The Mind Mapping Software Weblog

Mind mapping expert offers life management template system

Kyle McFarlin, the Visual Strategist, has put together a set of MindManager templates for managing the various roles of your life - visually, of course - for free! Here's what the whole package includes:

• A mind map framework from which you can manage your personal and professional life.
• A files and folders framework to store your mind maps, documents and files that is tracked in the mind maps using Mindjet's File Explorer Map Part.
• A set of scenario templates on such topics as negotiation, strategic Management, strategic relationships and more.
• A map marker (icon) set to help you portray a variety of business, personal or social scenarios.

As a visual strategy consultant and Gyronix certified trainer, Kyle is uniquely qualified to put this set of resources together. He has worked with hundreds of people to help them to structure their mind maps and to manage projects effectively, and has discovered many commonalities in the types of information that they need to manage. He has distilled this into a set of maps that you may find to be quite valuable.

Why not download these templates and take a look at what they can do for you? I looked at them briefly, and they appear to be very comprehensive. Great work, Kyle!

MindMeister announces updates

The developers of web-based mind mapping application MindMeister recently announced some improvements and enhancements to it. They include the ability to:

• Assign multiple icons to a single topic
• Copy a branch as a text outline - you simply right click and select the "copy as text" command. A pop-up window appears on a layer "above" your map (above right), containing the indented text of the currently-selected topic and any "child" topics as plain text, which you can copy and paste into another program. Nice!
• Set a map as the default for your account

It's nice to see how MindMeister continues to evolve, and that its developers have been making regular updates and improvements to it.

New idea mapping lens on Squidoo

Jamie Nast, author of the excellent book, Idea Mapping, recently launched a page on Squidoo. It contains information about her book, recommended books from Amazon.com and examples of hand-drawn mind maps collected from the Flickr image hosting service. I'm sure she'll be adding more resources to it in the weeks and months ahead.

Mindjet launches MindManager 7

Today is the official launch date of MindManager 7, the newest iteration of Mindjet's popular mind mapping software program that I gave you an exlusive preview of earlier this month. Here is the press release from Mindjet, which provides a good overview of its most significant new and improved features.

See MindManager 7 - During Jamie Nast's June 5 webinar

Jamie Nast, author of the book IdeaMapping, just informed me that the Mindjet webinar she will be conducting on June 5, 2007 will be "powered by" MindManager 7. So if you want to get a good look at this new version of the world's leading mind mapping software program, be sure to register for this one-hour e-learning session.

Another new web-based mind mapping app: Mapul

With the advent of new tools for developing rich, web-based applications (such as Ajax, Flex and Microsoft's new Silverlight platform), web-based mind mapping tools seem to be proliferating like crazy lately. The newest one, now in beta testing, is Mapul. Created by a developer in Russia, it is powered by Silverlight, which is Microsoft's answer to Adobe's ubiquitous Flash environment. Mapul looks like it has some promise, but right now it's still a bit rough around the edges.

Functionally, Mapul resembles iMindMap, in that you use the mouse to "draw" new lines outward to add sub-topics to your map, in organic fashion. On his website, the developer says he has tried to adhere to the Tony Buzan method of mind mapping.

You can add images to map branches, or make them free-floating. One thing that I found initially confusing was how to add an image to my map. It turns out that Mapul only displays a list of images after you do a keyword search. But I suppose it's designed this way so that it loads quickly in your web browser. Once I figured that out, it appears that Mapul does contain a fairly extensive collection of images and artwork.

You can also add free-floating text to your map, and notes to the branches of your map. Using the scroll wheel of your mouse, you can easily zoom in and out. But I couldn't figure out how to move the map around the workspace, until I accidentally double-clicked on it. Mapul really needs a help screen! I talked to the developer about this, and he says he's going to create one to help new users get acclimated to the application's slightly unconventional interface. He also indicated that Mapul isn't "done" yet, so we may expect to see many improvements to it in the weeks and months ahead.

