Overview#
To use Retentio more effectively, we recommend first understanding a few core concepts. Retentio’s content organization, learning flow, and review system are all built around these foundational ideas.
Read this section in order:
The pages below explain how decks, fields, facts, cards, and tags work in Retentio.
How the pieces fit together#
A deck is the study container for one topic or goal: its name, column layout, daily new-card pace, and the set of facts and cards that belong to it.
Fields are the column names you define when you create a deck (for example English and 中文). They describe what each slot in a learning item means. Field labels live on the deck only; when you add facts, you fill in entries in the same order—entry 0 is the first column, entry 1 the second, and so on.
A fact is the underlying learning content: one complete item (word pair, concept, term + definition, and so on). Facts are not the same as cards. A fact holds your material; the system uses it to build the cards you actually study.
A card is what you review day to day. Each card belongs to one fact, has a front and back (which entries appear on each side), and carries spaced-repetition scheduling (when it is due, whether it is hidden, and so on). By default, adding a fact creates one card (front = first entry, back = the rest). You can also add sibling cards from the same fact—for example English→中文 and 中文→English—so you practice recall in both directions.
Text, images, audio, and video are stored inside fact entries (not as separate “card files”). Fields on the deck are column names only; see Decks and Facts.
At a glance#
| Concept | Role |
|---|---|
| Deck | Groups content for one topic; defines fields (columns) and rate (how many new cards to introduce per day). |
| Fields | Column names on the deck; facts fill matching entries by position. |
| Fact | The content you create and edit (entries per column, optional media). |
| Card | One reviewable front/back layout for a fact, with its own schedule. |
Relationships#
- One deck contains many facts and many cards.
- One fact usually starts with one card; it can have two or more cards (siblings) when you want multiple directions or layouts from the same content.
- Every card points to exactly one fact in that deck.
Typical workflow#
- Create a deck — choose fields (columns) and set how many new cards to introduce per day (
rate). Higher values introduce new material faster; lower values keep a steadier pace. New cards are spaced evenly across the day. - Add facts — enter content for each column (and optional images or audio). The system creates card(s) for each fact.
- Study — Retentio picks the most urgent due card in the deck; you see front, then back, and your rating updates the schedule.
- Maintain — edit fact entries on decks you own (imported copies keep snapshot facts read-only); delete a fact to remove it and all of its cards; delete a single card to keep the fact and any other cards for that fact.
What to read next#
- Decks — containers, fields (columns), and new-cards-per-day settings.
- Facts — entries, media, and generating one or multiple cards.
- Cards — front/back structure and what you see while studying.
- Tags — optional labels on decks and facts for organization and filtered study.
Once these ideas are clear, creating decks, importing or sharing published decks, and reviewing daily becomes much more predictable.