Hello
I see. So what you want is an advanced version of mindmap - in the word of computer science - to become a graph instead of a tree, which we are right now?
Kind Regards,
MarginNote-QSD
Support Team
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Hello,
Exactly that, BUT from the many implications of the mindmap becoming a graph, as opposed to a tree, the KEY change will be the ability to move nodes around without the current restrictions. So, if, at least, you could incorporate this feature, it will give MN the boost that many of us want.
Please would you consider this request?
Many thanks,
Regards,
Rafael.
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By removing the nodes from grouping you gain the ability to place them anywhere. When you attach them in parent-child relationships they adjust to a hierarchy nature. You can draw links between floating nodes. Those links are less visible than the kind that iThoughts uses but their visibility is the only issue.
I appreciate that my parent child relationships retain their hierarchy and when these trees and other nodes are not enclosed by groups I can place them and link them any way I want. Now it doesn’t look as pretty as iThoughts but functionally it has the same role.
Still, I can have 20 even 30 papers that I’m pulling excerpts from and things can get very, very messy if I’m freely moving nodes around and I really appreciate that while I’m gathering excerpts that MN keeps things neat.
It’s the synthesis stage that I think free floating can help, and that is when I break the nodes out of the document groupings and start using some free floating functionality. Which MN does have. But I very quickly move to a proper mind map tool (iThoughts) because it allows much cleaner and clearer concept maps which are driven by the synthesis process.
I guess I’m just wondering, specifically what is the use case for free floating nodes in your work? When I first started with MN I too wanted free floating nodes but I very quickly found that free floating nodes just got messy. It wasn’t until after I’d finished the gathering stage and started the synthesis stage that I found myself wanting them again. Then simply moving the nodes out of the document groups gave me precisely what I was wanting. Free floating boxes and I could link them however I wanted. I wasn’t happy with the visuals of that (links are not clear enough) but it would still work. Exporting to iThoughts gives me the visuals I want and the concept map layout that I want, all problems are now solved (for my needs).
PS: I think they are doing the map a disservice by calling it a “mind map.” It really isn’t a mind mapping tool like we are used to these days. It’s really just a note organiser that functions very efficiently by grouping your notes in various ways. Breaking them out of groups and into free floating form is possible but at that point you lose several layers of efficiency, but by that stage you are likely beyond the gathering stage and possibly have moved beyond MN as well.
Hi,
I too appreciate the benefit from the automatised structure that currently MN offers when attaching excerpts. However, I think both ideas are compatible.
The existing structured attachment (parent-child relationship) could still be the ‘first step’ when attaching two or more nodes together, the fact that there is a possibility to move the node around afterwards should not change your workflow unless you want to.
In my view, the benefit of this functionality is the key point of a mind map, which is being able to organise and divert ideas in a graphical manner for better understanding. The two-step process you describe is precisely what It would avoid, plus in some cases you can do the synthesis stage while gathering information at the same time (and safe time).
For me, the linking feature doesn’t work because the topic node replicates and cause confusion, specially for an end-result mindmap.
Regards,
Rafael.
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I think a third way to aggregate nodes should be helpful: tree, box or free. If you have a large map the navigation is quite impossible, because nodes are on the same level on the same side. Using both left and right at root node or a more space aware mode would be very useful.
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The hierarchical structure of your mind maps are just numbered lists represented visually. Numbered lists represented visually are useful in certain cases, but in my opinion not that much more useful than numbered lists themselves. Not everything fits neatly into a numbered list. And when you force something into a numbered list, vital details can get overlooked.
Furthermore, if I simply wanted to force a piece of text into a numbered list then I would use ABBYY to OCR it and export it to MS Word. Once in Word it’s easy to make an outline quickly and it looks nicer than MarginNote.