Additional languages, better search, chat, and a whole lot more

16Dec

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In our continued commitment to bringing you the ultimate collaborative mind mapping experience we’re happy to announce a host of new features!

Si, nous parlons Dansk

MindMeister is now supported in six languages. In addition to our existing English, German and Japanese support, we’re happy to offer Spanish, French, and Danish versions. All versions have been proofread, but if you’re a native speaker of any of these languages and find an error – please let us know by sending us an email.

In-Map Chat

While we’ve supported Skype integration for quite some time, not everyone has, or has the ability to use Skype at all times while working on a mind map. To this end, we’ve introduced a chat feature directly within the browser window. To get started chatting with fellow collaborators, simply click on their name at the bottom of your mind map to open a chat window.

Embedded Maps now with Live Update

Initially debuted during the TEDxAmsterdam live mind mapping sessions, embedded maps now include the option to continuously poll MindMeister for updates. This option opens up an entirely new avenue in mind mapping, as live sessions can now be streamed to not only collaborators, but the entire world.

New publish features, embed wizard

You can now put your public maps in categories in the revamped Publish dialog and customize embedding options in the new Embed Wizard. Premium users can choose to hide the “Share” button and MindMeister logo in their embedded map.

Improved Public Map Features

Our public map listings have undergone a major change in the way that they are discoverable and shareable. Now searchable by both language and category, these changes should serve to improve the usefulness of the public maps directory, as well as make it far more easy to use as a reference and resource tool.

Monthly Payment Option for Team Users

Users of our Business and Academic Editions now have the option to pay on a monthly basis, as opposed to yearly. This now means that users will only pay for the time that they need to use our service – short projects, annual reviews, etc. At the same time, should Team Users opt for a yearly subscription, we’re now offering 2 months for free.

Additional new features

Faster and more relevant map search – searching through your mind maps has now been streamlined. By default, search parameters will search through your map titles. If no matching terms are found, the MindMeister system will then search through the text of all your maps until matches are found.

Better Email Notifications – we’ve improved a number of features within the email notifications that should allow users to more easily identify what changes have been made to what maps, and by whom.

Alphabetize now with numbers – the Alphabetize function now sorts numbers correctly.

During this festive time of year, we’d also like to take this space to wish each and every one of you a very Happy Holiday Season, and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year!

The MindMeister Team

MeisterTip #2 – Multiple Maps

9Dec

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As a mind mapper, chances are you’ve got more than one map in the works at any given time. In this MeisterTip we’ll be focusing on switching between mind maps without having to exit to the main dashboard, as well as viewing multiple maps using browser tabs.

Switching between maps

Whether you’re a power MindMeister user with a great number of maps, or a basic user limited to three maps, swapping between your various maps can be done without ever having to visit your main dashboard.

Most users’ initial reaction is to click on the MindMeister button located at the top left of the map user interface. This will take you back to your map listings and is a good method to get an overview of all your maps, i.e. with whom they’re shared and when they were last modified.

However, there’s a much faster and more efficient way to navigate your mind maps.

From within an active map, just below the navigator, you’ll notice four buttons, one with a drop down indicator.  This is the action we’re after. A click on this button will open up a dropdown that has the titles of your maps pre-populated. From here, simply select the map you’d like to work on and click. Your selected map will now be loaded, and ready for use.

No more swapping back to the main dashboard to find a desired map!

Viewing multiple maps

The occasion might arise when you’ll want to view certain ideas on one mind map, while referencing data within another map. You can use the method above to quickly swap between the two, but what if you want to go back and forth between maps and don’t want to reload them each time?

Thanks to the beauty of tabs, this is easily done. From your main maps listing, right click on the map ‘A’ that you want to view, and select ‘Open in a new tab’ (Note: in some browsers you can also just CTRL-click the map link). This will then open a new tab in your browser window with your selected map read to go. In your main browser window, click on the map you’d like to compare map ‘A’ with, and simply tab between the two.

Obviously this method can be applied as many times as you like, comparing one, two, three, etc. maps side by side within tabs.

In our next installment of the MeisterTips series, we’ll be addressing two of the more advanced features of working with maps:  Our cut/copy/paste feature which maintains all of your node structure, links, images, and parent/child relationships, as well as how to create entirely new maps from mind map nodes.