Sharing MindManager maps via Mindjet Catalyst

Mindjet have launched Catalyst today. This is a new collaboration and publishing tool for MindManager users. It builds on the previous Mindjet Connect product. Existing users get a seamless transfer to the new product (I did).

A new feature of Catalyst is an easy process for sharing maps with non-users via a browser. A click on the share button creates a copy or snapshot of a map from your workspace. This is made available for anyone to read and download (if you choose). The readers see the map in a full screen window (best to press F11 or View > Full Screen on your browser menu) which has a toolbar with zoom, open and close branches and print the map buttons.

For instance here is a map of useful travel planning links to train and bus timetables, hire car companies, hotels, traffic jam monitors etc.

MindManager Map of Travel Web Sites

Shared via AddThis

This will be a brillaint way to share some types of maps with your colleagues, collaborators, clients and suppliers.

Some caveats:

1. Links to documents on your PC are not available to sharers. You will have to upload them to your Catalyst Workspace (I need to test this) and link them or host them on a web server.
2. Tables and images in Notes are not visible.
3. The format of the map is simplified. e.g. line thickness and colour in not applied.
   

Sharing your MindManager Maps with non-users

MindManager maps soon become rich containers of information. My process tends to go like this:

1. Brainstorming or a record of an event or meeting
2. Then I add images and hyperlinks to topics,
   
3. Followed by notes in topics which may have more links and images.
4. I could then add Excel ranges and/or Outlook items (email, notes, contacts, events, tasks)

As you go down this list your ability to share the map with people who do not have MindManager becomes more and more difficult or complicated.

At level 1 I can export to PDF or an image file and email it.

At level 2 The hyperlinks do not work in images or PDFs. They do in the web export to clickable image map but you then have to upload the files to share them first. The Mindjet Player in PDF or Flash file does not quite reproduce the map, the style and topic positions change.

At level 3 I now have to use one of the full web site exports to allow viewers to see the notes. The PDF Player and Flash do show notes but not images and links in notes. Word export can also be used. Non of these gives a overview of the orginal map, if it has more than a few topics.

At level 4 The Outlook and Excel placeholders appears in some of the exports but my experience is key data is not visible.

MindManager Web and Mindjet Connect do allow non-users to access the map and edit it. But it's not cost effective for you (you have to pay for an account) or time effective for the user (logging in, learning how to use it) compared to emailing a PDF for example.

Have you any good strategies for or barriers to sharing MindManager maps with non-users?

MindManager 8 is released today. What's new? The flash viewer

This is the first of a series of blogs about the new MindManager function. This is the Save As Mindjet Player which creates an SWF (Flash) File which allows the map to be embedded in a web page and lets you interact with it.

This map is a project plan for redecorating a room. All the dates on this map have been calculated using the new MindManager task function but more on that later. I should get my room redecorated just before 2009!



How did I do that?

Save As > Save as type: Mindjet Player Maps - SWF.
Upload the SWF file to my web server.
Use this code to embed the map player in a web page. You may need to remove some of the line returns reduce the empty space around the player.

<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,19,0" id="pyn2" width="610" height="460">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.cabre.co.uk/mindmanager_player/Redecorate_Room.swf">
<param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF">
<param name="quality" value="high">
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="samedomain">
<param name="wmode" value="transparent">
<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="https://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" name="pyn2" src="http://www.cabre.co.uk/mindmanager_player/Redecorate_Room.swf" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="samedomain" wmode="transparent" width="610" height="460"></embed>
<noembed>
</noembed>
</object>

What could you use this for?