The program features a minimalist, uncluttered user interface, containing only a few buttons. The program produces curved, organic branches that can be easily customized by dragging one of two blue dot “handles.”

MyThoughts is the first mind mapping program for the Mac that fully integrates iPhoto into its media manager, making it easy to customize your maps with the photos and artwork on your computer. The program supports drag and drop from the web, so you can quickly add images and other content to your map from external sources. Topics can have notes, plus links to files and web pages. Links are managed using an inspector (the Mac equivalent of a dialog box).

MyThoughts exhibits some cleverness in its handling of the central map image. Images can be dragged and dropped from the program’s media library to the central topic. After you have typed in a title, you can drag it above, below, to the right or left of the image.  This makes it easy to customize the topic of your map in some creative ways (only some mind mapping programs enable you to utilize an image as the central topic).

To see videos of MyThoughts in action, you can visit Mode de Vie’s YouTube channel.

MyThoughts is currently in beta testing, and can be downloaded for free from the developer’s website.

SpicyNodes features slick Flash-based animation that “flies” you through information as you click on nodes to expand their child topics. The effect is something like navigating deeper into a PersonalBrain map, where each click causes the map to reposition itself, with the currently-selected node as the focal point.

One neat interface element gives users a “preview” of what’s connected to a topic before expanding it to view its children. Say, for example, a topic has 3 sub-topics. The topic is displayed with 3 small circles next to it; mousing over each one causes a tooltip to pop up, effectively giving you a “sneak peek” at the content below it in the map hierarchy. Also, unlike traditional mind mapping applications, where expanding a topic opens up all of its sub-topics, you can click on one circle and only expand that section of the map, or on the topic itself, which expands the view to include all connected sub-topics. I found this to be very convenient!

When viewing a map, you can utilize keyboard commands to move around it. SpicyNodes not only provides a map zoom command, but also a focus slider tool, which changes the size of the currently selected topic or node relative to the others in the map. Topics can contain links, which makes it possible to embed a SpicyNodes map into your website as a navigation element, while “previous” and “next” buttons enable you to make presentations using a SpicyNodes map; clicking either button walks you through your map, one topic and sub-topic at a time.

Creating a new map was a little more challenging, however. When you first create a new map, you’re asked to give it a title and description. Curiously, the title isn’t used as the text of the central map topic. Also, once you’ve given your new map a name, the next step in the map wizard is to set its style. Are you kidding? I’m not even quite sure what I’m creating yet! It seemed a little premature as part of the map development workflow, and left me puzzled as to how to get myself out of the styles area. Still, I was intrigued by some of the well-designed map styles that Spicynodes offers. I finally discovered a set of tabs above it that enable you to “edit details,” “edit style” and “edit content.”

To edit your map’s content, SpicyNodes displays a hierarchical outline of a blank main topic and 3 sub-topics, waiting for me to add topic text. At first, I found this to be disconcerting, because I’m used to editing map topics directly in the map view. But after I got used to it, I actually found it to be an efficient interface design. In other words, it didn’t take up much space on the screen and provided me with a common-sense framework for adding content to my map.

By default, the application shows a simplified view that only lets you add or edit topic text, delete the current topic or add a child topic. But clicking an “edit details” button opens up a variety of other options, including the ability to add images, web page links and YouTube videos. At any time, you can click on a “preview” button to see what your map looks like.

The edit style tab provides an extensive set of options for customizing everything, including text fonts, color schemes, connector and topic shapes, map layout and even accessibility options (for users with color blindness). Very impressive!

Spicynodes offers several options for importing and exporting maps. You can import a text or XML file to use as a the starting point for a new map, and export to both formats as well.

Overall, this looks like a promising web-based mind mapping application. While it’s feature set is still a bit on the light-weight side, Spicynodes incorporates some unique and intriguing styles and interface elements. I can’t wait to see where they take it from here!

1. Links and attachments: First, the mind mapping software you select ought to support a wide variety of links and attachments – including web pages, files, folders and, ideally, links to individual e-mail messages. If you think about it, when you’re conducting research and capturing ideas and knowledge in a mind map, a lot of that information tends to be embedded in the text of e-mail messages, received as we collaborate with others, as we request information from our teammates.  And being able to pull that content into your mind maps is extremely powerful.

