The Mind Mapping Software Weblog

Mac software developers add Leopard compatibility to their mind mapping apps

Concurrent with Apple's launch of version 10.5 of Mac OS X - "Leopard" - several mind mapping software developers have announced incremental upgrades of their applications to make them compatible with the new version of the Mac operating system.

Yesterday, CS Odessa announced the availability of ConceptDraw MINDMAP v5.2 for the Mac, which includes Quick Look technology support, integration with iCal and renewed user interface that supports Leopard's rich visual look-and-feel.

NovaMind Software Pty. has also announced the availability of Leopard-compatible versions of NovaMind Express, Pro and Platinum for the Mac.

NovaMind 4 Platinum for Mac features innovative new presentation mode

The developers at NovaMind Software Pty. have recently launched NovaMind 4 Platinum for the Mac OS X platform. It features a very cool new presentation mode that breaks new ground in terms of functionality. Here's how it works:

The NovaMind Presenter divides your map into a series of "slides," consisting of your entire map, each topic and its associated subtopics. Like other mind mapping software presentation modes, it "walks" you clockwise around your map and its contents, branch by branch. Where NovaMind differs is that it doesn't make you, the presenter, click on each branch and sub-branch to expand it. It does that for you, creating a set of views with each topic and sub-topic automatically centered on the screen. This enables you to focus on presenting your remarks, and eliminates the need for you to fiddle with your map while you're talking. Nice!

The top of the Presenter screen (above right) contains an elapsed time clock and the actual time - both of which are designed to help you keep track of how much time you have to complete your presentation.

Below that is a split screen; the left side displays the view of your map that your audience sees, while the right side displays the "slide" that will appear next on the screen. The development team designed the Presenter in this way to give you a preview of what's next, so you can mentally prepare for it.

Finally, below the split screen is a selector panel, which displays a timeline of all of the map views that will be part of your "slide show." You can use it to jump to any "slide" in your presentation at any time. I can see how this will come in especially useful when a member of your audience asks, "Can you go back a few slides to X?"

Not only does NovaMind Presenter display your map's topics and sub-topics in an attractive manner, it also presents any attached notes. These pop up as yellow "sticky notes," which your audience can then read. Note to self: Don't be too verbose when adding ideas to notes, or nobody will be able to read them when you present your map!

If you want to see NovaMind Presenter in action, founder and lead developer Gideon King has created a Quicktime video clip that explains all; it does a great job of showing just how elegantly this works!

NovaMind 4 Platinum for Mac also offers some new task and project management features, which you can learn about here.

New Productivity Pack for Microsoft Office now available from Mindjet

Mindjet recently announced the availability of a new Productivity Pack, which is designed to help users to get up to speed with MindManager Pro 7's Microsoft Office integration capabilities. This special collection of seven MindManager maps and one white paper provides helpful "how to" instructions for moving information to and from Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, Project and Visio. The Productivity Pack is free for anyone who purchases or upgrades to MindManager Pro 7 by October 31, 2007.

A challenge to mind mapping software developers

Business mind mapping expert Wallace Tait has thrown down a challenge to the developers of mind mapping software: In a letter recently posted to the MindManager Users group on the Ning social networking site, Wallace stronply encourages them to expand their programs to include concept mapping and flowcharting. His post has generated a very interesting discussion thread, which I encourage you to read.

In a separate e-mail conversation with me, I asked Wallace what the benefit of such an integrated software solution would be? He indicated that all three types of visual mapping tools are already widely accepted in their own right - flowcharting for business process mapping, concept mapping for root cause analysis and representing organizational knowledge, and mind mapping primarily for brainstorming and organization and sharing of information. In his opinion, making it possible to embed files, links and other metadata into a visual map - regardless of whether it is a mind map, concept map or flowchart - would add tremendous value to businesses that are increasingly dependent on the ability to create, manage and present information and knowledge effectively. And the ability to shift seamlessly from one type of map to another would be very valuable.

So what do you think? Would you find such a mind mapping/concept mapping/flowcharting application to be of value? While I would appreciate you posting your comments here, please be sure to also add your thoughts to the discussion thread on the MindManager Users Ning group. I look forward to reading your thoughts!

27 ways digital entrepreneurs can use mind mapping

Raj Dash recently added a very interesting post to his Bootstrapper Blog entitled, Secrets of Thinking Outside the Box: 27 Ways Digital Entrepreneurs Can Use Mindmapping. It covers a wide range of applications for mind mapping software - everything from business plan design and website planning to goal setting and exploring alternate options. If you're new to mind mapping and want to know what it's capable of, read this blog post. In addition to conveying a lot of very useful information, it also provides numerous links to other mind mapping articles and resources on the web.

What's new in FreeMind version 0.9.0

Last year, I reviewed version 0.8.0 of FreeMind, the open source mind mapping software program that has made significant strides in recent years. In early September, the development team introduced a beta version of 0.9.0. While still somewhat buggy, it shows the direction this unique program is taking.

Here's what's new in FreeMind version 0.9.0:

HTML compatible notes: The notes window now has 2 tabs, named "layout view" and "HTML code view." You can not only edit your notes in a rich text format, but also go under the hood to manipulate the HTML and tweak its appearance even further.

Attributes: You can assign values to map nodes in numbered pairs. I have no idea what this can practically be used for, and unfortunately the FreeMind wiki doesn't provide a clear explanation of what it does.