Visual Mind 9 is officially launched

Visual Mind 9, the latest version of Mind Technologies' mind mapping software program, has been available as a trial download for the last month or so, but was officially launched yesterday. Here is the news release. New in this version:

• Visual Mind 9 Server, which allows several users to work together on the same Visual Mind maps in real time.
• View Excel spreadsheet data inside of a Visual Mind map
• Hyperlinks can be viewed as "snapshots" - in other words, Visual Mind displays a thumbnail image of the web page along with the hyperlink
• Improved linking with Microsoft Outlook
• Map content filtering

What excites me the most about this new product introduction is the Visual Mind 9 Server. Considering that many users of visual mapping need to invite input from their co-workers and colleagues on their maps, this is a significant leap forward. This is the first time that a vendor of desktop mind mapping software has introduced a client-server environment for real-time collaboration. There are several web-based mind mapping tools that are starting to offer this capability, but this is the first time I've seen it offered by a developer of desktop visual mapping tools.

Updates released to online mind mapping tool Mindomo

The developers of Mindomo recently announced several improvements to their web-based mind mapping tool. Yesterday, Expert Software Applications announced that a new map styling feature has been added to Mindomo, with over 20 pre-defined styles. Map styles contain a list of properties for map topics, such as font, alignment, shape, background fill color and more. You can't edit the pre-defined map styles or "roll your own" yet, but you can select one style as the default for your account.

In addition, the developers added some options to Mindomo's export to PDF, rich text format (RTF) and text. Specifically, you can now generate a table of contents, set a numbering scheme for your map topics (including setting how many levels deep it will be applied) and you now have the option to include hyperlinks in your exported map contents.

Watch the Mindomo news page for further updates!

New Comapping web app is focused on collaboration

A new web-based mind mapping application, Comapping, has just emerged from beta testing and has been released to the world in version 1.0. This new tool is focused on providing geographically dispersed teams with real-time collaboration in a shared mapping environment. Comapping operates within a web browser, and features a well-designed, easy to use interface.

Just click on the "TRY IT FOR FREE" message on the Comapping home page, and the program's user interface loads quickly. You can add new topics using the "insert" key - nice! As I've mentioned in other posts and product reviews, this has practically become a de facto standard, and I'm glad to see that Comapping supports it. As you type in the name of your topic, a simple toolbar appears just below it, which enables you to quickly modify the size, style and color of your topic. Considering that one of the constraints of web-based mind mapping tools is the size of the user's screen, I think this is a very intelligent design decision.

You can easily focus in on a topic and develop it further. The top-most visible topic appears in a gray vertical band at the left side of the screen, and all topics radiate to the right. This arrangement makes excellent use of the workspace compared to a radial map, and may also help new users to get accustomed to visual mapping.

Comapping includes support for managing tasks within your maps, so it's easy to assign specific items to your colleagues and coworkers.

Inviting others to collaborate with you is as simple as filling out a form and submitting it. As your colleagues add topics to the shared map, their contributions appear in real time. Based on the video on the Comapping website, it looks like this works very well. I can't wait to try it with someone!

The developers of Comapping wisely gave it the ability to import MindManager maps. You can also export maps created in Comapping to MindManager's file format, RTF (rich text format) and HTML.

What if you make mistake while working on a visual map in the Comapping web environment? The developers have wisely included a map recovery service in their offerings. All maps created with Comapping are backed up hourly, and are kept for 90 days. So you can easily request that your map be returned to its state at a specific date and time.

In short, it looks like the developers of Comapping have really paid a lot of attention to detail. I encourage you to try this web-based mapping tool today. If you like it, you can sign up for an account, which costs US$11.99 for 6 months - very affordable!

MindVisualizer 1.0 is launched

Yesterday, the developers of MindVisualizer, a new mind mapping software program that I told you about last October, announced that it is now available in version 1.0. Some notable features of this application include:

• Complete flexibility in positioning topics on the screen
• Flexible topic link styles, which may include text captions (which follow the curvature of the link lines)
• Support for multiple hyperlinks per topic
• The ability to create a new, linked map from any topic
• A customizable user interface with floatable/dockable toolbars, so you can arrange the program's workspace in the way that makes the most sense to you

One of MindVisualizer's most interesting features is the idea of the "home map." Many mind mapping experts recommend that you create a master map, which contains links to all of your other maps. But it's up to you to create it. The developers of MindVisualizer have thoughtfully included a home map template, which enables you to quickly add links to your most important files, applications and maps - and, most importantly, the program incorporates a home map icon in the toolbar, so you can quickly access your master map. Nice!

For a full list of MindVisualizer's features, please click here.

A licensed copy of this new mind mapping program costs US$79; a 30-day fully functional trial version of the program is also available for download. Overall, it looks like the developers of MindVisualizer are off to a promising start; they plan to add much more functionality to the program in the months ahead.