Import an existing deck#

Besides creating your own deck, you can start from material someone else has shared on Retentio. Deck sharing lets authors publish a public snapshot; you import that snapshot into your library as a personal study deck.

How sharing works#

Author (source deck) — The owner builds a deck as usual: name, fields, facts, and cards. When it is ready, they publish it as a versioned, public snapshot (v1, v2, …). They can keep editing their working copy; importers only see changes after a new publish.

You (import deck) — You import from a published public deck. Retentio creates a new deck in your account—your own cards, due dates, and progress. It is not a live link to the author’s private working copy.

Author working deck  →  publish  →  public snapshot v3
                                        ↓
                              you import  →  your study copy (pinned to v3)

What you get when you import#

• A full deck with facts and cards generated from the published snapshot.
• Your spaced-repetition schedule on those cards—starting fresh for you even if others have studied the same source.
• Fact entries (text and media) are read-only, matching the snapshot you imported. You cannot add, edit, or delete facts on an import deck.
• You can still adjust rate (new cards per day) on your copy. You can add your own tags on the deck and facts for filtering, without changing shared content.

See Facts and Tags for how entries and tags behave on imported decks.

When the author updates the deck#

Authors can republish when they fix wording, add facts, or remove mistakes. Your import stays on the version you chose until you decide to update.

1. Check for updates — Retentio compares your pinned version to the latest publish and shows what was added, removed, or edited.
2. Sync (optional) — You opt in to pull a newer snapshot. There is no automatic sync; you stay on your version until you sync.

After sync, your import reflects the new snapshot; cards tied to removed facts go away; new facts get new cards. Your review history for cards that still exist is preserved when the underlying fact is unchanged.

Publishing your own deck#

If you created a deck and want others to import it:

1. Finish the working deck (fields, facts, cards).
2. Publish with public visibility (required on first publish).
3. Share the deck so learners can import it. After the first publish, visibility cannot be switched off, and the source deck cannot be deleted while a published version exists.

Republish only when the working copy has real changes; unchanged facts reuse the previous snapshot versions.

What’s next#

Import when you want ready-made material; create your deck when you want full control. Either way, once the deck is in your library, start studying the same way.