Mindmappers' Forum

vicforum

This is where questions and opinions about which software is right for which purpose in mapping and organizing information visually can be aired.

I decided to restart the thread as the original one got off-topic, but you can go back to the original here:

http://www.mind-mapping.org/forum/discussion/18/do-google-ads-on-this-site-stretch-objectivitys

h2cm

Hi Vic, I'm working on an extended essay (20k words thus far) on conceptual spaces and in the introductory part have found that I need a table comparing some of the key characteristics of mind mapping - vis-org software. So your question is of interest here! Obviously what is right for you depends on your purpose(s). The paper concerns Hodges' model - a conceptual framework so one property for comparison would be:

Is there an underlying structure that concepts - map items are mapped upon?

For Hodges' the answer is yes... The home page of the site below represents this structure:

http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/

I will do a lit search and see what i can turn up - there must some comparisons out there.

btw - I maintain a listing of vis - diagram software resources at:

http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/linksTwo.htm

My blog will pick up this theme over the next few years - trying to use Drupal to create a new site:

http://hodges-model.blogspot.com/

Look f/w to what follows here.
Regards,
Peter J.
Hodges' Health Career - Care Domains - Model
http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/
h2cm: help2Cmore - help-2-listen - help-2-care
http://twitter.com/h2cm

vicforum

Hello @h2cm,

Re "Is there an underlying structure that concepts - map items are mapped upon?" ... mind maps are trees with some freedom to move outside the tree by making connections that are not considered part of the hierarchy.

Concept maps are hierarchies, but not necessarily trees, where cross-connections are encouraged and counted as part of the hierarchy. For your large collection of information, I would consider the concept map model to be the most suitable. I have a Knol on concept maps here: http://knol.google.com/k/vic-gee/concept-map/21crz04ar3zh1/9#

But if you mean are there templates laying out an ontology of how information should be organized, I'm not aware of one - other than classics like Dewey - and the freedom to decide how to carve things up is one of the joys of mind mapping for me.

For concept mapping, it's hard to beat CMAP Tools - the classic concept mapping tool. You would need to make many maps and link them.

John England of Mindsystems recently announced on Twitter that he is making a comparison matrix of the type you describe. It's a work in progress, but he has announced a target of doing so by the end of this month. It's here: http://www.mindsystems.com.au/reviews/index.php

Vic

vicforum

Hi Verdaccio,

Sorry for late reply - been busy.

The one that first comes to mind is Visio. That can save working hyperlinks in the text of an object.

I can suggest two other packages that will allow you to make flowcharts and store the files on your own PC instead of on another company's server online, but I can't answer off-hand about the availability of workable hyperlinks in those: One is FlowBreeze and the other is Smartdraw. You could try these and see if they support hyperlinks.

I'll tweet about this request and see if anyone else can come up with anything.

Vic (@VicGee on Twitter)

http://www.mind-mapping.org/

The master list of mind mapping &

information management software

Hello,

I´m wondering which software best fits the following needs:

-- PC desktop, simple, for individual home use

-- allows manual arrangement of subtopics

in addition:

-- free or relatively inexpensive software

-- allows for coloring of branches, formatting options of nodes

-- allows for linking to doc,ppt etc

Node need an explanation of a few paragraphs

-- notes

Thanks very much for any recommendations.

Henry

Hi,

I'm wondering whether there is a concept/mind mapping tool out there suitable for my needs or if I'm better off trying something like Vensim or Stella.

I want a mapping tool that is;
searchable
the nodes can contain text, graphs and HTML links
I can format the nodes and the connecting branches
I can get a table or some such view of the interconnecting nodes when I click on one node

I'd also like it to look quite 3D-ish but not like topicscape. I prefer the visuwords style.

Quite a tricky list I think, but I'm hopeful.

Thank you for any advice received.

Jane

NMarcel

Hi @Henry and @janemc I think ThinkComposer can help you. It is in Beta testing but will be lauched before half year.

It support format coloring and even design your own node types (Definitions). No 3D-ish.

@Henry There will be multiple license types/editions, prices and discounts. The very basic, up to 50 Ideas (nodes+lines) will be free for non-commercial use.

@janemc When you click an Idea (either a Concept/Node or a Relationship/Line) you can see:

- A supertree of the Origins or "Pointed by" Ideas.

- A subtree of the Targets or "Pointing to" Ideas.

I hope you give it a try.

Néstor.

vicforum

@Henry You could look at Xmind and FreePlane. Both are free. (Xmind does have a Pro version but the free version is very capable.) Both are PC desktop packages and allow coloring branches, formatting nodes, adding notes to nodes and allow files to be linked to nodes. Freeplane is a little more nerdy to use, but as a consequence can be more flexible.

But this ... "allows manual arrangement of subtopics" ... is trickier. Very few mind mapping packages give complete freedom in placement, especially once you get past the first node level. This often frustrates me. In Xmind you can select "Allow overlaps" in the Modify menu. And you can get more freedom moving nodes while holding down the Alt key. But this doesn't allow levels further out from the first level to be changed.

If you like Buzan style maps, then iMindMap Basic is another possibility. This gives complete freedom of placement and is free.

@janemc As Vensim and Stella are expensive process simulation products, I wonder if concept or mind mapping can suit your planned use?

Topicscape, which I've used as my main info organising tool since I was a beta tester, is the only 3D one I know. iMindMap has a 3D way of displaying a 2D map, but that's not really 3D.

VisualThesaurus is similar to VisuWords. It's nice but you can't define your own maps. It is built on ThinkMap, but that is a development kit, and at US$5,000 is horrendously expensive.

Can you tell us more about the use you plan to make of the software?

Vic

Hi,

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm hoping to build a map of addiction across numerous substances and including behavioural addictions (eg. gambling), with all different causes and risk factors from genetics to sociology based factors. Quite ambitious.

I really like the look of Thinkmap but you're right at 5K i think I can give it a miss.

I was hoping not to use a system dynamics tool like vensim or stella but I can't seem to find anything else which gives you the list of interacting nodes that I want, however, I like the idea of the super- and subtrees given in Thinkcomposer, so maybe I'll look into that.

I figure I'll give up on the 3D, which is more for my own entertainment than any real functionality in the map.

I was looking at VUE which looks quite friendly and someone recommended cmaps to me, but that looks very complicated.

Thanks for your help.

Jane

vicforum

@janemc I use cmap sometimes. I don't find it complicated, though it's not quite as user friendly as some software. I find it less complicated than VUE, maybe because I've used it more often..

Vic

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