2. Topic notes: In software-produced mind maps, notes are an excellent way to capture extended thoughts without cluttering up the visible part of your mind map. Yet you can still “drill down” to them with a single mouse click. A note can contain anything from a single sentence to several paragraphs.  So if you’ve got some additional thoughts or ideas that you want to capture that are longer than a few words, you can record them in map notes. If you’re writing a report, a book or other lengthy document, notes give you a practical way to begin fleshing out the major points of it. Later, you can export what you’ve collected to Microsoft Word; the topics become headings and the notes become paragraph text - your document is already half-written!

3. Content filtering: If you are planning large, complex projects, which will produce large, complex mind maps, the ability to filter their content is critically important. One of the most practical ways to filter map content is based on tasks.  If you apply such a filter, only the topics that are tasks will be displayed – enabling you to clearly see what needs to be done, and by whom. That’s very powerful.  Another example is to filter your map’s content based on an icon or symbol, which could correspond to a particular person on your team or a certain segment of your business. The key benefit here is focus: Filtering temporarily hides everything else, so you can focus in on the information you need to be more organized and productive.

4. Export formats: The ability to export to multiple formats, such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Project, PDFs and web pages, is also very important when you’re considering which mind mapping program to buy. Often, what you’re producing in your mind map is not the end result.  You may use it to organize all of your material and then export it to PowerPoint or Word, where you’ll finish it up.  The other thing to keep in mind is that there are some linear thinkers out there who don’t feel comfortable with mind maps, so for them you may want to convert your map into a more conventional, palatable format - such as a Word document.

5. Keyboard shortcuts: Most mind mapping programs require you to use toolbar buttons to add content to your map.  But when you’re brainstorming, whether individually or in a group, you need to be able to capture ideas quickly, without the program’s users interface getting in the way. That’s where keyboard shortcuts come in. They enable you to quickly create new topics and sub-topics, into which you can type your ideas without restricting your creative “flow.” One of the marvelous things about mind mapping software is you can just do a “brain dump” - capturing ideas on the fly without respect to their structure – and then rearrange them later.

If you’re a current user of mind mapping software, what features and functionality do YOU think are absolutely critical? What should prospective buyers look for (no commercials for a particular program, please!)?

To prevent this from happening, I have gotten in the habit of creating a handwritten list of everything I need to take a long night or two before the trip. Then, as I pack each item, I cross it off my list.

But re-creating this list from scratch each time I travel has been a time-consuming pain, so I recently decided to streamline the process: I created a simple travel planning mind map that I can utilize as a starting point and customize to meet the needs of each trip.

The mind map shown above right (please click on the image to view a larger, more complete version) is divided into several major segments, corresponding to the types of items I need to take in a typical business trip. Major sections include clothing, personal hygiene items, medication, electronics, work items and a special section just for those things that are peculiar to that particular trip.

Click here to download this mind map in a MindManager 8 file format

How to use it

To customize this map to your specific needs, I recommend that you sit down with your laptop or in front of your PC in a quiet setting, and mentally walk through your day. For example, if you want to develop a complete list of the hygiene items that you need for your average business trip, I would start by envisioning the sequence of things that you do to prepare for your day, and what is needed to do each one. Take a similar walk through the process you follow to get ready for bed, and the tools, clothing and supplies you need to make that happen. Record all of these items in your customized version of this mind map.

Your goal is to create a template that you can use as a starting point for your own trips. A day or two before each trip, open this template, save it to a new file name that corresponds to your trip and begin customizing:

• What are your specific clothing requirements for this trip, both daytime (more formal, for business meetings) as well as evening attire (casual clothing, shoes, etc.)?
• What files, records, presentations and other supporting information do you need to take along in order to accomplish the objectives of this trip, as well is make efficient use of your travel time?
• What key things do you need to do before I leave on the trip (give my wife a copy of my itinerary, charge my cell phone and iPod, reorder medication from the pharmacy, etc.).

