Mention Learn ahead limit in FAQ

[brishtibheja]

I'm surprised we don't already do this. There seems to be a lot of people who don't understand Learn ahead and get confused when their red/again/learning cards don't appear quickly (remember somebody once saying as /j that's the question half of all redditors ask). We should have a new page addressing this. @Danika-Dakika Thoughts? How should the question(s) in FAQ be framed?

[Danika-Dakika]

It definitely satisfies the "F" in FAQ! The problem is that it often masquerades as other (more dramatic) things when it gets asked -- cards are disappearing, learning steps are not followed, etc. I use pretty consistent phrasing when answering this one though, so I can try to rustle up some examples of questions, but probably not before the weekend.

[Danika-Dakika]

Here's a representative sampling of how it is coming up. These are all from the past month, if you can believe it! I've included some of my responses that helped (the longer one I've given 3 or 4 times).

Lots of assumptions that the cards have vanished or disappeared, for forever or until tomorrow (or buried). Often triggered by the red counter not incrementing, so that certainly seems like a good angle to take. Sometimes by their belief that enough time has passed and the card hasn't shown up.

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https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/again-cards-arent-showing-up-the-same-day/48133

The issue I am having is that my “Again” cards (10m interval) are not showing up in 10m on the same day / they are not being represented in the red value above the answer buttons

https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-review-not-recycling-on-learning-cards-after-again-function-pressed/47871

I have used it in the past and now am having trouble with my review cards being recycled. On learning cards, after pressing the “again” key, I am not given the question in 15 min, as I have preset.

Sample questions that led to the answer: ... what makes you think the card isn’t “recycling”? Is it because you get to the end of your study session and haven’t seen the card? Or because the “red” counter of Learn/Relearn cards doesn’t increase?

https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-learning-issue/47687

My lapses are at 15min and 1day but when I click good on a new card and it should show back up in 15min to go through the card again, but instead of going to the red learning section it just disappears.

https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/anki-review-not-working-glitching-help/47368

No matter what button I press during my anki reviews (again, hard, good, easy), the card does not get added to the review pile, it just vanishes from your study session.

Sample answer: Nothing has vanished. That red number is not a “pile” of cards – it’s a counter of how many Learn/Relearn cards are ready to be studied. That card you just put on a 1m or 10m learning step will show up on that red counter after its delay – in 1m or 10m.
If you want to have Anki look ahead and pull those closer [when] there [are no other cards] to study – set Tools > Preferences > Review > Learn ahead limit to something at least as long as your learning steps (10m) – [link]. (This will also make it show up on your red counter immediately, since it could be studied.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/medicalschoolanki/comments/1eifthz/urgent_help_needed/

For some reason suddenly my cards aren't shifting into learning(green to red), they come into learning after a little time has passed.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Anki/comments/1ed1pxs/intervals_in_anki/

when i do cards in my filtered deck, cards do not (like it before), show up as the red number once I hit the 10 min button. Usually when I do new cards, and hit the good button (10 m) it will be moved to the red number section (blue, red, green), but now it does not show that.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Anki/comments/1eakb64/anyone_notice_learn_cards_are_delayed_in_showing/

when I hit again (1 min) the learn (red) deck does not increase. However, after doing some cards, the learn deck counter does seem to re-check its value and the card finally pops up.

https://www.reddit.com/r/medicalschoolanki/comments/1e9looy/help_anki_review_burying_all_new_cards_no_matter/

Anki review burying all new cards no matter what answer button I press ... Unable to study as no matter what button I press (again, hard, good, easy), the card goes away from the new card pile, but does not get added to the review pile so I do not have a chance to see the card again.

[dae]

For the benefit of other onlookers, AnkiHub's default settings appear to be the reason we're seeing this so frequently. Related thread: https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/set-learn-ahead-limit-to-zero/49146/5