Using MindManager to Mock Up Web Sites

Last night I went to a 80s party orgainised by the Like Minded Companies, a bunch of businesses that jointly sponsor the event and invite their friends, clients and suppliers. They are always very eclectic evenings. Last nights highlight for me was the discussion with the fiancee of someone I met at a VizThink evening several months. I won't bore you with the details but you might get the gist of the conversation about an information system requirement we discussed from the mock up I prepared with MindManager this morning.

Hot Spots

Two maps

1. Africa - A map as the background image. With a floating topic for Cairo linked to the second web export. Exported as a clickable image map
2. Cairo - Map with notes exported using the static outline template.

Will this get beyond this stage, who knows!

Using MindManager with your bicycle or bike

This is one I did earlier and a video I found on YouTube.

First my map of how to programme a two button cycle computer. the sort that tell you how far you have gone and how slow you have been. I average about 12 mph on my road bike. I was getting lost as to how many buttons to push and when. I think the process of mapping it fixed it in mind but I always had the reference on one sheet of A6 when I needed it.



Does that make it clearer?

Here is a video by Paula where she shows how she runs and tracks the maintenance of her Pegasus bike MindManager.

That is definitely getting value out of using MindManager.

Managing Files and Folders with MindManager

1 Using the File Explorer Map Part

MindManager comes with a tool for mapping folders and files. You add one of the Map Parts to a map and point it at a folder. Depending on the choice of Map Part you will get the files, folders or files and folders added to your map.




2 Dragging and Dropping from Windows File Explorer

Open Windows File Explorer and select file(s) and folder(s) (hold down the Ctrl Key to do multiple selects) and drag to the map.










3 Adding a hyperlink
You can use the Add Hyperlink tool to add files or folders links to the map.













4 What's the difference?

4.1 Sub Folders
The Map Part will show one level of subfolder(s). If you right click the Map Part icon on a folder and Refresh you will add the next level down.


Folders added by dragging and dropping are just a link.

4.2 Refreshing
Map parts can be refreshed. Any files or folders added or deleted after the map was edited will be added or deleted.


5 Sharing with Associates

You can share your map of files and folders with others by
• Using Export > Pack and Go or Send > As Attachment
• Export as Web Pages. Use the Clickable Image Map template and then copy the exported folder and the sub-folder called Linked Documents (which contains all the linked files) to your web or network server.

6 Attaching Files
You can attach files in MindManager using the Paper Clip tool. This takes a copy from your disk and embeds it in the map file or allows you to create a new document and embed it in the map. Opening, editing and saving an attachment changes the file in the map not the file stored on the disk drive.
Attachments can only be accessed by MindManager users from the map. Attached files are not exported with the clickable image map web export.

Using MindManager to create a Financial Information Map

The map below is the one I use to get at all the tax and financial information I need to run my business. It contains links to government web sites and documents e.g. HMRC, VAT, PAYE. There are links to my company documents stored on my PC (they all link to a dummy document in this version) templates for dividends & minutes or the actual documents or copies of documents produced by submitting my VAT etc.

There are also topic alerts to remind me complete my next VAT Return or Corporation Tax.

There are links to my on-line banking sites. You will have noticed I blanked out the user names and passwords. The map I use only contains discrete reminders.

There is also a set of topics that maps out how to complete the PAYE processing required once a month. I can never remember where all that stuff is.

What is the benefit of this? One place to go to get at all my financial information and to add knowledge as I find it. If I could discover the way to get direct links in to my accountancy package they would be there to.

Click on the image to see a full size map. All the links to web sites can be clicked. You can download the MindManager map and some of the linked documents as a starter for ten for your financial dashboard.

MindManager map of the Twitter and Related World

This is an example of how MindManager can be used to quickly aggregate knowledge for sharing with others. I started the map at 9:38 this morning and the first version was on the web at 10:46, it was in the Ecademy twitter Club at 10:54 and I Tweeted it at 10:55.

Click for the full screen view. Click the map to go the web page indicated.

For those wondering what this is all about. Twitter is web application which allows you to publish 140 character messages to the web. Sort of SMS on the web but rather than one to one it's one to many. You follow other peoples Tweets and they follow yours. Click my Twitter link to see what I mean.

What you Tweet about is up to you. It can be social, it can be business, it can be a mix. You can have multiple accounts with different purposes. The search tools above allow you to find people with similar interests and start a conversation. Of course if you publish frequently about your niche knowledge, service or product. You may be found. See what Mark Shaw is doing with respect to ebooks.

My thanks to the members of the Ecademy Twitter club for providing all these references in their threads.

The map above is self explanatory. What follows is for Google to find and was created by exporting the map to Word and removing the links because I want you to interact with the ones in the map :)

CCabre's Birdworld

1 Twitter

= 140 character messages to the world

1.1 Bird Feeders - Ecademy Twitter Club

1.2 Blog Baths - GottaBeMobile

1.3 twhirl a twitter client

= Managing your twitter

1.4 Twitter4Skype

= So you can call or chat with a Twit about their Tweet with one click

1.5 The Twitter Club

= Share twitter know how

12 Ways Twitter Can Improve Your Efficiency

10 to Follow

Ecademy club posts & comments to Twitter

1.6 Summize Conversational Search

MindManager

1.7 Real-time Twitter Search Tweet Scan

Ecademy

2 Wakoopa

2.1 Ecademy Team

3 Flock

3.1 The Social Web Browser

4 FriendFeed

4.1 Aggregate all your friends guano

5 Twits

ajwilcox, thomaspower, markshaw, clarocada, hensel, mgpoole, simon_morice

What are your favourite applications of Mind Mapping software and why?

I recently posed this question to my friends and to the general membership on LinkedIn.

A friend replied:

I use MindManager for the following:

1) Project management planning: I create templates for projects that are re-usable, this means I save time on subsequent projects. I also like the fact that an incredibly complex project can be managed from one dashboard. With the ability to link every conceivable form of document and media in one source I don't know how I could plan and manage projects without MM.

2) Client workshops and problem discovery sessions: Clients find MM a great tool when I use it for workshops as it helps us brainstorm but always in a focused framework, it also means that nothing gets lost. I always record brainstorming sessions with a dictaphone and attach the audio file to the MM file for a complete record of the session.

3) Website design & planning: I now run 3 websites so it really helps to design, plan and administer my sites using MM as I can store all my images, pages, content and updates in one place.

4) Presentation planning: MM is fantastic for designing a presentation as you can create a basic template and then build out from that based on the specific requirements. I find it provides a more creative medium than just relying on powerpoint templates. I frequently save time by just using MM as the presentation tool, clients appear to prefer it to PowerPoint etc.

5) Knowledge management: Part of our core service is providing detailed audits and reports to clients. One of the deliverables we now provide is a MM of all the findings. It provides a much richer and simpler way of navigating through all of our results as opposed to a bland, one-dimensional Word document or printed report.

This is from Dylan Jones at IQ Solutions Online and his recently launched Data Migration Pro a global professional community.

You can see other answers at LinkedIn at What are your favourite applications of Mind Mapping software and why?