I’ve done separate posts about two recent findings over the last couple of days: Diagramic and the filling in of a historical entry.  Time now for the remaining new items in Mind-mapping.org:

Creately

Creatley is a nice on-line diagram-drawing software with mind mapping as one of the type of diagrams supported.  It has a free version, and a Plus version with a rather special subscription scheme: Pay what you think it’s worth, provided you spare at least US$1/month!  Creately can make Flowcharts, Network Diagrams, Organizational Charts, UML Diagrams, Sitemaps, SWOT templates, Wireframes, UI Mockups as well as mind maps.

CUECards

CUECards is a hierarchical information store based on a ‘card’ metaphor – something of an outliner.

MindDecider

MindDecider incorporates a form of mind mapping and uses it as a framework for information gathering, analysis and calculation that leads to decision support.

SpicyNodes

I’ve seen SpicyNodes described as mind mapping software.  It really is not, unless you’re prepared to build a web site for each mind map you make.  But it does use the hierarchical mind mapping style for connections between nodes. 

Spicy nodes is a new approach to web site navigation.  It would be interesting to see mind mapping software that could export the code needed to build a SpicyNodes web

InFlow

Inflow is social and organisational network analysis software with many ways of displaying relationships.  It appears to be aimed at enterprises rather than individuals.

Hope to see you on Twitter before my next post.  Visit http://twitter.com/VicGee and click on the Follow button on the left.

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

New at Mind-mapping.org this week:

Google Wonder wheel
Shows search-result topics as a simple information map, with the usual detailed search results alongside.  To use it, search on your chosen term. Just above the results (and probably ads), you’ll see a link + Show options…  Click on that and select Wonder wheel from the list on the left hand side.  Click on the text on the wheel’s spokes to expand the visual presentation in that direction.

iFreeMind
Neat iPhone software for working with FreeMind files. Can create them too.  Serious challenger to other iPhone mind mappers.  Already blogged about this so I won’t repeat the picture, but it only just found its way into the Master List.  Disappointingly, this app has not been updated for nearly six months.

Mind Map Memo   
A mind map editor for the Android phone.

MindMap Navigator
Not stand-alone mind mapping software, but an add-on for Mindjet’s MindManager, aimed at simplifying visibility and navigation when working with big maps.

MAPMyself

Finally, in other news, I just noticed that Mapul has changed its name.  Now it’s called MAPMyself.  Can’t think why, but at least they kept the mapul.com domain.

I’ve been catching up with my to do list, and hope to post a few more entries soon.  Watch this space.  Or grab the RSS feed (hope that works – pls tell me if it doesn’t).

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

It’s been a month since the last update to mind-mapping.org, and the list of items to add has built up more sharply than usual so I decided it was time to clear the decks.  Apart from anything else, iPhone is keeping mindmappers busy with low-cost software to play with and there’s a new and imaginative application appearing every few days it seems.

Cohere
Cohere is a browser based collaborative visual thinking tool that allows many users to develop discussions and arguments on line and has more than a hint of concept maps about it.

Headspace
This iPhone application occupies the space partway between a 3D outliner and a mind mapper.

iThoughts
This is an impressive attempt to bring mind mapping to the screen of the iPhone.  

I have successfully imported large FreeMind maps to iThoughts.  With such a tiny screen, a large map is hard to make use of, but that can’t be blamed on iThoughts.

Jambalaya
Jambalaya is a plug-in for Protégé that allows domain experts to building knowledge-based systems to visualize ontologies.

Lovely Charts
A free basic diagrammer that works in your browser and has subscription-based collaboration options.

ThinkDigits
This is a fascinating fusion of information mapping and calculation.  Numbers in a calculator are normally pure abstraction, and this gives them real world context.  True creativity.

TPAssist
TPassist is an add on for MindManager aimed at enhancing time, task and project management using mind maps.

Webspiration
This web based version of Inspiration is now in public Beta, and free for now.

To see all the latest additions, just follow this link to additions to mind-mapping.org since 14th February 2009.

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

New on mind-mapping.org this week, there are even more new, browser-based mind-mapping apps, and some bits and pieces of news about other events.

Ekpenso

Ekpenso* is a new, web-based mind mapping application in the first stages of development, but they are offering off-line use with Google Gears from the get go.

* Footnote: According to their web site, “Ekpenso” is Esperanto for idea or thought.  Not a lot of people know that…

Mindjet Connect

Given MindManager’s reach — almost certainly greater than any other commercial mind map software** — the most important announcement recently must be the web server application launched by Mindjet.  This works with MindManager to support collaborative use of mind maps. 

I’ve got a couple of questions in at MindJet about the clients it works with and pricing anomalies.  Will fill in on these later.

Update July 16 2008: One lost email and a re-send later, I can now say how users interact with Connect.  You can use : The full desktop product (MM7 SP2); Firefox 2.0; Safari 2.0 (Mac); IE 6.0 (with XP); and IE 7.0 (with Vista) to access and edit mind maps hosted on the Connect server.

On price the range  for the standard package is:
1-9 users, $11.99/user/month on a month by month basis (less if you commit to a year)
50-99 users, $8.99/user/month for a 1-yr contract.

** Second footnote: OK, all you FreeMind folks, I know you almost certainly have way more downloads than any other mind map software, but I carefully wrote “commercial mind map software”, OK?)

Mind42 no longer Beta

Mind42 has come out of Beta.  It is still free, but they say they’re working on a ‘pro’ version.

