Performance issues with Title Links/Dictionary Lookups in large Study Sets

Support
1

Hi ,

I am currently using MarginNote 4 to study law by utilizing the “Lookup in Excerpt Dictionary” (Title Link) feature. Specifically, I have a large list of statutes (laws) set as an external dictionary to reference while I study my main materials.

However, I’ve noticed that as the number of cards in the Study Set (acting as the dictionary) increases, the performance drops significantly. I am experiencing the following issues:

• Lag in Pop-ups: There is a noticeable delay before the Title Link pop-up appears.

• System Heaviness: The overall learning environment feels sluggish and stressful to use.

Does anyone know of any workarounds or settings to keep the dictionary lookup fast? For example:

1. Is there a recommended limit for the number of cards in a single dictionary Study Set?

2. Would splitting the dictionary into multiple smaller Study Sets help?

3. Are there any specific “Title Link” settings I should toggle to improve responsiveness?

I really love this feature for legal studies, so I would appreciate any advice on how to keep the environment lightweight.

Thanks in advance!

2

Hello

Turning off the excerpt assist feature and restarting the device may work better.

Kind Regards,

Support Team

3

I am using a MacBook Air M3, so I expect the hardware to handle this. Is there any way to allocate more cache memory to the Title Link index? Or is there a limit to the number of linked cards that the software can handle smoothly?

4

Hello

This cannot be set and completely depends on device performance. Ensure sufficient free space.

Kind Regards,

Support Team

5

Thank you for your support!

I have another related question regarding the priority or display order of Title Links when the same title exists in multiple Study Sets.

For example, suppose I have the following setup:

• Study Set A: Contains a card titled “1”.

• Study Set B: Also contains a card titled “1”.

• Study Set C: The material I am currently studying, which references both Study Set A and B as external dictionaries.

When I click on the Title Link for “1” in Study Set C, both cards from A and B appear in the pop-up. My question is: How does MarginNote 4 determine which card is displayed first?

Is the order based on:

1. The alphabetical order of the Study Set names?

2. The order in which the Study Sets were added/linked?

3. The “Last Modified” date of the cards?

4. Or is it simply random?

In legal studies, I often have overlapping titles (like article numbers or specific legal terms), so being able to control or understand which source takes priority would be extremely helpful for a more efficient workflow.

If there is a way to manually set the priority of specific Study Sets, please let me know.

6

Hello

according to the creation time of the card

Kind Regards,

Support Team

7

Hi Support Team,

Thank you for the clarification.

Since the order is currently fixed by “Creation Time,” it is difficult to manage when my study focus changes. In legal studies, the “core” materials change depending on the subject I am currently focusing on.

Ideally, the priority should be more ad-hoc and flexible. I would like to suggest the following improvements:

1. Manual Reordering of Linked Study Sets: The ability to drag and drop the linked Study Sets in the settings to determine their priority. (e.g., If I move “Civil Law” to the top, its Title Links should appear first).

2. Toggle Priority by “Last Accessed”:

An option to prioritize cards from the Study Set that was most recently opened or used.

3. Starring/Favoriting Study Sets:

A way to “star” a specific Study Set to ensure its cards always appear at the top of the Title Link list.

Since the most relevant source depends entirely on what I am studying at the moment, having a way to adjust this priority would significantly improve the learning workflow.

I hope you will consider adding more flexible sorting options in a future update.

Best regards,

8

Hello

Thank you for writing in. I have raised your request to our Development team but we cannot assure a time frame when it will be put into effect. Please feel free to contact us again if you need any assistance and we will be happy to provide further help.

Kind Regards,

Support Team

9

Hi,

Thank you for the reply. However, based on my own testing, the “Creation Time” seems to apply only to cards within the same Study Set.

My question is specifically about the priority between different Study Sets.

The Experiment: I have two different Study Sets, Set A and Set B, both used as external dictionaries. Both contain a card titled “Article 1” (第1条). Even if a card in Set B was created later than the one in Set A, Set A’s card still appears at the top of the Title Link list. This proves that “Card Creation Time” is not the deciding factor for the order between sets.

What I want to know is: How does MarginNote 4 determine the priority among multiple Study Sets?

Is it determined by:

  1. The order in which the Study Sets were toggled ON in the dictionary settings?

  2. The alphabetical order of the Study Set titles?

  3. The Internal ID of the Study Set itself?

  4. The order of the Study Sets in the main Library view?

Knowing this logic is crucial for law students who use multiple statutes as dictionaries. If we know the rule, we can at least try to organize our sets to show the most important laws first.

Could you please check with the dev team about the hierarchy logic for multiple Study Sets?

Best regards,

10

I am using an iPad Air (M3 chip, 8GB RAM). Given the high performance of the M3 chip, I am surprised to experience lag in the Title Link pop-ups.

When you say it depends on the “device,” could you clarify which specific resource is being throttled or exhausted?

1. RAM (Memory) Allocation: Does MarginNote 4 have a cap on how much RAM it can use for the Title Link index? Even though my iPad has 8GB of RAM, is the app only using a small portion for dictionary lookups?

2. Single-Core CPU Performance: Is the search algorithm single-threaded? I noticed that during the lag, the rest of the iPad seems fine, suggesting the bottleneck is within the app’s processing of large Study Sets.

3. Database Indexing: Does the speed depend on the number of “linked” Study Sets, or the total number of cards? Is there a “Database Defragmentation” or “Rebuild Index” feature that could help on high-end M3 devices?

I am a law student referencing extensive statutes. If an M3 device still struggles, it suggests the feature needs better optimization for “Power Users.”

Is there a way to manually increase the cache size or force the app to keep the index in memory for faster access?

Best regards,