Converting tables (spreadsheets) into MindManager Maps

Have you ever been frustrated about adding a table of data to your MindManager map? There it is all nicely arranged. It could be a list of meeting attendees e.g. Ecademy 12th Birthday Party. You can copy and paste it (just the attendee table) on to a map but the result is not what I want. Each row gets concatenated into one topic.


Here is how I process it in Word to produce the map I want. Paste part of this attendee list as unformatted text in to Word or use a simple two column table with a few rows of data.


Then Insert > Table > Convert text to table


Now you have a tabulated set of data. In this case the Name column comes with some excess baggage. Use search and replace to remove the guff. Delete any columns you do not need.

Select the Name column apply Heading 1 style
Select the Organization column apply Heading 2 style

You could have Location as the Heading 2 style or make it a sub-sub-topic with Heading 3 style. I also added Ecademy Meeting in Title style.


Open a new map in MindManager.

Select the table contents in Word and then click the MindManager button in Add-Ins. Hey presto.



Alternatively save the Word document and the import in MindManager. Ecademy meeting becomes the central topic. You can also copy and paste Spreadsheets in to Word and process them similarly.

Do you have a better way?

Some little known changes in MindManager 8.2

Lars Jensen from Mindjet revealed the following in the Yahoo MindManager User Group forum. Thought you might like to know about these. With my comments.

• Windows 7: Now supports new file dialogs and DPI adjustments. (I am not sure what that means)
  
  
• Timer: Moved from a separate window to the status bar.
  Tools > Timer adds timer to bottom of screen
  
  n.b. The Twit Cleaner is very useful if you have a mass of people you no longer want to follow in Twitter.
  
  
  
• Map background: Added “Watermark” tiling option, which create a staggered, rotated background without having to prepare it specially in an external image editor.
  
  I spent "hours" creating and angled "Draft " picture the other day in a picture editor. Here are a couple of pictures you could add to a Status folder in your Background Images folder.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Map background: Can now drag & drop images onto background image preview within Background Properties dialog. (I don't get this one)
  
  
• MindManager Options (Edit): Added options to preserve scale when copying and replacing topic images. You can set Copy images at full size and Paste images at same scale.
  
  
• Built-in Browser: Ctrl+click now opens hyperlink or attachment in external browser, regardless of Built-in Browser settings. (That works :) )
  
  
• Text Marker context menu: Added Quick Filter and Find Next/Find Previous (to match icon markers). Right click on a Marker to see this menu.
  
  
• Quick Filter context menu: Added “Remove Filter” item for convenience. Right click on a Marker to see this menu.
  
  
• Mini View: Clicking outside the “viewable area” rectangle now scrolls map to the click point. (View Ribbon > Zoom > Mini View - Mine only works in the viewable area rectangle)
  
  
• Keyboard shortcuts: Revised document history shortcuts to be compatible with Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer (i.e. Back = Alt+Left; Forward = Alt+Right). (Can't find this)
  
  
• Keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+N opens a new default map without the Template Chooser dialog. (That works :) )
  
  
• Date & Time: Added keyboard shortcut to insert without dialog (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T). (That works :) )

It is a useful set of changes. Please can someone enlighten me on the ones I do not get.

3 Speakers - 3 Different MindManager maps

I am attending a monthly meeting of Entrepreneurs World. It has networking between entrepreneurs and people who can fund their activities: banks, venture capitalists and other entrepreneurs. At each meeting there is a speaker. Here are the maps of the three most recent ones and some technical notes for MindManager users.

What Ehud Furman did after Shopping.com got acquired by eBay

Note: I have hidden the lines from the central topic. You can use a no lines format option or make the lines the same colour as the background.

Uzair Bawany CEO Contact Recruitment talking about developing a recruitment business and the current environment

Note: I have post compressed (possibly a bit too much) this map image so it will load faster. MindManager produces a high resolution and therefore large JPEG file in the web exports unless you select no background in Web Export > Customise > Advanced Settings, where a smaller GIF will be produced. GIFs are great when there are no photos involved in the map but most photos will look as though they have been through an undesirable special effect if turned into a GIF.

JPEGs can be post compressed before upload to the server using on-line tools e.g. Chami or desktop tools e.g. Photoshop, Gimp or Paint.net. Unfortunately Microsoft Picture Manager only compresses when you resize to standard sizes. A clickable image map must remain the same size or the links will be in the wrong place.

John Viney talking about his life as a head hunter and his approach to investments

Note: This is two clickable image exports. The first creates the header, footer and top map. The second is added to the first by copy and pasting the exported index.html.txt file into the index.html of the first map. Make sure you set the index file name of the second export to something different to the first. I replaced index by parallel_interests in the example giving a file parallel_interests.html.txt and an parallel_interests.gif. This image must be uploaded with those produced by the first export and the edited index.html.

And I did use GIFs for both images in this export. The text is very clear and the images of John Viney slightly distorted.

