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Hi. I use Stackz! for learning Japanese, and I use different Japanese fonts for different purposes. For example: Kyouka or Mikachan for Kanji writing practice, Mincho or Gothic for reading, etc. And within each file, I often use different fonts for the entry and the reading (For instance, Kyouka for the main entry and Gothic for the reading.)

Hoever, I have noticed that Stackz! has no way to specify different fonts for a given language. If you want to use another Japanese font in another file, you need to create a new Stackz! "language" within Stackz! Options, and this creates a number of complications:

1) Anytime you open a Stackz! file, Stackz! changes its system language to the one in the main entry of the file. Every time I open my "Remembering The Kanji" list, which uses a Kyouka font (which I had to configure as a separate language called "Written Japanese") for the main entry and Gothic for the readings (that is, the default Stackz! "Japanese" language), the Stackz! system language switches to "Written Japanese". Since my dictionary is always in "Japanese", this creates an awkward situation while I'm in Test or Edit mode: I cannot use F6 to make a quick lookup of an entry... I can't even type it in the dictionary window because the Stackz! system language does not match the Dictionary language... although both are Japanese, only with different fonts!

To solve this, everytime I load this list I have to remember to manually switch the system language back to "Japanese" before doing anything else, which is slightly inconvenient.

2) While in Edit mode, readability is everything. In the same file, my Kyouka font becomes very difficult to read. Brush style fonts are even worse. It would be nice if I could configure Stackz! to render all Japanese text with the Gothic font while in Edit mode, overriding locally selected fonts.

To solve this, everytime I need to edit this file, I have to switch the "language" of my main entry to "Japanese" before editing and then change it back to "Written Japanese" after editing.

Most of the time, I have to deal with both problems at the same time.

So I wish Stackz! could actually made a distinction between a Language and a Font, freeing you from having to create lots of fictional "languages". And if it could allow Font overriding for certain windows... that would be really 便利な。

Ok... Here's how it happened:

1) I opened a file that has both expired and not-expired cards:



Notice that it's set to "Repeat advisor".

2) Opened the RM... Notice how the bar graph looks.



3) And clicked on "Examine expired cards":



Notice how the graph changes. And the file is still set to "Repeat Advisor"...

Ok...

If the Retention Manager was set in its abbreviated form, and I open it again, this may happen:



A video problem covers the Expand button... When I click it, this happens:



The problem disappears, but it does not expand. The second time I click it:



It finally works!  :D

OK... this happens with about 50% of my lesson files. Not a big thing and is easily fixed, but since we're here to report bugs, I though I should post it.

Sometimes, when opening a lesson file and then opening the Retention Manager, if the Retention Manager was previously set in its extended form (That is, showing all the bars in the lower part), Stackz! crashes.

I've tested my files one by one and found that more than the half have this problem. I've compiled them in a ZIP for studying these rare specimens. You can download it from http://arqui3d.com/crashingfiles.zip.

I have found that I can prevent this from happening in two ways:

1) Make sure that I always leave the Retention Manager in its abbreviated form after using it. It only happens when it's in its extended form, at least with these files. If I make sure the R.M. it's in its short form before closing it, and then I open one of these files and open the R.M. again, nothing happens. I can then extend the R.M. to view the colored bars and everything works fine.

2) Save the problematic files with another name from within Stackz! 7. All these were old files from Stackz! 2005 v3, and after saving them again from within the new Stackz! version, the problem went away.

By the way, I tested on 2 different PCs with Win XP (A Core 2 Duo w/2 Gigs of RAM and a P4 w/512MB RAM), and the same thing happens.

While in Stackz" 7 beta 4, the Windows task bar (at least in Windows XP SP2, in my hardware) disappears, no matter your task bar configuration (that is, "always visible", "auto hide"), and does not appear unless you switch to another program or press the Start button in your keyboard (the one with the Windows logo).

Is this a bug or a feature to keep you focused in your study?

The "cards left" counter does not update unless I hover the mouse over the upper right corner of the test dialog, specifically, over the three window buttons: Minimize, maximize and close.

Here's a screenshot showing the difference between the "included" counter shown in the file window and the "cards left" in the test dialog. The test dialog should say "207" according to the new Stackz! 7 way to count, or "208" according to the traditional (and most easy to understand, in my view) way to count (See my post on the counter "bug" for more on this).

This happens when I maximize and then restore the test dialog:

My hardware is:
Core 2 Duo E6300
Intel mainboard
2GB DDR2 RAM, 533MHz
nVidia GeForce 7300 GS with 256MB onboard and 256MB stolen from the system memory ("turbocache"), PCI Express. It's set at 1280x1024, via DVI-D.
And I use XP Pro SP2.
I've tried turning off all hardware acceleration in the video card settings, but still the same problem.

I've noticed that in Stackz! 7 Beta 4 the number of "cards left" does not count the card you're currently viewing. Thus, when you have the last card in front of you, it says "0 cards left"

This is different from the Stackz! I used until now (2005 v3), which does count the current card as a "card left". Then, when I had the last card in front of me, it said "1 card left".

Perhaps it's a bug, or perhaps it's just a philosophical change.

I was too lazy to come here at once when I received your e-mail about the beta testing... It's a pity that now the new features section is cast in stone.

I just had one wish: A simple counter. While I am in test mode, I'd like to know how many cards I have declared as "known". That's because I've established a routine for each stackz! file, and within this routine, I have to test positive on X cards every day... that way, I review the entire file twice a year, or once a year, according to each file.