Facts#

Facts are the smallest content records used to build cards and decks in Retentio. A fact is one complete learning item—often a word pair, concept, term with definition, or a small set of related information you want to remember.

A fact is not the same as a card. Facts hold the underlying material; cards are what you see during study and review, each with its own front/back layout and schedule.

A fact does not store fields. Column names (fields) live on the deck only. Each fact stores entries—the actual text and optional media for each column position.

Entries#

A fact is a list of entries, one per column on the deck, in the same order as the deck’s field list. If the deck fields are English and Japanese:

Entry 0 → English → hello
Entry 1 → Japanese → こんにちは

Each entry can hold:

Text — words, meanings, definitions, example sentences, notes
Image — after you upload a file, referenced in that entry
Audio — pronunciation, readings, or clips tied to that entry
Video — optional, same pattern as image and audio

You can attach audio to the same entry as text (e.g. hello plus a pronunciation clip). Or use one entry for only an image or sound—the media still lives on the fact; the deck field is just the column label.

When you edit or review, Retentio may show deck field names as labels (e.g. English: hello), but the fact stores entries only—not column names.

Images help with visual vocabulary; audio supports pronunciation and listening; video works the same when you need richer clips. During review, cards show whatever entries the layout places on the front or back—text and media together.

With more deck columns you add more entries. Complete entries help the system build useful cards and make review easier to follow.

Generating cards#

Facts are the basis for cards. By default, adding a fact creates one card:

Front = the first entry (index 0)
Back = all remaining entries (1, 2, …)

For two entries (hello / こんにちは), that yields:

Front: hello
Back: こんにちは

With three or more entries, the default is still “first entry on the front, everything else on the back”—for example front school, back 学校 plus any additional entry content.

Multiple cards from one fact#

One fact can also produce multiple cards (sibling cards)—for example both English→Japanese and Japanese→English:

Front: hello
Back: こんにちは

Or:

Front: こんにちは
Back: hello

That lets you practice recall in both directions. You can create several layouts when adding facts, or add an extra card (such as a reversed card) for an existing fact later.

On imported decks copied from a published source, fact content is read-only; you still manage your own cards and scheduling on that copy.

Summary#

Decks define fields (column names). Facts store entries (content and media) in column order. Cards are generated from facts for daily review. Decks organize topics, facts hold the material, and cards carry the study experience—including spacing, due dates, and optional hiding.