This blog is about software for visual thinking and organising information. It will give you the low-down on developments in the world of visual networks and all types of business maps.
KeepNote is a free note-organiser based on an outline format that has just gone into Mind-mapping.Org. It is open source software and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
There are extensions/plugins supporting importing a folder tree, importing from other types of software, running Python inside KeepNote, and others. It may be plain looking but its cross platform nature, and extensibility – both with plugins and because of the availability of source code – will attract users.
Vic
Have you checked Our Faves yet? Subscribe to the RSS feed for news of regular posts & follow me on Twitterfor in-between
items about visual tools you never knew existed.
If you’re on Twitter and tweet about mapping topics,
tweet me — I’d love to know and follow you.
Emberlight is an on-line app that works with either Tinderbox or Twig (both for Apple Mac, from Eastgate). Twig has been described as ‘Tinderbox Lite’. Emberlight allows users to place visual notes on line for other subscribers to work with.
This web service has subscription rates for individuals and teams. Subscribers do not have to have Timberlight or Twig (or even a Mac) to see Emberlight material that others have placed on line. But note that at the time of writing, Emberlight does not work in Internet Explorer.
Emberlight has version control – invaluable for team work on documents.
Vic
Have you checked Our Faves yet? Subscribe to the RSS feed for news of regular posts & follow me on Twitterfor in-between
items about visual tools you never knew existed.
If you’re on Twitter and tweet about mapping topics,
tweet me — I’d love to know and follow you.
TreeLine is a semi-visual information organiser – it makes outlines, not mind maps. And it has just made it into Mind-mapping.Org, thanks to a tip-off from Francisco Pantera.
What distinguishes it from many PIMs/outliners is that it allows node types structured with fields. If you are prepared to dig into the technology a little, that could make this a useful and flexible notes manager.
Vic
Have you checked Our Faves yet? Subscribe to the RSS feed for news of regular posts & follow me on Twitterfor in-between
items about visual tools you never knew existed.
If you’re on Twitter and tweet about mapping topics,
tweet me — I’d love to know and follow you.
Version 2.4 of Dropmind is out with updates in both the web and desktop versions. The word is that the Dropmind iPad version is with Apple awaiting approval.
New in DropMind Desktop are MS Excel import/export; multi-touch support; insert spreadsheet; MS Office 2003/2010 support
And in Dropmind web version, Integration with Google Sites; voting on topics; a new ribbon design; and map from topic.
Dropmind is shaping up to be a comprehensive ‘run anywhere’ mapping package.
Have you checked Our Faves yet? Subscribe to the RSS feed for news of regular posts & follow me on Twitterfor in-between
items about visual tools you never knew existed.
If you’re on Twitter and tweet about mapping topics,
tweet me — I’d love to know and follow you.
On-line diagramming service Creatley has just released a desktop application running in Adobe Air that mirrors the functions of its browser-based tool.
Creately is primarily a diagramming tool but is capable of drawing mind maps, as you can see here.
Have you checked Our Faves yet? Subscribe to the RSS feed for news of regular posts & follow me on Twitterfor in-between
items about visual tools you never knew existed.
If you’re on Twitter and tweet about mapping topics,
tweet me — I’d love to know and follow you.
New in Mind-mapping.org are two tools to help show related web sites with their connections shown visually: Pearltrees and Trailmeme. Just the kind of stuff we like!
Their purposes are closely related, and that prompted me to take a broader look in this post at the ‘map the web’ scene and three quite different approaches. But first the two recent additions to The Master List:
Pearltrees
Pearltrees works on a tree hierarchy, mind map style, to arrange links to web pages, with each page being represented by one of those little blue ‘pearls’. Pages linked to need not be from one site. You can build a map of pages around a particular topic and publish it at the Pearltrees site or embed it in your own just by adding some code generated at the Pearltrees site.
On a web page it looks like this:
Mouse over a pearl and you’ll see a thumbnail preview. Click a pearl and the page opens, but it’s in a frame, so you will still be in control of Pearltrees – click the ‘pearltrees’ icon at the bottom left, and you’re back at the map. Here’s a map of some of my pages when not embedded and therefore in a larger window.
Pearltrees encourages team working to build and improve a web map.
You may have seen comments that this is ‘a new mind mapping tool’ but that is only partly true, because nodes are limited to web links – you cannot mind map a plan or ideas with Pearltrees, that’s not what it was designed for. Adding a web page as a pearl is easy though, with a bookmarklet, or by drag and drop.
Trailmeme
Trailmeme takes another approach to layout and connections. You are not bound to a hierarchy, but can make cross connections, as you would in a concept map. Trailmemes can be embedded in WordPress sites, but requires a plug-in. I decided not to add it here, just for one post.
Mouse over a node at the live site here: a map of some of my pages – and you’ll see some more information about the page. Double-click a node and the page opens, as with Pearltrees it is in a frame. It provides Next and Previous links, so the person who made the map can guide you through it, or you can explore directly from the map. Multiple links forward or back are handled with a drop-down of choices.
As with Pearltrees, pages linked-to need not be from one site.
SpicyNodes
SpicyNodes has been in Mind-Mapping.Org since 2009. It shows yet another approach. It limits maps to a hierarchy, and shows just one or two levels at a time, but allows free movement around a virtual map that can be large and complex. An important difference is that you have more flexibility in Node content – files can be included as well as links. You can embed these at your blog or site.
These are all useful ways of displaying your collection of bookmarks or pages on your own sites in a visual arrangement that shows how the collection of pages is related, and that’s always a useful improvement on straight lists.
Comment here if you know any other sites to help build pages that lay out related portions of the Web visually with nodes and edges (connecting lines) and I’ll update this post.
Vic
Have you checked Our Faves yet? Subscribe to the RSS feed for news of regular posts & follow me on Twitterfor in-between
items about visual tools you never knew existed.
If you’re on Twitter and tweet about mapping topics,
tweet me — I’d love to know and follow you.
