User Interface Feedback Thread

[HW60]

In Fill-in-the-blanks, Test reading, sometimes I am sure to know a flashcard, but I do not remember when being asked for. I would like to skip the card, because I am sure I know the pinyin 5 minutes later, but there is no button to skip or go back, only the keyboard to enter pinyin. Is it a matter of settings or design?

 

[mikelove]

I must be me, but I'm still having a hard time understanding how the flashcard system works. Another odd feature is that when I change my "Profile" selection from Weighted to Space repetition or to Simple , the Test type automatically changes...And I have to manually select "prompt for..." (etc). Is this normal ?

Yes - the three profiles are each a totally independent set of settings, and you can create / duplicate / edit / rename / delete / etc them however you like. They should be thought of more as "templates" than as ways of choosing a particular study system; however, since the study systems are by far the hardest part of our flashcard system to customize, we give you default profiles for three common configurations so that you don't have to fiddle around with them.

And finally, would it be possible to download HSK cards in French, top go with my French-Chinese dictionary ?

Sure, all you have to do is import the HSK list with the French-Chinese dictionary selected as your default - should just be a matter of putting it on top in Manage Dicts, actually.

In Fill-in-the-blanks, Test reading, sometimes I am sure to know a flashcard, but I do not remember when being asked for. I would like to skip the card, because I am sure I know the pinyin 5 minutes later, but there is no button to skip or go back, only the keyboard to enter pinyin. Is it a matter of settings or design?

Try turning on "use builtin input method" in Test Settings - with that on, you should be able to use the back button to hide the keyboard and access the Skip Card button. (we eventually plan to start using the built-in Android keyboard exclusively, but probably only once we drop support for Android 2.x/3.x, which is still a ways away)

 

[HW60]

Try turning on "use builtin input method" in Test Settings - with that on, you should be able to use the back button to hide the keyboard and access the Skip Card button. (we eventually plan to start using the built-in Android keyboard exclusively, but probably only once we drop support for Android 2.x/3.x, which is still a ways away)

I do not know if that has been tested before by someone - there are several problems:
- the Android keyboard has no numeric values if I do not select them before; that means 2 taps for every tone and and would be enough not to use it
- there is only one input field, even for flashcards with more than one character. That seems to work with pinyin input (enter all pinyin in one field). But as I use alternating tests (reading and writing), I have to enter all characters in one field (using HWR), but after entering the first character by selecting it from the list, Pleco assumes that no more input will come and rates the incomplete answer. I also tried more than one character, but HWR is not (yet) able to recognize more one (maybe some OCR function would do that too ...).
- There is an answer button in the top right which can only be used with pinyin input. Before I can enter characters with HWR, I have to use the back button to hide the keyboard (otherwise the remaining space is too small for HWR) and tap the brush to use HWR.

I think "start using the built-in Android keyboard exclusively" is no good idea as long as that keyboard has no alpha and numerical input available at the same time, and even then alternating tests should be supported.

 

[mikelove]

- the Android keyboard has no numeric values if I do not select them before; that means 2 taps for every tone and and would be enough not to use it

True, but you can easily find a third-party keyboard that does.

- there is only one input field, even for flashcards with more than one character. That seems to work with pinyin input (enter all pinyin in one field). But as I use alternating tests (reading and writing), I have to enter all characters in one field (using HWR), but after entering the first character by selecting it from the list, Pleco assumes that no more input will come and rates the incomplete answer. I also tried more than one character, but HWR is not (yet) able to recognize more one (maybe some OCR function would do that too ...).

That one I'm not sure about - which handwriting input keyboard are you using? Or are you somehow using Pleco's system for handwriting even though you're using the system keyboard for Pinyin? (the intent was that the option would apply to both test types, and that people could use a third-party keyboard that combined handwriting and Pinyin input)

I think "start using the built-in Android keyboard exclusively" is no good idea as long as that keyboard has no alpha and numerical input available at the same time, and even then alternating tests should be supported.

We were only planning to use it exclusively for Pinyin input, switching back to the handwriting one in alternating tests, and with an option to add Pinyin tone buttons above it if it doesn't support numerical input. (this is what we do on iOS - use the system keyboard but add a bar above it with Pinyin tones)

 

[HW60]

That one I'm not sure about - which handwriting input keyboard are you using? Or are you somehow using Pleco's system for handwriting even though you're using the system keyboard for Pinyin? (the intent was that the option would apply to both test types, and that people could use a third-party keyboard that combined handwriting and Pinyin input)

My device has only the standard keyboard, no built-in HWR. When I need HWR outside Pleco or in Pleco Search, I use Google 中文拼音. But turning on "Use builtin input method" only changes the keyboard, not the HWR method. My original problem - being able to skip a flashcard during a session - is too small to switch to Google keyboard + HWR.

