MindMeister for online mind mapping
February 12, 2007
I am a big fan of mind maps but having paid out a major sum for MindManager from MindJet for my tablet PC two years ago, I am extremely reluctant to open my wallet again just so that I can have the same software on my Mac. Besides, if I want to share any of my carefully crafted maps with a non-MindJet user I usually have to send them a link to the MindManager viewer.
I have tried a couple of online alternatives before but nothing as slick as the new MindMeister. The service is in private beta but I received an invitation by registering on the site.
These are clearly early days - I filed a bug report within about two minutes of playing with the site - but I found it quite intuitive and visually attractive (even if it doesn’t offer a quarter of the bells and whistles available from MindManager).
Two things particularly appeal, however. The first, of course, is that it is a web solution; I spend half my life shifting from one machine to another. MindMeister saves your changes for you without asking, in a helpful Google kind of way, and you take up where you left off when you sign back in. Helpfully, it also has a revisions tab which allows you to roll back to previous versions.
The killer feature however is the ability to share your mind maps with others. Colleagues are emailed a link and, depending on the permissions you set, can add their own thoughts to your map. Better yet, you can also brainstorm a mind map together via a Skype call.
The sign-up mail mentioned premium features: I am not sure how much they are going to charge for what. In the meantime, I am happy they allow me to import my old mind maps and play with them online.
Comments
2 Responses to “MindMeister for online mind mapping”
I love mindmeister because it allows real-time collaboration, but i just found out mindomo.com, which has nearly all the features of mindmanager, but it is online and free!
I love mindmeister because it allows real-time collaboration, but i just found out mindomo.com, which has nearly all the features of mindmanager, but it is online and free!