Recent posts

#31

iStackz (Stackz for iOS) / Optimizing stackz files downlo...

Last post by awinter - January 05, 2011, 06:23:20 AM

I have a few change recommendations right from the start.

Frist, in the stackz files area before anything is downloaded it would be great for non iPhone savy users if you added a button labeled "download files" when no files have been downloaded and add the same button in a footer on the file list once there are files in the list.  The use of the plus button isn't always obvious especially when greeted with a blank white screen.

Second, since you're using a web view to browse the file list can you perhaps hide the nav view at the top and quickly add a back button for the browser at the top instead?  Then add a back to stackz button somewhere else.  I found myself mindlessly hitting the "stackz files" back button when I wanted to return to the main list of files.

Third, this isn't really an application issue but the tables on the file list page overflow the boundaries of the page so you probably want to add width constraints and other format changes to get the html to display more cleanly on all the file pages.  Also a more smartphone friendly design might be nice just to clean up the feeling of the file pages.

Also, is it possible to pull a more friendly name from the file for the item title in the downloaded files list?  Something other than "*******.szm" maybe just drop the .szm?

This is all on an iPhone 4.

#32

iStackz (Stackz for iOS) / Testing Stackz for iPhone/iPod...

Last post by Chris - January 04, 2011, 11:12:07 PM

Testing Stackz for iPhone/iPod touch has started!
For more information about the features of iStackz 1.0, please visit this link!

#33

Stackz Flashcard Organizer for PC / Re: Some questions about Stack...

Last post by Chris - December 29, 2010, 06:43:41 AM

Is it possible to add new boxes ? As I can see (at first glance) there are 5 boxes the cards can be put into. If I want 6 or 7 boxes, is there a way to accomplish that ?

Stackz is limited to 5 levels to keep the complexity as simple as possible. Do you have any particular need for additional levels?

What do I do when I want the romanji to be shown instead so I can try to remember the Hiragana ? Do I have to write a complete new lesson for that purpose ?

Stackz uses "skills" to manage different attribute appearing orders. For each skill a different order of attribute appearance is used, e.g. hiragana -- roooma ji for reading Japanese, rooma ji -- hiragana for writing kana (which corresponds to "speaking", as hiragana describes the pronunciation). That way, any appearance order is explicitly linked to a meaningful name. Some notes:

• There are many skills required when learning Japanese because pronunciaton and meaning of the kanji must both be mastered. This translates into different skills, such as "understanding kanji" (kanji -- english translation) and "reading kanji" (kanji -- pronunciation in hiragana). Stackz allows defining and training these skills individually if wished.
• The examples you mentioned correspond to the predefined skills "Japanese comprehension" (hiragana -- english) and "Japanese speaking" (english -- hiragana) skills.
• The current skill can be easily switched anytime while testing or learning.
• Test statistics are not linked to skills: a success is a success, regardless of the used skill. This is to keep the complexity low and not to overload the proficiency estimation with too many details.
• Skills are defined in the file options (tab "Skills"). Several skills are predefined, renaming or removing them, as well as adding custom skills is easy.

Even better would be the possibility of a "mixed" test session, so that somtimes the romanji and sometimes the Hiragana is shown (in the same test). Is something like that possible ? Learning "one way only" can't be good ...

This would correspond to a "random skill selection" in the Stackz system. This is not planned at the moment because it somehow contradicts the Stackz fundamental assumption that the student is in control of the action, not the program (i.e. the student decides what to study).

On the other hand it would not be hard to implement, although adding to the overall complexity and leading to difficult situations with many words that have several possible answers. If there are many votes for that it might make it to an upcoming release.

#34

Stackz Flashcard Organizer for PC / Some questions about StackZ

Last post by NeoAragorn - December 28, 2010, 12:43:36 AM

Hi,

first of all: if this is posted in the wrong section feel free the move it wherever it belongs.

I just downloaded the test version of StackZ and it's the best flashcard application for learning japanese I've found so far (probably because it's optimized for japanese i.e.). However, there are some issues I want to discuss in this forum before buying the product. In particular:

- Is it possible to add new boxes ? As I can see (at first glance) there are 5 boxes the cards can be put into. If I want 6 or 7 boxes, is there a way to accomplish that ?

