Anki Von Restorff Add-on
The Von Restorff add-on enhances your Anki experience by applying the Von Restorff effect, making specific cards or notes visually distinct to improve memorability. It highlights a randomly selected card or note every X reviews with a customizable style, such as a colorful "goofy" appearance or an inverted (dark) theme.
Features
- Customizable Styles:
- Goofy: User-defined background color, font color, and font type (e.g., Arial, Comic Sans MS) using a color picker.
- Inverted: Fixed white text on a dark background for a high-contrast look.
- Flexible Targeting: Apply the effect to individual cards or all cards of a note.
- Configurable Interval: Choose how often the effect is applied (e.g., every 20 cards).
- Dynamic UI: Hides irrelevant customization options (color and font) when the inverted style is selected.
- Debug Logging: Optional logs to troubleshoot issues during reviews.
Installation
-
Download the Add-on:
- Clone this repository or download the ZIP file from GitHub.
- Ensure you have the
vonrestorff folder containing __init__.py.
-
Install in Anki:
- Locate your Anki add-ons directory:
- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/
- Windows:
C:\Users\<YourUser>\AppData\Roaming\Anki2\addons21\
- Linux:
~/.local/share/Anki2/addons21/
- Copy the
vonrestorff folder to the add-ons directory.
- If updating, replace the existing
vonrestorff folder.
-
Restart Anki:
- Close and reopen Anki to load the add-on.
-
Verify Installation:
- Go to
Tools → Von Restorff Settings in Anki. If the settings dialog opens, the add-on is installed correctly.
Usage
-
Configure Settings:
- Open
Tools → Von Restorff Settings in Anki.
- Adjust the following options:
- Interval: Number of cards between effect applications (e.g., 20).
- Style:
- Goofy: Customize background color, font color, and font type using color pickers and a dropdown.
- Inverted: Uses a fixed dark theme (hides color/font options).
- Target: Apply the effect to a single card or all cards of a note.
- Debug Logs: Enable to troubleshoot issues (logs appear in Anki’s console).
- Click "Save" to apply changes.
-
Review Cards:
- During reviews, the add-on highlights a randomly selected card or note every Xth card (based on your interval).
- The effect persists for the selected card/note within the interval and resets at the start of the next interval.
Example Configuration
- Interval: 20
- Style: Goofy
- Goofy Background:
#FF6347 (tomato red)
- Goofy Font Color:
#FFFFFF (white)
- Goofy Font: Comic Sans MS
- Target: Card
- Debug Logs: Enabled
With this setup, every 20th card will be highlighted with a red background, white text, and Comic Sans MS font, making it stand out.
Troubleshooting
- Effect Not Applying:
- Ensure the interval isn’t too high (e.g., set to 10 for testing).
- Check for conflicts with other add-ons (e.g., "More Answer Buttons with colors" or "Review Heatmap"). Temporarily disable them to test.
- Enable debug logs in settings and review the console for errors.
- Settings Dialog Errors:
- Verify the
vonrestorff folder contains only __init__.py from the latest version.
- Restart Anki after updating the add-on.
- Submit Issues:
- Open an issue on this GitHub repository with debug logs and a description of the problem.
Support the Developer
If you find this add-on helpful, consider supporting the developer via Ko-fi:

Contributing
Contributions are welcome! To contribute:
- Fork this repository.
- Create a feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/YourFeature).
- Commit your changes (
git commit -m "Add YourFeature").
- Push to the branch (
git push origin feature/YourFeature).
- Open a pull request.
Please include tests and update this README if necessary.
License
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.
Acknowledgments
- Built for Anki 25.02.4 (Python 3.9.18, Qt 6.6.2, PyQt 6.6.1).
- Inspired by the Von Restorff effect for enhancing memory retention.