 

[skripp]

Something that has been bothering me since I first started using Pleco is why the 字-info button is even there as default in the user interface. Besides for the (I assume very few) students of japanese, korean and cantonese is there any real use for this seemingly super technical feature?

If you push "add new field...", I for one understand very few of these. What's CNS1986 and why is it empty for 时?

This seems to be something for really, really advanced students and shouldn't really clutter the main interface. Or is there some super useful part of this I'm missing?

There is an option for everything, so there should be an option to remove this =)

 

[LantauMan]

Something that has been bothering me since I first started using Pleco is why the 字-info button is even there as default in the user interface. Besides for the (I assume very few) students of japanese, korean and cantonese is there any real use for this seemingly super technical feature?

If you push "add new field...", I for one understand very few of these. What's CNS1986 and why is it empty for 时?

This seems to be something for really, really advanced students and shouldn't really clutter the main interface. Or is there some super useful part of this I'm missing?

I sort of agree. As a Cantonese user, I was using the 字-info button to look up Cantonese pronunciations, but now that this is an option directly in the PLC dictionary, I never use 字-info anymore. And I too don't understand just about every one of the other optional fields, and have wondered the same as Skripp as to what it is I'm missing in my use of this button.

 

[johnh113]

Something that has been bothering me since I first started using Pleco is why the 字-info button is even there as default in the user interface. Besides for the (I assume very few) students of japanese, korean and cantonese is there any real use for this seemingly super technical feature?

If you push "add new field...", I for one understand very few of these. What's CNS1986 and why is it empty for 时?

This seems to be something for really, really advanced students and shouldn't really clutter the main interface. Or is there some super useful part of this I'm missing?

There is an option for everything, so there should be an option to remove this =)

I use this all the time. I often look at the component parts using the "char" tab and then look at other words that use those same components. It's very useful for learning to distinguish similar looking hanzi.

 

[ckatt]

Could we maybe see an option to change the font for the pinyin in the dictionaries and flash cards? My eye i so natraly drawn to english leters that its hard not to read the pinyin when i want to focus on the hanzi. This is exta hard in flash cards where i have example sentances, i use a small font but since the pinyin is in bold it stands out much more than the characters. I have a text book that uses grey for pinyin and black for the 汉字. Its great because i have to look harder to read the pinyin and reading the characters is more natural.

 

[HW60]

Could we maybe see an option to change the font for the pinyin in the dictionaries and flash cards? My eye i so natraly drawn to english leters that its hard not to read the pinyin when i want to focus on the hanzi. This is exta hard in flash cards where i have example sentances, i use a small font but since the pinyin is in bold it stands out much more than the characters. I have a text book that uses grey for pinyin and black for the 汉字. Its great because i have to look harder to read the pinyin and reading the characters is more natural.

Have you tried to change the font size in Settings/Dictionary/Main Screen Interface/Chinese-English/Portrait Orientation/ ? With a headword font size of 30 and a pronunciation font size of 10 you should be able to concentrate on the characters, because the pinyin are bold but very small.

 

[ckatt]

Have you tried to change the font size in Settings/Dictionary/Main Screen Interface/Chinese-English/Portrait Orientation/ ? With a headword font size of 30 and a pronunciation font size of 10 you should be able to concentrate on the characters, because the pinyin are bold but very small.

I have tried this setting, but it does not affect the flash cards, which is mainly where I want the option.

 

[HW60]

I have tried this setting, but it does not affect the flash cards, which is mainly where I want the option.

You can change the font size of the card lists in organize cards or search cards with "settings/flashcards/use custom layout=yes/configure layout/".
You can change the font size of the individual cards with "flashcards/review flashcards/card text/". There is only one font size for definition and pronunciation. The manual says "Headword size and Definition size choose the font sizes for characters in dictionary headwords and definitions.", which seems to be somewhat contradictory to the card text possibilities, but maybe I did not understand it.

My suggestion to Mike for the manual: please add the individual way to each of the many possible methods to use Pleco in the headings of the manual,
e.g. NOT: Card Text, BUT: Card Text (flashcards/review flashcards).

Another suggestion: what about a list of FAQ?

 

[skripp]

But those are different buttons altogether. Of course we should keep "Stroke", "Char", "Words" as those are really useful for everyone. But if you tap on the 字-info button you get some pretty useless info unless you need the "code point" for some character (it's 8493 for 誓, whatever that means) or other very strange information.

I use this all the time. I often look at the component parts using the "char" tab and then look at other words that use those same components. It's very useful for learning to distinguish similar looking hanzi.

 

[mikelove]

My suggestion to Mike for the manual: please add the individual way to each of the many possible methods to use Pleco in the headings of the manual,
e.g. NOT: Card Text, BUT: Card Text (flashcards/review flashcards).

Good note, thanks.

But those are different buttons altogether. Of course we should keep "Stroke", "Char", "Words" as those are really useful for everyone. But if you tap on the 字-info button you get some pretty useless info unless you need the "code point" for some character (it's 8493 for 誓, whatever that means) or other very strange information.