- I want to use the program to learn japanese. Let's say I make a new lessen, called "Hiragana", containing all the symbols and their romanji. Up until there it works just fine. My problem occures when I want to learn/test the lesson:

When the test begins, every time the Hiragana is shown, I try to remember what the romanji is and if I'm right I declace it as known and so on. My question is:

What do I do when I want the romanji to be shown instead so I can try to remember the Hiragana ? Do I have to write a complete new lesson for that purpose ?

Even better would be the possibility of a "mixed" test session, so that somtimes the romanji and sometimes the Hiragana is shown (in the same test). Is something like that possible ? Learning "one way only" can't be good ...

I hope someone can answer these questions,

Thanks in advance,

Ren?

#35

iStackz (Stackz for iOS) / Stackz for iPhone / iPod touch

Last post by Chris - December 15, 2010, 09:21:36 AM

The Stackz for iPhone test is about to start soon!
For more information, please visit this topic in the members zone (free registration required).

#36

iStackz (Stackz for iOS) / Re: iPhone development status

Last post by Chris - December 15, 2010, 09:20:46 AM

The Stackz for iPhone test is about to start soon!
For more information, please visit this topic in the members zone (free registration required).

#37

Stackz - New Feature Requests / Re: Stackz for Android

Last post by Borderlander - November 24, 2010, 12:58:58 PM

I would like to place my vote for an Android version.

Due to the open nature of the software and the fact that it can run on many different phones, it is becoming far more popular than even iPhone. Also since the new Windows 7 Mobile does not support apps from previous Windows phones, current Pocket PC users will not be tied to Windows phones and may well switch to iPhone or Android. I will probably switch to Android.

So I do hope you will be able to make an Android version. Thanks.

#38

iStackz (Stackz for iOS) / Re: iPhone development status

Last post by Chris - November 16, 2010, 01:59:21 AM

After a vey busy period with little activities on the project we hope to get back on track now so that the first alpha will be available in december.
Feel free to subscribe in this thread, we will contact you as soon as there are any news.

#39

iStackz (Stackz for iOS) / Re: iPhone development status

Last post by avlor - November 10, 2010, 07:39:16 PM

I'll volunteer to beta test it on an ipod (and hopefully soon be able to test it on an ipad).

#40

Stackz Flashcard Organizer for PC / Re: How can I create 2 or more...

Last post by Chris - July 05, 2010, 11:25:04 PM

Tricky, tricky!

In all my attempts of exporting/copying cell content with Excel Linefeeds (inserted with Alt+Tab), the linefeed was lost and the lines were wrapped in quotes (like this: "line1line2"). Then Stackz has of course no chance of finding the linefeed when importing this text.

All I found was the following workaround:

1) replace the Excel linefeeds with a special character or sequence that is not apparing anywhere else in this wordlist (say, <LF>). You can do this by searching and automatically replacing all the Excel Linefeeds: enter Alt+0010 on the numeric key-block to specify the Excel-Linefeeds in the search part of the search/replace dialog (you won't see anything but it works), and "<LF>" in the replace part.

2) export the file in the CSV format (file save - as). This will insert ';' between the columns, and the Excel-Linefeed is included as your <LF>. To force the termination of your last column with a CSV character in the generated file (instead of the linefeed that is used in the last column), add another column with some dummy text that you will ignore later on, e.g. "END".

3) Open the exported CSV file in a text editor and replace all <LF> sequences with a real linefeed. Some text editors will allow you using the linefeed character when finding/replacing text, in others you might have to write a macro, or maybe you can do it by hand if there are not too many linefeeds.

4) Now you have a source list that is well suited for importing with the list import wizard of Stackz - simply use the CSV character as token-end-marker in the import wizard second step. Ignore the added last dummy column ("END").

I hope this was clear... and yes, it is quite complicated -  because I did not find a way to copy/export some text from Excel that includes Excel-Linefeeds in a convenient way. If there is such a possibility, please let me know and I'll update this description.