A serious challenger to existing iPhone mind mapping apps swam into my view today: iFreeMind.

The site says “iFreeMind is a native software on iPhone for reading, showing and modifing the files created by FreeMind, and also for creating, writing the FreeMind compatible format files.”

This appears to hold an impressive hand of FreeMind capabilities and sets the bar for other iPhone apps to beat: Icons; detailed colour control; built in help (press a button an keep it pressed to see what it does); import from and export to PCs and Macs; and portrait and landscape modes.

The sample map suggests that nodes can contain followable links, but I think they imported a FreeMind mind map that makes the claim for FreeMind itself (it does have this capability) but as far as I can see, iFreeMind does not have it yet.

There’s a blog (probably the software developer’s) that gives a potted help file.

Update: There is a free, read-only iPhone app from the same author call FreeMindLite.  You will need to create your maps on a PC or Mac, and can then import them.

Vic
http://www.mind-mapping.org/
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software

A new mind mapping application for the iPhone (OS 3.0 required) has just appeared.

It’s a FreeMind look-alike and boasts compatibility with FreeMind files. To an extent that’s true: I can make a mind map and export it via email to a PC and open it in FreeMind.

$2.99 won’t buy a lot of software, of course, but this one is very limited.  Central node, branches out, all one colour, and that’s about it.  No import capability, no association lines, no colour or styles.

It’s likely they will update with greater capabilities soon.

Vic
http://www.mind-mapping.org/
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software

I recently dipped a small toe in the Twitter water (@vicgee) and am starting to find some interesting sources.  It’s a stream of very mixed information - some twitterers telling us they’ve just got up (oh, really? . . . yawn), some quoting aphorisms or saying what their own thinking is just then, others pointing to interesting finds on the web, and some making their own articles known to a larger audience.

“Just got up”  No comment. 

Aphorisms and thoughts  The second can often be variously stimulating, amusing, provocative, challenging and mind-opening.  Some twitterers reveal deep thoughts.

Pointer to interesting finds  The third help me find things I might never have seen.

Announcement of articles  And an example of the fourth type is one I want to let you know about: Eric Blue’s recommendations from his analysis of 15 tools for visual knowledge management.

Well worth a look.

Vic Gee

http://www.mind-mapping.org/
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software

Arjen ter Hoeve has just started a new site called Mind Maps Unleashed.

He believes that many mappers make maps and don’t use them, and now offers a training course to remedy this.  So far he has covered topics like:

1. Looking & Seeing, Knowing & Understanding
2. 3 Questions Regarding Children, Age And Mind Mapping
3. The Next Bad Thing - The Standalone Mindmap
4. Mind Mapping And Focus - We’ve Only Just Begun!
5. Trends in Mind Mapping Since 2004

Why not surf on over to Arjen’s site and see what you think?

Vic

http://www.mind-mapping.org/
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software

I’ve been meaning to add Freeplane to mind-mapping.org for a while, but its alpha status was holding me back.  Now I’ve heard from Ryan Wesley, Freeplane’s project manager, that overall it is pretty stable.  

They are putting out a call for more contributors and more users, so let’s look at Freeplane:

It is an open source and free mind-mapping program that resulted from the forking of the FreeMind code base 18 months ago.  FreeMind developers had different ideas about how that software should develop, and the result was a split.  Freeplane has a 6-member team and registered at Sourceforge in November 2007.  Since then they have been refactoring the code so that they can be more reponsive to requests from the user community.

It is still in alpha so it should only be used for testing for now. The Sourceforge wiki for Freeplane says “Our main goals for Freeplane are: Better Mind Map editor than FreeMind”.

There is no policy identification of feature differences yet - and these are what I believe a user will want to know before making a commitment to Freeplane.  I think it would be positive to have a strong statement of where they are going, based not so much on what Freeplane is not, but more on areas that will be different - a vision that will tell potential users why they should consider Freeplane. 

In fairness, they do say “already we have some long asked for features such as labelling graphical links, spell checker and improved filtering functionality” but I think it will take more to move FreeMind users.  When I asked him about it Ryan agreed, and said “In terms of the real difference, this does need to be clarified - inside and outside of the team. I have a vision for the software, but I’m not actually a coder.”  He went on “I think we should support LaTeX, [node] clones, and maybe some maths/logic functionality.”  He promises that users “should see a pace of development that will keep them excited.” 