For best results, you should start preparing your trip map at least several days before you leave. This will give you the opportunity to add to it in several iterations, which will increase the odds that you won’t overlook anything important. When preparing mind maps, it’s always a good idea to capture as much information as possible in one sitting, then walk away from it for a day or so. When you return to it, you’ll be in a different frame of mind, which will help you to see additional items that need to be added to it. This increases your odds of producing an accurate and complete map.

Once your travel map is finalized, print it out and use it as a checklist as you gather and pack everything for your trip.

I’m confident that this simple mind map will save you at least an hour of time in planning and preparing for each trip, as well as illuminate needless aggravation and inconvenience. I hope you find it useful!

iFreeMind offers the following features:

• Files may be imported and exported utilizing the program’s built-in web management service
• Attachment of icons to map topics
• The ability to view your maps in portrait or landscape mode.
• Maps of up to 150 topics are supported, at a maximum size of 1400 x 1400 pixels.
• Topic text can be up to 200 words long, and a single topic node may contain up to 5 icons – pretty generous!
• Triple tapping the workspace moves the map to the center of the screen, which may be very useful when working with large maps.
• Double-tapping the editing screen displays the program’s toolbar.
• Tapping a topic once to select it displays its full text in a rectangular area between the workspace and the bottom toolbar. Since topic text can be very lengthy (up to 200 words in iFreeMind), the program truncates the topic text in the map itself to save on screen real estate, but displays its entire contents in this area.
• Holding down a toolbar button for more than one second causes a tool tip pop-up that explains what it does – nice!
• Uploading and downloading of maps between the iPhone and a PC or Mac: Within iFreeMind, you tap the web file manager button, which causes a URL to be displayed at the top of the screen. Next, you open a browser on your Mac or PC, and input this URL. This takes you to a file management page, where you can upload and download FreeMind-formatted map files.

What’s missing from iFreeMind:

• Support for topic links and notes - these are critical, and are conspicuous by their absence in iFreeMind
• No ability to freely position map topics using drag and drop (iBlueSky and SimpleMind can do this)
• No ability to drag and drop topics from one location within your map to another (SimpleMind currently supports this capability). In order to move a map topic, you must cut it, select the topic to which you want it to be attached as a sub-topic, and then paste it.

Ideally, the mind mapping app should be usable as soon as it is installed on your iPhone, without having to refer to a help file or the developer’s web page. Several of the existing mind mapping apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch certainly fit this description. Unfortunately, in my opinion, iFreeMind does not. When I first open the program and tried to create a simple mind map, I couldn’t figure out several of the toolbar buttons; they just aren’t very intuitive. I struggled to figure out how to get the program to do what I wanted it to do, and finally proceeded via trial and error to create my first map.

Like other computing platforms, the iPhone and iPod touch market is becoming crowded with many “me too” mind mapping applications. If you’re a relatively late entrant to the field, which iFreeMind is, you’d better be prepared to differentiate your app. While iFreeMind’s native support for FreeMind files is an advantage, especially if you have created a lot of maps using this desktop tool, it’s not enough for me to recommend iFreeMind to you. The user interface is just too confusing and cluttered for first-time users, and the lack of support for drag and drop means rearranging your map topics will quickly become an exercise in futility. Finally, without the support for notes and links, you’re really limited in the types of maps you can produce in iFreeMind.

One of my fellow bloggers, Vic Gee, calls iFreeMind “a serious challenger to existing iPhone mind mapping apps” but I disagree. In my opinion, iFreeMind, in its current configuration, doesn’t measure up to its competition.

iFreeMind is available for download from the Apple AppStore for US $4.99. For more details about this new mind mapping app, please visit the developer’s web page.

As part of this deal, if you purchased Michael’s new multimedia course by June 28, 2009 (yesterday), I would send you a free copy of my popular best practices e-book, Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping Software, 2nd Edition.

However, because of a sudden change in plans in my personal life, I found myself serving as a driver for my teenage daughter’s mission trip to New Orleans last week, which means I didn’t get a chance to send out a reminder e-mail to my readers prior to this deadline. Now that I’m back from this trip, I have decided to extend this “BOGO” (buy one, get one free) deal for 3 more days, until Thursday, July 2, 2009.

