Updating Tags but Keeping My Own Custom Tags

[mangosteen_alibaba]

I add custom tags to my cards to group them by my school’s blocks/lectures/etc. So, I also have my tags protected. However, I just saw in the latest update notes that there will be new tags and overhauled tags (like ‘Step 1 only"‘), so I was thinking of updating my deck to update the cards’ tags. However, is there a way to update the tags AND keep my custom tags?

[AnkiHub_AI_bot]

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You can safely get the new/overhauled tags and keep your own custom tags, as long as you keep your tags protected in AnkiHub.

Here’s how it works conceptually:

• AnkiHub only edits tags that are not protected (and that belong to the shared deck).
• Protected tags are never removed or changed by AnkiHub updates.
• Anki (and AnkiHub) simply add tags to the note’s tag list; they don’t need to remove your custom ones to update theirs.

So to do what you want:

1. Keep your school/block/lecture tags protected in the AnkiHub add-on (which you’ve already done).
2. Update/sync with AnkiHub as usual to receive the new/overhauled tags (like Step 1 only, etc.).
3. After syncing, your notes will have:
   • Your existing custom tags (still there, unchanged).
   • Any new or modified AnkiHub tags added on top.

Only if you were to unprotect your custom tags could they potentially be changed/removed by future AnkiHub tag updates.

If you’d like, you can share a screenshot of:

• The AnkiHub → Manage Protected Fields/Tags window, and
• A sample card’s tag list in the Browser,

and I can double‑check that everything is set up in the safest way for your workflow.

[Ahmed7]

Hello,

Yes, you can do this.

Here is how you can protect your personal tags: How to Protect Personal Tags from being Overwritten

After you’ve protected all the tags you want to protect,

1. Create a backup first, just in case
2. Then reset local changes to get the new tag changes/updates Resetting Local Changes

[mangosteen_alibaba]

Thanks. I got it working. Sorry to totally change the subject, but would it be possible to receive updates to the Extra field even though I have it protected? I don’t think it’d be possible, since that’s the whole purpose of protecting a field, but I like to add my own notes in the Extra field (not “lecture notes”, because Extra is immediately visible and doesn’t require me clicking a button), but would still like to receive any updates to that field

[Brian_BH]

Hello,

I would be happy to help.

Unfortunately it is not possible to both protect a field and receive updates to that field. That being said, you can set up the Lecture Notes field to display automatically, if you prefer

Using the AnKing Note types add-on (https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/952691989) you can opt to auto-reveal any particular field that you like:

In this way the field is immediately visible and does not require clicking any buttons (other than to initially set it up).

Please let me know if that answers your question, and if there’s anything else I can help with.

[mangosteen_alibaba]

Thanks for your reply and the suggestion. I’ll give it a try.