I did prise a list of the present differences between Freeplane and FreeMind out of him, and have included that at the foot of this post.

Here’s a Freeplane screenshot:

Freeplane can open FreeMind (.mm) files at present, but there can be no guarantee that this will always be so. In fact, forum discussions about changing the file extension, and working towards an Open Document Standard format suggest that there is no desire to stay aligned with FreeMind.  That’s not to say that import and interoperability will not be maintained as an option.  I hope it is:  Vistors to my interoperability pages will know my enthusiasm for mind map file interchange capabilities.

There is a Freeplane forum at sourceforge which shows plenty of activity, and they promise frequent releases, so why not download it and provide some feedback?

Update: Ryan Wesley has posted a comment to point out that Dimitry Polivaev is the Freeplane project administrator on Sourceforge as well as being the driving force behind the code redesign.  I know that in the past he was a major contributor to FreeMind, so he’s someone the FOSS community, and mind mappers especially, owe hearty thanks to, together with others involved in both of these great projects.

Vic

http://www.mind-mapping.org/
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software

Differences so far from FreeMind:

• Spell checker
• Labelling of graphical links
• Load last used maps on start-up - save tabs between sessions
• Improved search options - Ctrl+F
• Filter usability improvements including filter menu and icons, filter history and date-based filter
• Categorized icons
• Selected node position is kept after filtering
• Map background colour can be changed for each map
• Note editor can be positioned to the left, right, top or bottom of the screen
• Structured HTML paste
• Zoom saved between sessions
• Zoom keeps selected node position
• Personal modification colour
• Centre selected node. User setting and action.
• Hidden Edges option to emulate free floating nodes and annotation
• New edge style - horizontal
• Hot keys can be set by pressing mouse button1 + ctrl on menu item
• Use default font and paragraph spacing for notes too
• The same zoom applies to all maps
• Plain text search for filter in html nodes added
• Tool tips for nodes can be switched off in preferences.
• Link Navigation History can be used if CTRL is hold when you press navigation buttons
• Menu bar can be turned on and off in the right click (in empty space) menu.
• New XSLT export dialog translations from Eric (Ewl)
• New options for saving folding

Craig Mecham of upcoming Strengthsmapper.com has put out an invitation for a limited number of Beta testers for the company’s ”personal development and team-building” add-in for MindManager 8.

He did this in the form of a comment on my most recent post.  Blog comments are rather hidden unless you’re looking for them, so this post is to make it more visible and provide you with a link.

For participation, Craig promises “a free download of the software add-in along with the best selling book ‘Strengths Based Management’”.

To know more, see the full comment here.

If you join up, after your participation, why not come back and tell fellow subscribers to the mind-mapping.org blog what you thought?

Vic

http://www.mind-mapping.org/
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software

This week on mind-mapping.org, I have added four new visual thinking tools, Debategraph, Maltego, MindBerry and Prezi.

Debategraph

This is a wiki tool that allows public debates to be conducted in a visual environment.

Maltego

Described as a forensics application for the mining, gathering and representation of information in a meaningful way, this is a flexible development of an application once known as ‘Evolution’.

MindBerry

Mind mapping for the BlackBerry.  AFAIK the sole offering on that phone, compared with at least eight for the iPhone.  Must be cool to have the market to yourself!

Prezi

Prezi is a beautifully designed and elegant zooming approach to presentations.  Freedom from PowerPoint’s one-screen-after-another at last, offering a fluid flow through the ideas to be exhibited.

Vic

http://www.mind-mapping.org/
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software

There is a new version of Topicscape Pro out now - version 2.0 and it’s a major upgrade. 

Long-time followers of this blog will know that I was one of the early beta testers when Topicscape first went public.  I’ve used it ever since as an information organiser and even occasionally for mind mapping.

I tried out their new offering and was delighted to find that it has tags.  I’ve long wanted to gather stuff in my Topicscapes in ways that relate to what I’m doing at the time, not only based on how the items are related to one another.  Now, I can have the material I’m collecting for mind-mapping.org organised according to the type of map they make, and tag them in ways like “Next update”, “Waiting for screenshots”, or “Revised entry”.  Great.  Makes it much easier.

