scrolling
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*   Default template changes

Access to the default template has changed: instead of tapping the Default button (no longer available), you now need to tap the the Action button and select Default.

The purpose of the default template is to assist novice users who might get lost in their template editing and their template does not work properly. They can quickly restore order this way. Because of this, it is not possible to change the default template - if they changed their default template as well, there would be no way out. Instead, you can copy & paste templates.

    Tap the Action button Select Default command



The look of the default template itself has changed as well. It now includes colors as shown at the picture. If you don't like them, you can change them and then copy & paste this template to other categories as well.

    New default template colors
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*   Copying templates

You can now copy templates between categories and databases using clipboard. SuperMemo uses a dedicated template clipboard that allows you to store one template in it. Available template clipboard commands are Copy, Paste and Swap and you can get to them by tapping the Action button.

    Tap the Action button



1. Copy: If you want to copy a template, you need to use the Copy command first. Open the template you wish to copy, tap the Text button and select Copy. This will copy the whole template to the clipboard. Then you can use the invisible contents of the clipboard with Paste or Swap commands explained below.

    Select Copy command



2. Paste: The Paste command will copy the contents of the clipboard to the current template. It will overwrite and replace the original template.

To copy a template from one category to another, you will use the Copy and Paste commands together. First find the source template and use Copy. Then open the tagret category, go to its tamplate and use Paste.

    Select Paste command



3. Swap: This will exchange the contents of the clipboard with the current tempalte. The template that was in the clipboard will become the active template the previously active template will be in the clipboard.

    Select Swap command
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*   Easier menu access

Besides tapping or pressing the menu button of your handheld to open menus, you can now also tap a the top area of a card to open a menu.

    Tap the top area to open menu Open card menu



Note that similar feature is available in other screens that have a title bar. You can tap the title bar to open a menu.

    Tap title bar to open menu Open edit menu
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*   Card scrolling options

Scrolling speed and distance can be adjusted. Tap the top part of the card to open the menu and select Card / Scrolling to open the Card Scrolling options.

    Tap the top of a card to open menu Select Card / Scrolling



Card scrolling distance and speed can be set up separately for each direction (up and down). You can have a card to scroll down slowly and scroll up fast for instance. Distance and speed can be set from 1 (slow speed and short distance) to 10 (fast speed and long distance).

To quickly set maximum and minimum values, tap the number inside the box.

These card scrolling settings are also valid for drills and tests. You can also access this screen in drills and tests in the same way.

    Card Scrolling options
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*   Erasing card text

If you wish to quickly erase all text on the card, tap the Text button and select Erase.

If you leave the Card Edit screen while there is no text on the card, the whole card will be deleted and removed from your database.

    Tap the Text button Select Erase All card text has been erased
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*   Restoring card text

If you accidentaly erase the card text or if you make any editing changes and would like to take them back, just tap the Text button and select Restore.

This will restore the text to the state it was when you entered this Card Edit screen. Once you leave the Card Edit screen, the changes are saved and you cannot restore the old original text any more.

    Tap the Text button Select Restore Original card text has been restored
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*   Copying cards

As you probably know, to copy portions of text you can use the standard clipboard commands Copy and Paste just like in any other application.

These commands are available in the standard Edit menu that you can open by tapping the Card Edit title.

    Tap title to open menu Standard Edit menu commands



If you want to copy the entire card text, i.e. all the six fields of the card at once, tap the new Text button and use one of the available commands: Copy, Paste and Swap.

These commands work with a special card text clipboard that is independent of the standard system clipboard. This means that copying and pasting text in SuperMemo or in other application using the standard Edit menu commands will not use or overwrite the contents of this card text clipboard.

    Tap the text button



1. Copy: If you want to copy card text, you need to use the Copy command first. Find the desired card, tap the Text button and select Copy. This will copy the contents of the current card to the clipboard. Then you can use the invisible contents of the clipboard with Paste or Swap commands explained below.

    Select Copy command



2. Paste: The Paste command will copy the contents of the clipboard to the current card. It will overwrite and replace the original card text.

To duplicate a card text, you will use the Copy and Paste commands together. First find the source card and use Copy. Then create a new card and use Paste.

You can also copy cards between databases.

    Select Paste command



3. Swap: This will exchange the contents of the clipboard with the current card text. The text that was in the clipboard will be on the card and the text that was on the card will be in the clipboard.

    Select Swap command
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*   5-way navigator support

If your handheld has 5-navigator buttons, you can use them to control SuperMemo without using a stylus in most screens.

For instance, in screens like Card Scrolling options or Category Template editor you can use the Left, Right, Up and Down buttons to move focus to individual buttons, boxes and arrows, and then use the Center button to simulate a tap on the highlighted control.

    Card Scrolling options Category Template editor
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*   Navigation in card view mode

These pictures show how you can control the Card View screen in card view mode, i.e. while browsing the cards in your database, without touching the display. Depending on your handheld model, you can use the 5-way navigator buttons, hardware application buttons or Up/Down butons.

Press Up or Down to scroll Press button #1, #3 or Left to show previous card Press button #2, #4 or Right to show next card
Press Up to flip card Press Center to commit Press Down to show Card Details Press butons #1, #2, #3, #4 or Center to close Card Details


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*   Navigation in tests

These pictures show how you can control the Card View screen in test mode without touching the display. Depending on your handheld model, you can use the 5-way navigator buttons, hardware application buttons or Up/Down butons.

Press button #2, #4 or Center to show answer Press button #1, #3, Left or Right to mark Press button #2, #4 or Center to show next card
Press Up or Down to scroll Press Up to flip card Press Down to show Card Details Press butons #1, #2, #3, #4 or Center to close Card Details


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*   Navigation in drills

These pictures show how you can control the Card View screen in drill mode without touching the display. Depending on your handheld model, you can use the 5-way navigator buttons, hardware application buttons or Up/Down butons.

Press button #2, #4 or Center to show answer Press button #1, #3, Left or Right to mark Press button #2, #4 or Center to show next card
Press Up or Down to scroll Press Up to flip card Press Down to show Card Details Press butons #1, #2, #3, #4 or Center to close Card Details


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