Those are actually going to get consolidated in the next major revamp - the tentative plan is that instead of five tabs, we'll have three, dictionary definitions / Characters (encompassing all four of the other tabs now) / Word. Characters will show all of the info from the current four tabs in a single, customizable list, and Word will be a new screen with collected word-related info - frequency, synonyms/antonyms, a multi-dictionary example sentence search, notes, presence in popular vocabulary standards like HSK, etc.

 

[LantauMan]

Those are actually going to get consolidated in the next major revamp - the tentative plan is that instead of five tabs, we'll have three, dictionary definitions / Characters (encompassing all four of the other tabs now) / Word. Characters will show all of the info from the current four tabs in a single, customizable list, and Word will be a new screen with collected word-related info - frequency, synonyms/antonyms, a multi-dictionary example sentence search, notes, presence in popular vocabulary standards like HSK, etc.

I just want to say that I very much like all of the plans mentioned here.

 

[ziggy]

Hi Mike,
To get HSK cards in French, I deleted the ones in English that I had previously installed (takes a while), then, following your instructions, I re-imported the HSK cards with the FC dictionary selected as my default... however, it doesn't seem to work.
I select 1 category at a time and in the test with 1st level cards I have a mix of cards in English (most) and a few cards in French. On other levels, all are in English.

I deleted and re-installed HSK cards twice, but the result is the same.

So I have two questions :
- is there anything else to do so as to get the cards in French ?
- how is it that I have a mix of French and English cards in level 1 ? Is it possible that I inadvertently added extra cards in this list, or replaced existing ones by others (in my opinion, these lists should rather not be customisable, by nature) ?
Thanks for your help.

 

[mikelove]

- is there anything else to do so as to get the cards in French ?

Yes - Search Cards / search for All Cards / Edit / Batch / choose the Remap option and remap the cards to the correct dictionary.

- how is it that I have a mix of French and English cards in level 1 ? Is it possible that I inadvertently added extra cards in this list, or replaced existing ones by others (in my opinion, these lists should rather not be customisable, by nature) ?

It's probably that you already had cards based on the English definitions in a different list - by default, we don't create a duplicate card for the same entry, instead we simply point to the existing card in the new category.

 

[ckatt]

I know there is work being done right now on a flash cards revamp so maybe this is already included but i would like to see more flexibility in the display and size of head words. it would nice to have an option to automatically scale the font to fit the screen and center the word. also I find the setting a bit clunky to reduced the size of head words longer that x number of characters. It would be good to choose the reduced size or have the option of the word filling one or two lines. Now it seems to default to the definition size, which i keep rather small but my head words i like to be big. The problem is that pinyin and English are quite readable at 16 size font but Chinese text is not. It may have something to do with the custom font I use but still it would be nice to have an auto resize feature to force all head words to fit across on one line. And centered would be nice too.

 

[mikelove]

I know there is work being done right now on a flash cards revamp so maybe this is already included but i would like to see more flexibility in the display and size of head words. it would nice to have an option to automatically scale the font to fit the screen and center the word. also I find the setting a bit clunky to reduced the size of head words longer that x number of characters. It would be good to choose the reduced size or have the option of the word filling one or two lines. Now it seems to default to the definition size, which i keep rather small but my head words i like to be big. The problem is that pinyin and English are quite readable at 16 size font but Chinese text is not. It may have something to do with the custom font I use but still it would be nice to have an auto resize feature to force all head words to fit across on one line. And centered would be nice too.

This is more of a type design issue than a flashcard system one, to be honest, and we're probably not going to do too much with type on Android until a) Google finally updates their font engine to not produce quite such ugly / inconsistent output or b) it becomes clear that they're never going to do that and we decide to either replace it altogether (with something custom-built based on FreeType) or make do with what they give us.

That being said, once that matter is resolved this shouldn't be too difficult to add, it's just that we'd rather not duplicate effort by coming up with a way to do this and then immediately having to do it again once we settle on our strategy for dealing with type.

 

[soltrain]

Hey folks -

Adding my two cents to an item earlier discussed in this thread. It's relatively difficult to get to the flashcard info screen from the dictionary entry screen. My current process when I see I word that I know is in the flashcards but want more details (which category/last reviewed/scores etc...) is to add it again, have pleco prompt for duplicate entry, and then go to the card info link.

My usage satisfaction would be improved if it were possible to add a link to jump to the card info from the dictionary entry screen. Even more awesome would be to expose some of the flashcard data and allow users to display that in the dictionary entry 'info' screen. I currently never look at that screen as none of that info seems important to me or is duplicated in the definition screen.

Cheers!

FYI: This was brought up earlier in this post here: http://www.plecoforums.com/viewtopi...&hilit=card+info+from+dictionary+entry#p28085