Comments on: On Mindmeister, XMIND and Mind Mapping

By: videolar

videolar — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:50:42 +0000

Did you tested Cmap tools?, I am great fan of mindmaps, I used to work with freemind, but since last month I am running a personal experiment with CmapTools(concept maps). One challenge with Freemind is how to link similar concepts without repeating it on the map. Cmap show me an alternative way.

By: Ben Tremblay

Ben Tremblay — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:07:59 +0000

The big 3 I cite regularly are cMap, Compendium, and Rationale (in no particular order). There are quite a few good articles and blog posts doing the obvious comparisons (e.g. in the Rational google group); my own "Gnodal at LJ" started as an ongoing survey of that.

By: brett

brett — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:17:04 +0000

I just checked it out and it will definitely take a more in depth look. It looks like all of the connectors become verbs and nodes become nouns, but at first glance seems a little limiting as far as stream-of-consciousness brainstorming goes. But my curiosity is piqued.

XMIND and MindManager both allow for associations between nodes in a similar fashion, with callout points on the line that connects the node. I’m trying out MindManager right now for comparison to XMIND, so that post will be coming soon. I have to say, after all of the things I’ve tried, FreeMind is still a damn good piece of software. I just wish it was a native Macintosh app :).

By: Aldenor

Aldenor — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:56:21 +0000

Hi,

By: brett

brett — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:00:21 +0000

Yes, David Allen espouses mindmapping as a method of clearing the mind and that’s an application which I can wholeheartedly testify works well in my life. That’s essentially the root of every use I have for it; clearing out all of my thoughts so that there’s room for more, and letting the sparks fly (rapidly). I wouldn’t say it’s any kind of way to organize a task list, but it’s a perfect intermediate step for emptying the trash.

By: Ben Tremblay

Ben Tremblay — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:30:12 +0000

Brett wrote “Sitemapping, brainstorming, decision making and other “getting going” processes are where mindmapping makes my life easier”.

Vic Gee from Mind-Mapping.org just commented on my LJ and pointed me to his (new?) http://www.mindmapsearch.org … “Getting Things Done” is one of his categories there.

By: brett

brett — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 15:03:44 +0000

I would say that maps are, in my case, for brainstorming. They don’t fit well for long-term project management unless the integrate extremely well with my other apps, and it this point none of the desktop software seems to.

Sitemapping, brainstorming, decision making and other “getting going” processes are where mindmapping makes my life easier. I’ve been mindmapping most of my blog articles before writing lately.

FreeMind I love for being open source, easy to navigate, compatible with everything and highly developed by the community. Mindomo I’m mixed on and have preferred Mindmeister, usually for it’s navigation and API.

I’m working on an article that offers a little more detail as the actual usage and benefits I’ve found for mindmapping in my work and private life. Hopefully it won’t be a redundant addition to the conversation.

By: Ben Tremblay

Ben Tremblay — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 04:07:16 +0000

*I’ve used my LJ link even though it’s not much more than a bookmark heap cuz it treats concept mapping and such-like*

This seems to be in the air! I was following a post over at ProBlogger and just now, looking for that link, found he’s posted another on this topic.

I’ve seen a lot of folk wrestling with maps for large project or concepts and, well, their experience has tempered my enthusiasm … but for blogging? Seems that this “restricted case” is a real good fit.

For the record: FreeMind (an OpenSource project) and Mindomo. Also, The Mindmapping Toolbox: 100+ Tools, Resources, and Tutorials from BootStrapping. (I didn’t find the site I intended to give you. *shrug*)

By: wess

wess — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:08:55 +0000

Thanks Brett, I will look into your suggestions.

I have also enjoyed playing around with Journaler, which is similar enough to DevonThink to have the power, yet different enough to make it pretty interesting to use.

By: brett

brett — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:36:46 +0000

This sounds like a whole blog entry :). I’ll put together a few tips in the next post. You’ll be surprised how absolutely simple and intuitive mindmapping is, and how well it conforms to each individual’s particular way of thinking.

In the meantime, pbWiki is a very good wiki for group discussions, and Zoho Wiki is a superb alternative if you’re looking to create a series of separate, connected wikis with paragraph editing and CSS customization possibilities. Both can be used for free.

DevonThink is powerful, but I agree about the UI. For that purpose I’ve found Together to be an excellent alternative, and use VoodooPad for most of my note taking. VoodooPad pages are spotlight indexed and can be individually linked into Together groups with tags and descriptions, so the two work well together.