Wisdomap

A new web-based mind map application from the UK, this one focuses on associated clips, images and other and multimedia related to a mind map but separated from the map itself to reduce confusion.

More about Chuck Frey’s re-organization of his blog

After his move, Chuck has gathered all his valuable reports and research in one place here: http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/research-reports/ 

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

New on mind-mapping.org this week are three map-related tools: C-TOOLS, CharTr and Mind2Chart.  And two that have been updated - VUE and MindVisualizer.

C-TOOLS

C-TOOLS is a server / web based combination for making concept maps in an educational environment.  It even has an automated mark-students’-work-as-you-go capability.

CharTr

It’s early in the life of this project but it is making progress.

Mind2Chart

Not a mind mapping product, but an add-on for MindJet’s MindManager that can produce Gantt charts from a mind map with project management data included.

MindVisualizer

MindVisualizer has been upgraded with multi-centred mind maps, and the association descriptions needed for proper concept maps.  Well worth a look.

VUE

 I have been hoping for screenshots from VUE and now I’ve found some on the site.  VUE recently became VUE 2.0, by the way.  Aimed at education, this has interesting possibilities for presentations.

That’s it for this week.

Vic
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software

Chuck Frey has done a comparison of the functions of some of the web based mind mapping services.  Starting from Tiffany Brown’s comparison chart that I blogged about almost a year ago (here: “Valuable comparison of four web-based services“), he did a great job of updating that and adding the new kid on the block, MeadMAP as well.  With Tiffany’s permission, he has now published this extended, in-depth comparison.  And what’s more, you can download it free.

For each of these web apps: MindMeister, Mindomo, Mind42, Comapping and MeadMAP – he has covered over 60 features and capabilities, including an overview (versions, pricing); map formats supported; map level features; topic-level features; import options; export options; publishing options; collaboration and other features.

Combined with Mind-mapping.ORG’s price and summary information on the Nineteen web-based mind mapping applications this makes a vital addition to the information available to those needing help in making a choice.

Great job Chuck!

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

Some new information organizing and visualization software for you.  Things got behind as I put together the web-based mindmappers reference pages (see my post of 14th December, 2007) and continued working on the interoperability reference resource.  The web-based one is done, as previously announced here, and the interop one is approaching first publication. 

But the entries for the mind mapping software database kept piling up, so I had a clear out over the holidays, and I bring you six new programs.

Dendroscope

Information mapping for a very specialised area, evolutionary biology, but this could be stretched to other forms of hiearchical visualization, and anyway it’s free.

LinkSViewer

This is a web-based service that gathers together information about people, companies, educational establishments and all sorts of relationships and turns them into an interconnected map.  A concept map of sorts.

Shared Space

An information management tool with a mind-mapping influence.

Skrbl

Not a mind mapping tool, but an on-line whiteboard that would allow collaborative mapping.

Surfulater

Organize files in an advanced form of outline, with graphics and web pages in a browsing screen.

Solution Language Tool

A mind map and activity map editor.  No easy download for the free trial, instead you must fill in a form having five mandatory fields.

Finally, a historical note:  Rationale has been in the database since July 2007, but I just learnt of Reason!Able that it replaced, and added it for the record.

Happy New Year!
Vic

 Update: Corrected spelling of Surfulater.  December 28, 2007

You know all those web-based mind mapping applications?  Well, I’ve been happily digging around for the past couple of weeks and putting all the information together and at last it’s published.  Now you can see at one web site which applications are totally free or, for the subscription ones, what you get for their free limited option.  

Here’s the front page:
http://www.mind-mapping.org/web-based-mindmappers/

The pages show which ones are absolutely free, the costs and options for the subscription ones and what you can get for free at those sites, and what level of publishing, sharing and collaboration each supports.

Most importantly, there’s a visualization to show at a glance which web-based mind mapping application can import or export MindManager and FreeMind:

I’ve included some web-based outliners as well, and some diagramming and whiteboard sites, provided they support sharing or collaborations.

So now there’s no excuse.  Get out there and get mapping, get collaborating and share your maps – while it’s free!

 Vic

Quite a few months ago, Eric Blue called for a mind maps standard format.  Nothing much seemed to come out of that for a while, so I started gathering together in one place enough information to make it possible to have some form of transfer using XSLT.  I have a good collection of this information now, and will be publishing that soon.  As Douglas Adams said “I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.”

Now Eric has another initiative, which supports the general spirit of his original movement: A multi-product mind map viewer that will take a mind map in one format and, via a FreeMind conversion, make it possible to embed it in a web page.  It can produce a Flash or Java mind map from one that you submit.  For now it can accept only a MindManager 5, 6 or 7 (.mmap) file, but Eric’s intention is to accommodate others.

Of course, this produces results that are read only, but anything that makes mind maps more accessible is a good thing in my book.

You can try out the viewer here: http://eric-blue.com/projects/mindmapviewer/

Good move Eric!

Vic

The results of Chuck Frey’s latest mind mapping survey are out.  This one was about web-based mind mapping applications.  It was aimed at learning how the mind mapping community uses them and looking at how we view their advantages, disadvantages and potential. 

This is a formative stage of mind mapping software development, and this collation of views will undoubtedly be useful to the software publishers, and help users’ voices be heard.

Here’s where to go to learn more, and download your own copy:
http://mindmapping.typepad.com/the_mind_mapping_software/2007/11/results-of-my-s.html

 Vic