Filters: You can create map filters, which can be saved. Clicking on funnel icon in the toolbar opens up a panel just below the toolbar where you can add, edit and utilize filters. It toggles on and off. You can filter on text in your map nodes, on greater than/less than values, icons and more.

Scripting via Groovy: Groovy is a Java-based programming language, which can be used to automate a variety of tasks, such as setting the color for all child nodes, add the modified date to a node's text and other arcane capabilities that only a programmer could truly appreciate. Examples of what it can do are here.

Support for TaskJuggler, an open source project management tool for Linux that enables you to add tasks and resources to map nodes in such a format that they can be read in TaskJuggler when exported.

User icons: If you add PNG images to a specific program directory, FreeMind will regard them as part of its library of map icons. This allows you to customize the icon library.

Latex plug-in: This enables you to add mathematical formulas to your map nodes.

Find and replace: Found nodes can be sorted by date, text, icons, created, modified and notes text. From the find and replace dialogue, you can choose: export selected nodes, replace all, replace selected, go to, and select. Sounds pretty flexible!

Tabs: Open maps are now displayed in tabs.

I wouldn't recommend using this version of FreeMind for any production work, but it's a good opportunity to catch up on where the open source development team of Freemind is headed. You can download FreeMind version 0.9.0 here.

New website provides focused search on mind mapping resources

Vic Gee, author of the Mind Mapping Blog and cataloguer of mind mapping applications, created a Google Co-op search engine focused on mind mapping a number of months ago. Most recently, he moved it to a new domain name, MindMapSearch.org. It includes 177 websites, and appears to be very comprehensive. Thanks for creating this resource, Vic!

Recent coverage about my mind mapping software e-book

Here are links to some recent coverage of Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping Software - Second Edition, which I published just a few months ago. FYI!

Kaye Nightingale - Inspired by IT Blog - She just posted a very detailed review of my e-book in her blog, with notable quotes and tips excerpted from each chapter. She seemed to really like the fact that I sought out the knowledge of other mind mapping experts, which results in a real diversity of perspectives and insights. Here's what she had to say: "I have just finished reading this e-book by Chuck Frey, which I highly recommend. (It) is an excellent collection of snippets of information mixed with practical insights from experienced business users. (It's) one of those very useful resources, written by someone who really understands the subject matter, and who knows other people who are worth talking (and listening) to. Thought provoking and well worth the time to absorb the contents."

Arthur Vanderbilt - Radiant Thought Blog - In a comment on Eric Blue's blog, he posted this comment: "I've read the first edition, and it was excellent. It had some extremely useful techniques, and is organized very well. The second edition had so much more stuff in it than the first that I was completely blown away. The articles and best practices shared in the new case studies are just awesome. I highly recommend this book to anyone who uses mind mapping software."

James Breeze - UsableWorld Blog - In a recent post, James had this to say about my e-book: "The book is a comprehensive, easy reading, overview of Mind Mapping with plenty of examples of how to do it properly.  I really liked Chuck's comprehensive links to other websites and PDFs about mapping. Of particular interest was his suggestion to map all of your mind maps, for anything, onto one huge map for good knowledge management and recall."

It's nice to see this kind of feedback from such a wide variety of bloggers - thanks, everyone!

ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5.1 unveiled

CS Odessa, in its ConceptDraw Lab blog, recently announced the availability of ConceptDraw MINDMAP version 5.1. This free upgrade for existing users improves the program's speed and performance, and fixes a number of bugs. The only new addition to version 5.1 is an auto-save feature, which prevents users from losing their maps if the program shuts down abruptly.

Using mind mapping software for life planning

This strategy is excerpted from my new e-book, Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping Software - Second Edition. I hope you find it to be valuable in your personal planning efforts!

Many people spend more time planning a party than planning their life. Why? Because it’s hard work! If you’ve been putting off planning your life’s future direction and scope, why not try utilizing mind mapping to bring clarity – and some fun – to this process.

A mind map is an excellent tool for life management because it can help you to clearly define your values, life goals and the strategies and step-by-step plans to achieve them. Here are some tips on how to manage your life planning with mind mapping software:

1. Define your main goal as the central topic of your map.

2. Next, add your primary values to your map as free-floating topics. They don’t need to be connected to the central topic, but they are positioned like this because they ought to have an influence on any plans you make.

3. Add primary topics, one representing each of the major life roles or domains in your life (i.e., work, family, church member). Life is cut from one whole cloth. In other words, changes you make in one role of your life inevitably influence other parts of your life. So it’s smart planning to consider how your main life goal may be realized through the lens of each of your major roles. Also, because the mind mapping format helps you to see your goal in the context of all of your roles, it should help you to achieve improved balance in your life.

4. Then add secondary topics, the steps and strategies you will undertake to achieve your goal within the context of each life role.

If your life planning map becomes cluttered with too many goals, consider creating sub-maps where you can engage in detailed planning for each life role.

Don’t forget that you can not only use your mind mapping software to define your goal implementation plans, but also to monitor and track your progress. Many mind mapping programs enable you to attach dates or deadlines to branches (several even enable you to transfer them as tasks to Microsoft Outlook).

You can attach numerical rankings to the action steps in your plans, making it easy to see what you need to do first, next, and so forth. In addition, some mind mapping programs enable you to attach symbols or markers to branches, which show you what percentage of completion you have achieved for each action item in your plans.