Hello
I have recently come across software that does "Concept Mapping" rather than "Mind Mapping" as such.
I have become increasingly disenchanted with the rigidity of conventional "mind maps" that are tree-like in that they all have one central node, and cross-branches (between limbs of said tree as it were) are always an after-thought. The real world of one's life is more fluid and complex than a simple tree with everything on it.
But I have discovered a class of software called "Concept Mapping" that allows you to "rough things out" with lots of floating boxes that you connect up with lines/arrows as things become clearer, (but without everything having to be on the one strict hierarchical tree!)
A very good start is Scapple, but although it does a very good job, it's pretty basic, with a few rough edges and development stopped 3 years ago at Window v1.0.0.0.
Other similar "Concept Mapping" applications are now starting to appear. I have only had a brief play with any of them but here are some that seem promising:
1. IHMC CampTools (v6)
Windows/Linux/OSx
Cost: FREE for commercial use (donations)
It seems a bit clunky & ugly interface but it seems to do a good job.
Tip: If you don't want your arrows to be labelled hold down shift key when dragging to create arrows between boxes.
Seems to have some loyal followers.
2. Mindomo.com (choose "Blank Concept Map")
Web app.
Cost: €36/ 6 months ==> €72/year? (First 3 maps are free)
One or two slightly rough edges (and IMHO irritating default) but overall much slicker and more fully featured than CampTools.
e.g. Allows you to drop icons onto them. Allows you to attach notes, comments and votes to text boxes.
(i.e. more of a team environment, presumably )
3. bubbl.us
Web app (Flash)
Cost: $59/year (First 3 maps are free)
Interestingly textboxes (i.e. "bubbles") can be connected in one of two ways:
a) A parent-child relationship OR
b) Just with an arrow
It feels simpler/more limited than Mindomo, but it does interesting things with colour. i.e. If a text box (i.e. "bubble") is a child of something it's colour automatically goes round the colour wheel from the parent. I'm not sure I can cope with that colour palette nor if it can be turned off completely
4. MindManager2016 (2017 soon)
Cost: £298.80 (one-off purchase) (£154.80 upgrade)
It has a new thing called "Concept Map" which does away with the enforced tree structure.
[Aside: Personally I have always found MindManger to be annoyingly expensive for something I use only rather rarely. Worse upgrades have also been very expensive over the years. The software has also always been stupidly bloated with long learning curve. However there have always been subtleties about MM and the way you navigate around larger mindmaps & line things up and use hotkeys that I have always found very much better than the lower cost/free alternatives]
5. yEd
Windows & (new) web versions
Free I think. Has a loyal following too I think.
Has some amazing tools but it is very clunky and keeps talking about "edges" instead of arrows/lines or connectors, which is a bad start for mainstream users. Annoyingly the various automatic layouts that are possible only apply to the entire diagram. On my own PC (Windows 10), a number of the popup dialogues go badly wrong. (Black text on black background for exit dialog... You have been warned!) It clearly has loads of potential, but you can't just back in loads of stuff at high speed using the keyboard.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the above and on what tools you use for larger projects to "rough things out" and get a good over-view of your larger projects. (Or even the whole of your life??)
J
I have recently come across software that does "Concept Mapping" rather than "Mind Mapping" as such.
I have become increasingly disenchanted with the rigidity of conventional "mind maps" that are tree-like in that they all have one central node, and cross-branches (between limbs of said tree as it were) are always an after-thought. The real world of one's life is more fluid and complex than a simple tree with everything on it.
But I have discovered a class of software called "Concept Mapping" that allows you to "rough things out" with lots of floating boxes that you connect up with lines/arrows as things become clearer, (but without everything having to be on the one strict hierarchical tree!)
A very good start is Scapple, but although it does a very good job, it's pretty basic, with a few rough edges and development stopped 3 years ago at Window v1.0.0.0.
Other similar "Concept Mapping" applications are now starting to appear. I have only had a brief play with any of them but here are some that seem promising:
1. IHMC CampTools (v6)
Windows/Linux/OSx
Cost: FREE for commercial use (donations)
It seems a bit clunky & ugly interface but it seems to do a good job.
Tip: If you don't want your arrows to be labelled hold down shift key when dragging to create arrows between boxes.
Seems to have some loyal followers.
2. Mindomo.com (choose "Blank Concept Map")
Web app.
Cost: €36/ 6 months ==> €72/year? (First 3 maps are free)
One or two slightly rough edges (and IMHO irritating default) but overall much slicker and more fully featured than CampTools.
e.g. Allows you to drop icons onto them. Allows you to attach notes, comments and votes to text boxes.
(i.e. more of a team environment, presumably )
3. bubbl.us
Web app (Flash)
Cost: $59/year (First 3 maps are free)
Interestingly textboxes (i.e. "bubbles") can be connected in one of two ways:
a) A parent-child relationship OR
b) Just with an arrow
It feels simpler/more limited than Mindomo, but it does interesting things with colour. i.e. If a text box (i.e. "bubble") is a child of something it's colour automatically goes round the colour wheel from the parent. I'm not sure I can cope with that colour palette nor if it can be turned off completely
4. MindManager2016 (2017 soon)
Cost: £298.80 (one-off purchase) (£154.80 upgrade)
It has a new thing called "Concept Map" which does away with the enforced tree structure.
[Aside: Personally I have always found MindManger to be annoyingly expensive for something I use only rather rarely. Worse upgrades have also been very expensive over the years. The software has also always been stupidly bloated with long learning curve. However there have always been subtleties about MM and the way you navigate around larger mindmaps & line things up and use hotkeys that I have always found very much better than the lower cost/free alternatives]
5. yEd
Windows & (new) web versions
Free I think. Has a loyal following too I think.
Has some amazing tools but it is very clunky and keeps talking about "edges" instead of arrows/lines or connectors, which is a bad start for mainstream users. Annoyingly the various automatic layouts that are possible only apply to the entire diagram. On my own PC (Windows 10), a number of the popup dialogues go badly wrong. (Black text on black background for exit dialog... You have been warned!) It clearly has loads of potential, but you can't just back in loads of stuff at high speed using the keyboard.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the above and on what tools you use for larger projects to "rough things out" and get a good over-view of your larger projects. (Or even the whole of your life??)
J