A QArd (short for question, answer, reference, data) is simply one question with a category to subdivide it, an answer, and a reference if you would like to include one.
What are Q/Ard! Sets?
A Q/Ard! Set is a collection of qards. Each Q/Ard! Set is made up of many qards formatted in a text file such that each line contains one qard (a category, a question, an answer and a reference.)
How do I add line breaks to my data?
Just insert "/n" (without the quotes) into your question or answer. You can do it in your text file or on the server using the edit features found on your "My Account" tab. Wherever the app sees the "/n" it will add a line break.
How do I create qards?
The first step in creating QArds or a QArd! Set is to start writing your questions down in any text editor program. Then, organize your information by Category, Question, Answer and Reference.
You can use any text editor, from Notepad to TextEdit, Word, Word Perfect, Google Docs etc. Any program that allows you to type in text and save it will work. The actual requirement is that you create a .txt file saved with ANSI or UTF-8 encoding (the default for most text editors) that our server can read and import in to a QArd Set. Download a sample text file here. (Right click and select "Save Target As...")
The text file should not have any blank lines or spaces before or after each line containing a question. The program looks to each line and treats it like a card. If you have 50 lines, you will get 50 cards. Each line has a requirement however. It must contain 3 pipe characters, the pipe character looks like this; |.It is a straight up and down vertical line. The key is just above the Return key on your keyboard, it is also shared with the back slash character. The get the pipe character you have to hold down Shift and press "\".
Each of the 3 pipe characters separate the information you need on your cards to help FlashQ/Ard! separate the information. That information is; the category, the question, the answer and a reference, if you want to include one. Each line should look like this;
Category|Question|Answer|Reference
As an example, here's one card;
State Capitals|What is the capital of Iowa?|Des Moines|http://www.50states.com/iowa.htm
Notice the 3 pipe characters? They separate each bit of information. If you leave them out, the formatting of the card will not display properly. It's ok though, you can edit the cards once you enter the whole batch. So let's say you want to add a few more cards, with other state capitals. Here's how it would look;
State Capitals|What is the capital of Iowa?|Des Moines|http://www.50states.com/iowa.htm
State Capitals|What is the capital of Georgia?|Atlanta| http://www.50states.com/georgia.htm
Perhaps you would like to add another category to this card set. Maybe you would like to test users on the State Birds. Well, here's what it would look like;
State Capitals|What is the capital of Iowa?|Des Moines|http://www.50states.com/iowa.htm
State Capitals|What is the capital of Georgia?|Atlanta|http://www.50states.com/georgia.htm
State Birds|What is the state bird of Georgia?|Brown Thrasher|http://www.50states.com/georgia.htm
Every card must have at least the Category, the Question and the Answer. References are not required but if you plan to share your cards, you should consider referencing your work so that others can check your answers. If you want to sell your cards, a reference is required. You can have as many categories as you would like. I've tested the system up to 100 categories with 4500 qards. The qards don't have to be organized by category, but for organiztional sake, it's probably easier for you to create and edit everything by keeping the categories sorted together.
What characters can I use on a qard?
You are limited to all of the ASCII characters and the UTF character set.
The first major update will include the ability for users to post pictures and sounds with their qards.
For now, text comprised of ASCII and UTF character encoding is the only option supported.
Ok, now what? I've got a text file with 100 qards...
Make sure that your text file is formatted so that each line looks like this; category|question|answer|reference. The pipe character, or | (found just above the enter/return key, use the Shift Key and the \ key), is used to separate the category, question, answer and reference. At the end of each line, type in a return. Save the file as a .txt. file. Some programs may default to their own formation (Word for example uses .docx or .doc) but all are capable of saving a file in the text format with a .txt file extension. Mac user don't have to worry about the .txt extension but must still save the file in the Text format.
The next step is to login to your account on this site (it's free) and go to the New Q/Ard! Set page under the My Account tab. The Q/Ard! submission form is found there, it asks for the name of the Q/Ard! Set, a brief description (100 letters or less), any notes that you may want to include and a keyword field so that you may help others find you Q/Ards! by subject matter. You may also select whether you want to share the Q/Ards! or keep them private. Lastly there is a document upload field where you designate your .txt file for submission.
Q/Ard! Set creation demo. Please note; in this video demo I use spaces and a pipe character to seperate the fields. It is best to not use spaces before and after the pipe "|" character when seperating the fields. Example; in the video I use " | " when, in fact, "|" works more reliably.
Move the mouse over the movie to see the movie controls.
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