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Frequently asked questions

  • I have studied more than half of my course and the green bar is still below 50%!

    That's alright.

    The “progress bar” shows you how Mindpicnic estimates your level of knowledge. Mindpicnic computes which part of your course is still in your memory, and this is usually less than 100% of the things you have learned once.

    Also note that the “progress bar” is weighted. This means that a book of 800 pages has a greater influence on the progress bar than a cardbox containing 5 flashcards.

  • What's this number next to my username?

    The number shows your level.

    Mindpicnic tries to motivate you to learn in several ways. The level system is one of them. If you study a course, repeat, create new courses or if other users learn your courses, this has a positive effect on your level. The more you use Mindpicnic the higher the number next to your name.

  • How does this course-thing work?

    Courses are a simple method of organizing and sharing large amounts of study material.

    At Mindpicnic, a course is an ordered collection of cardboxes, books, links and notes referring to one topic. If you would like to learn new things there are always two possibilities:

    1. You add the new material to one of the courses you are already studying. This is a good choice if you have already created a course for the topic you'd like to study.
    2. Create a new course that starts with the new material. This is no big deal: A title and a short description of the topic will suffice. If you're creating a cardbox and it's called “French lesson I” you could call your course “French for beginners”.

  • Why do I have to create a course? Can't I just learn lessons directly?

    Courses have several advantages:

    1. If some day you decide that Spanish wasn't that great an idea it requires just one click to deactivate your “Spanish” course. And if you change your mind you can reactivate it just as easily. You don't have to look through all of your lessons and look for everything that has something to do with Spanish.
    2. You can always get a quick overview (at Plan) on your learning progress in different topics.
    3. Other Mindpicnic users can easily study your lessons (if the course is public). It requires almost no additional effort on your part and others may be happy about your collection of study material.

    If you're still not convinced, you can of course create just a single course titled “Jim's lessons“ and put everything in there, no matter what the topic.

  • Notes? Why would I need notes?

    Notes are very useful for several reasons:

    1. If you're creating courses not only for yourself but for other people too, you can use notes to leave short messages and hints for the people studying your courses.
    2. Notes may contain arbitrary tasks: This may be a math problem, but may also be something like “ten pushups”.
    3. Notes are the easiest way to store arbitrary information. With notes you can learn textual content directly at Mindpicnic.

  • I am on vacation for two weeks and I can't study during that time. What should I do?

    Enjoy your vacation.

    Afterwards, Mindpicnic will – as always – estimate how much you still know. Everything that's below a certain threshold will show up on your Learn page for repetition. After your vacation, this may be a little more than usual but this shouldn't be a problem for you.

  • I have discovered content that is offensive or somehow inappropriate. What should I do?

    Scroll down the page, at the end you'll see a link called “Flag this!”. Clicking this link will notify us so we can take a look at the page. If the content violates the Terms of Use or is otherwise inappropriate we will remove it.

  • Do I have to pay anything to use Mindpicnic?

    No. Basic usage is free.

    If you'd like to learn more than 3 courses or more than 20 lessons (cardboxes, notes) you need to become a pro user — for EUR 4.90 per month you'll be able to learn as much as you like (and get a few extra features like private courses). Learn more at www.mindpicnic.com/upgrade/.

  • Which content may I use for my notes, cardboxes etc.?

    In general you're only allowed to use content you own the copyright of. This means that you can't e.g.:

    • Copy from books.
    • Copy pages from other websites.
    • Use vocabulary found in other databases.

    Invisible lessons that don't appear in the publicdirectory are an exception. Here you may use all the content that you're allowed to use for private purposes. This is only available to pro users.

  • I discovered a page that violates someones copyright.

    Each member who signs up to Mindpicnic agrees only to publish content that doesn't violate any copyright., In case of a potential copyright violation just send a short mailto copyright@mindpicnic.com that contains:

    1. The URL where you found the material that violates a copyright.
    2. A short description of the material.
    3. Proof that you (or someone else) is the real copyright owner.
    4. Name, e-mail and phone number of the copyright owner (or a representative).

    After verifying the data given in your mail we will remove the infringing material.

  • May I use Mindpicnic's content elsewhere?

    Not without explicit permission of the copyright owner.

    For user generated content — e.g. flashcards, notes and comments — you'll have to ask the respective user if he agress to your intended usage of his content. Content that is explicitely published under a Creative Commons or Open Source licence is an exception. In this case the permitted use depends on the terms of the chosen licence.

    For content that is not user generated you need explicit permission from Andreas Stuhlmüller (andreas@mindpicnic.com).

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