My favourite MindManager shortcut keys

Here are the shortcut keys I regularly use:

1. F4 to hide all but the selected topic and it’s subtopics. Press F4 again to toggle back.
2. Ctrl+F5 to zoom the map to fit the screen
3. Alt+F3 to centre the map on the selected topic
4. F3 to centre the map on the selected topic and close down the level of detail on all other topics
5. Ctrl+S to save the map
6. Ctrl+D to toggle the level of detail on the selected topics
7. Ctrl+T to toggle the Notes window
8. Ctrl+K to add or edit a hyperlink
9. Ctrl+Z to undo the last action
10. Ctrl+SHIFT+ALT+V to paste inside a topic. Useful for adding images copied elsewhere.

You can see all the rest in the Learning Tab – Keyboard Shortcuts

What are your favourites?

A few little tips when using MindManager for presentations

Without going to presentation mode:

1. Make sure you have the tools you need on the Quick Access Bar
2. Minimise the ribbon
3. Point the beamer so the Quick Access Tool bar, Ribbon command bar and Worksheet bar miss the top of the screen and are not visible to the audience but are to you on your PC.
4. Right click the background and select Full Screen Mode. (not always available)
5. Right click the icon in the bottom right hand corner and hide the Task Pane tabs.
6. Now you have an uncluttered screen.
7. Pre-load any applications and files you are you going to call up during the presentation.
8. Don't forget where you turned the various parts of the screen off.

A Compendium of MindManager Tips from Twitter

Occasionally I post a MindManager tip on Twitter when I come across something I have forgotten existed or a fantastic new feature I have never seen before. You can see them along with all the other stuff I tweet about at http://www.twitter.com/ajwilcox. I tend to use Twhirl as my Twitter client.

My MindManager Tips on Twitter:

• Right click the empty space in the Workbook Tab toolbar to get some useful options: Properties, arrange, show in explorer
• MindManager 8: The new built in browser does not have a print button. Right click to get print and several other options.
• Web Export - Testing your templates - Use Filter to hide all but central topic - Export is then very quick!
• When starting a map about a new contact use the Map Part > Outlook Linker > New Contact to create the contact in Outlook
• You can right click a topic and split it. Select text in the topic or let MindManager create a topic for each word.
• If you "lose" files or folders. The Map Part - File Explorer can help you find them http://is.gd/4DaT

I also have many more extensive MindManager tips and tricks in the Cabre Community Forum.

The MindManager Brainstorm Test

Many of you will be using MindManager to brainstorm, mind storm or word storm. I wonder how quick you are at it?

Take this test and then publish your results by commenting on this blog.

Normal brainstorming rules apply:

1. Don't argue with yourself as you enter the words
2. Try to use single words. Perhaps word pairs but not sentences! It will slow you down.
   

Here is how I would like you to proceed:

1. Make sure you can see a clock with a second hand.
   
2. Clear your mind.
   
3. Pick your topic and think about it for 30 seconds. For this speed test I suggest it is something you have been thinking about recently or are currently working on and not a brand new topic.
   
4. Start the clock. You have three minutes.
   
5. Open a new MindManager map and enter the Central Topic
   
6. Start entering your words as Main Topics. Don't organise them or add Sub-Topics. Main Topics only.
7. Stop when three minutes have elapsed. Count the Words and Topics entered. Hint: MindManager Button > Prepare > Properties > Statistics
8. Publish your result as a comment in this blog.

I will publish my result and my tips for this process in a couple of days.

If you want a more elaborate test. Record how many topics and words after 60s, 120s & 180s. Just put a marker in the map and count them at the end of the test. I wonder if there is a trend that one third is more productive than another.

If you are not a MindManager users but you do the test, please publish your results and the application you used.

Have fun.

MindManager 8 - Tips, Tricks and Work Arounds

In the Cabre Community I am starting to assemble small tricks and tips which will help you get more out of MindManager 8. It also covers how to deal with things that do not behave quite as I expected. You can join the community and post your own tips and tricks or just ask questions.

My first two are:

1. The default owner for all the map templates is Mindjet. To save you changing this in every map when it is saved visit this tip.

2. MindManager 8 has a new set of images etc. If you want to continue using the old ones this tip will be useful.

Of course most of the tips I previously gave for MindManager 7 are valid for MindManager 8.

Using MindManager's Map Part - File Explorer to find lost folders

I just "lost" some folders when I moved them from one disc to another. In Windows Explorer you cannot see the folder "organigram". You can only see the the contents of one folder at a time. So hunting for the lost folders was getting a bit frustrating.

Then I remembered the MindManager - File Explorer map part. It also maps folders. My process was:

• Open a new map
• Open Map Parts > File Explorer
• Add an All Folders part
• Browse to the parent directory where you think they are "lost"
• The folder structure is added to your map.
• You can spot folders that have folders in them. They have plus signs!

Thanks MindManager now I have found where I "hid" the MindManager 2002 icons! Next time I must take more care dragging and dropping.