There are panels at the side that swing out now, when the cursor passes over them.  A much more direct way of getting at the controls than menus.  And there’s a slightly weird ”Halo” menu.  I don’t think I shall be using that - though new users will probably like it.

The price has gone up though - $110.  And all previous updates, from 1.0 to 1.6 have been free, but this one has to be paid for - $30 - unless you bought it since October last year, which I didn’t   :-(

Regards

Vic
http://www.mind-mapping.org/
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software

Recent mind mapping and related software:

eyePlorer for visual exploration of the sematic net

A very interesting tool, still in its infancy, this is very cool.  Many terms that you might enter yield a blank circle, but when you hit one for which they have analyzed content, it can be fascinating.  Then it will provide a view of the topic that would be hard (impossible?) to find elsewhere.  I look forward to seeing this mature.  More instructions and information about how it works would be good too.

It’s not a mind or concept mapping tool, nor is it a search engine, but it has a hint of each of these.  (click to see a large image)

SimpleMind

Yet another mind mapper for the iPhone.  There is a free version (search for SimpleMindX at the App Store) and another for $6.99.

FlowBreeze

This is an add on for MS Excel that can draw flowcharts and swim-lane diagrams from text.

 Keep an eye on eyePlorer - definitely one to watch.  That’s it for now. Soon I’ll be blogging about WikIT the mind mapping wiki - I’ve mentioned it in passing before, but it deserves a deeper look.

Vic
http://www.mind-mapping.org/
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software

Did you notice that my last post about new items in mind-mapping.org mentioned eight items but there were actually more in the database?  . . . . oh never mind.

That’s because I was playing with a new entry that fitted a need I had, and chatting back and forth with its very capable developer, Wouter van Oortmerssen, as he tweaked it and even kindly met a few of my requests.

This is an outliner . .  umm . . no, it’s a treemap . . . or maybe a spreadsheet.  Well, none of them and a little bit of all of them.  It’s TreeSheets, and I can only describe it as a new paradigm in capturing and organizing notes.  More visual and flexible than outlines, less diagrammatic than mind maps and much more interesting than spreadsheets.  And fast.  Did I mention fast?

Some background on why I like this little application.

I use MindManager for mind mapping, Topicscape for organizing very large globs of information and Notepad++ for capturing those thought, ideas and tasks that pop into the mind from time to time, ready to be dropped somewhere else later.

For those who haven’t used it, Notepad++ is a fast, free application that’s quick and simple, like Windows’ own Notepad, but more capable and useful.  I have a text file on the shared desktop of my main PC and a Quick Launch link to it on all the PCs in my office that I use.  So that tool beloved of practitioners of GTD - the single collection bucket - is quickly to hand wherever I am.  Well, almost single, there are the notes in my iPhone too.

But being a mind mapper, the last thing I really want from an ideas and notes dump is a long, linear list.  And that’s where TreeSheets comes in.  It has structure, it can express hierarchy and it has, to some extent, visual layout.  It can even store images.  Try that with Notepad++.

It is a kind of outliner in the sense that items are indented according to their level.  It’s a species of treemap in the sense that it displays a hierarchy as nested rectangles, making each level smaller to occupy a fixed space: It has notes inside notes down to… well I have no idea. I took it to 20 levels, it showed no sign of flagging but I got bored.  It has a touch of the spreadsheet because it starts as a plain, empty grid of cells, but then gets interesting.

TreeSheets overcomes the problem of deep nesting by continually reducing font size as the nested cells go deeper, all the way to 1 pixel (or less, for all I know).  Ridiculous, you think?  So did I, till I discovered that a simple swoosh of the mousewheel lets you zoom in and focus on a grid that, moments before, was all but invisible.

So now I have TreeSheets on all the PCs I use, and a link to my master sheet has replaced the link to the text file in the Quick Launch toolbars.

You’re probably wondering about the price.  Is Vic in on the affiliate selling schemes now then, with all this praise?  Is this going to link to one of those endless pages with yellow highlighting where you have to give your email address and pay $100 to get this exciting new product?

Well no actually, it’s free.  And Wouter doesn’t even ask for your email.  http://treesheets.com/

It’s still in development and there’s a new version every few days - just today I had an email from Wouter to say it can now print a sheet “with page setup, preview.. the works. Even does decent PDFs..”

I hope you like it as much as I do.

Vic

http://www.mind-mapping.org/
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software