The website is now an open source project (Github repository) with an AGPL v3 license. You can reach me on Gitter at any time for help setting up the repo or any questions you have about the code (see README file). I will update the Issue board with a better labeling system, so in the meantime if you are interested in contributing just get in touch and we'll figure out some thing. :)

The codebase isn't the prettiest since I started this project in late 2005. However lately the build has been updated to webpack + Babel and new functionality can be developed with modern ES6 Javascript, VueJS components, etc. On the backend side, any help to refactor and improve the codebase is very much appreciated.

As I announced before, HTTPS is coming. I am busy preparing the open source project. Once that is done, I should be moving on to setting up https. So by my estimates it will be ready before the end of April.

The open source is a lot of work. Spent a few hours today just trying to prepare a database. Wrote a script that can feed ~5 top stories for the RTK kanji, so that contributors have some meaningful data to work with.

Wow, preparing the public repository takes a HUGE amount of time. I'm finally done going through the whole file structure. Making sure no private data is in there and sensitive files don't get committed, improving comments/documentation in various files, and updating a few things here and there. Not to mention a bunch of dependencies that I had to fix so it works from a single repository instead of whatever setup I was using.

Ugh. Now I have to prepare a database export so a contributor can have a minimal database that can be run locally. In order to maintain magnonellie's pull requests (the SVG logo) I'll probably start copying all my local files folder-by-folder into the github repository. This will let me review everything that gets added into the repository as a last check.

By the end of next week the code should be up on GIthub.

PS: I've been thinking about how to handle Patreon rewards in regard to contributions. It would be awkward for someone to contribute code that ends up as a Patreon reward in some way. They would have to be a patron on top of already helping me with the development, to benefit from their additions. That's silly. The solution is pretty simple: anybody who makes a significant contribution will get permanent patron status and hence, have the perks/rewards enabled on their account.

We now have a list of current patrons! The list is sorted by creation date, left to right, top to bottom. A big thank you to our first twelve patrons, you guys are awesome =) (ps: the list is not updated in real time, just a few times a day).

Next, I am looking into linking your Patreon account to Koohii account. The list of patrons only tells me who pledged on Patreon, but I can not tell who you are on Koohii. So I will add a link into Account Settings which lets you sign in securely on Patreon, and authorize Kanji Koohii to get basic information such as name and and pledge level. Once that link is created Kanji Koohii will recognize you are a patron!

Patreon recommends adding a reward to give your users / fans an incentive to become patrons. It seems pretty integral to the way Patreon works and Koohii shall not disappoint!

Soon I will implement the first Patreon reward. Every now and then people asked me to have more space to edit stories. I figure this is a relatively simple, but useful perk. I will increase the storage limit then for patrons, I haven't decided yet but likely 2-4 times the current limit of 512 characters.

It makes complete sense for me to implement this as a perk, because stories are expensive in terms of storage... over 1 GB as of writing. Removing the limit for all users means that the database would sooner grow out of control for me and make full backups increasingly complex.

If you have ideas for other perks / rewards let me know!. Keep in mind this is fairly new for me, and your feedback is important to me.

Finally Kanji Koohii has launched on Patreon! In addition to the presentation there is a first post going a bit more in detail about next steps as well as goals and perks.



Update 2: Currently looking into Patreon API so I can display a list of patrons, and then think of some perks.

Update To drum up support a little bit I updated the HTTPS / SSL goal to 50 USD. The previous amount of 35 USD was the bare minimum really, so I think this amount is more sensible. This goal basically covers an upgrade of the shared hosting and the price of a SSL certificate for one year for 3 domains (ie. Kanji Koohii, the forum, and a testing.domain). This is assuming I stay on the current hosting, which does not yet offer Let's Encrypt support.

This update fixes two minor issues and adds a new review option for non-SRS modes.

Fixed #80, and #81 (example word meanings that are too long and break out of the card).

New: Kanji to Keyword mode

A "kanji to keyword" mode has been requested every once in a while. So it is here finally. This mode is available in the Kanji Review page. It does not use the SRS. Tracking and scheduling reviews in both directions would make no sense, as you'd end up with a massive amount of reviews when you have 2000 cards in the system. You would also end up repeating the same reviews to some extent.

The main purpose of this mode in my opinion, is for new SRS users. And the feedback I received often seems to confirm this. When you start out the SRS doesn't give many reviews yet, and new users want to review more. As Heisig himself suggests, the "kanji to keyword" connection will happen on its own as you move to vocabulary so in theory it is not recommended to review from "kanji to keyword". But I think for new SRS users not much harm is done as this provides additional reviews and can help to gain confidence with the memorizing process.

The most convenient option likely is with "Review from learned kanji". (second mode in Kanji Review page). After you review with the SRS, you can revisit those same cards (due and scheduled) in "kanji to keyword" direction in the free review mode (thus not affecting the prior SRS review scheduling).

Better yet, if you enable the example words you will see vocabulary as prompt, and once you flip the card, the vocabulary meaning is shown.

For feedback / requests on this feature see Github issue Add a Kanji > Keyword review mode #79.