Why am I doing this? Because I believe strongly in the quality of the program that Michael has created, and I think you’ll benefit tremendously from it. If you’re looking for a powerful set of strategies and tactics that you can put to work immediately to increase your productivity and grow your business, these two publications will take you there. They will give you the insights and ideas you need to work faster, more effectively and creatively than you ever dreamed possible.

As the global economy is bottoming out and hopefully prepared to begin a long climb out of the doldrums, NOW is the time to hit the ground running with fresh ideas - and leave your competitors choking in your dust!

So don’t delay, order today!

P.S. For those of you who have already ordered the Business Profit Productivity Blueprint via my blog, please be patient. The e-mails that I receive from ClickBank letting me know of your orders don’t contain your e-mail address, for privacy reasons. I’m now requesting a list of them from Michael, and will send you an e-mail in the next day or two that explains how to download my free Power Tools e-book.

What tips or techniques do you utilize to create high-impact, software-produced mind maps that get results?

Results, for the purposes of our discussion, can take any form (how do you create mind maps that make the project a success, win the order, persuade the audience, etc.) - as long as they are business focused. That’s the primary criterion for this little assignment.

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments area below. You people always come up with the greatest insights. I can’t wait to read what you have to say about THIS question!

Here’s what’s new in Webspiration:

Add your own images: You can now add graphics and images from the files on your computer or from a URL as a topic, a symbol and even into a note. I tried inserting a graphic from a URL; the application quickly fetched it and inserted it into my map, along with grab handles that I could use to resize it. This new functionality worked great, but it would be even better if Webspiration enabled you to drag and drop images from another browser window (I tried it in Internet Explorer 7 - it didn’t work).

A redesigned starter screen gives you fast access to the documents and tools you use most often, including links to recently opened and updated files, and recently invited people. In addition, a new “templates/examples” button gives you access to an expanded library of templates and examples you can use to jump start your projects. Many of these are clearly business oriented, covering applications such as:

• Developing an action plan,
• Analyzing causes and effects,
• Developing a job description,
• Taking meeting minutes,
• Conducting a performance review, and
• Performing a SWOT analysis (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats)

There are over 35 templates and 7 examples in all. Each one is professionally designed and contain brief instructions. I predict that these resources will go a long way toward making Webspiration a valuable tool for business collaboration.

Improved chat tool: An improved chat tool integrated within the Webspiration interface lets you generate a complete and accurate log of conversations between map collaborators. All chat activity for a map document is permanently recorded and date- and time-stamped, and all document users can view the complete record. At the bottom of the chat window, a small icon gives you access to cut, copy and paste options for chat text, so you can incorporate it into Word documents and other reports - nice!

Conclusion

Although Inspiration Software has focused its flagship desktop mind mapping software on the education market in recent years, it appears that the developer is giving business users a nod with this well-designed web-based mapping application. It’s good to see that they’re continuing to add features and updates to it. They’re doing a great job!

Note: Be sure to read to the end of this post to learn more about the special bonus I’m offering for free to readers of this blog!

Here’s what the Business Profit Productivity Blueprint contains:

6 modules of video training, supplemented by PDF e-books:

• Personal productivity in business – how mind mapping releases more of the latent power of your brain, helping you to be more productive, resourceful and creative.
• Applying mind mapping software – How to systematize routine tasks and simplify project management.
• Getting started – Choosing mind mapping software to accomplish these goals, and how to get started managing “information overwhelm” with it.
• Managing your systems and processes – How to set up mind maps to support and streamline your business processes; how to manage the content of multiple blogs from a single idea map.
• Project management with MindManager – Brainstorming your project needs and developing a project proposal quickly and easily using Mindjet’s MindManager; how to keep track of vital project data; advanced project tracking and monitoring.
• Taking charge of your knowledge – How to set up a virtual library of business-building nuggets, as well as an all-encompassing system to capture every note you’ll ever take.

Michael is also offering a wealth of bonus content that significantly increases the value of this e-course. They include:

• A 71-minute interview with with best-selling author Simon Hazeldine on eliminating your internal barriers to personal productivity so you can start getting more done much faster.
• A 39-minute video version of a half-day workshop that Michael has given on freeing up an hour a day, so you can work on those important but not urgent back burner projects you’ve been wanting to tackle.
• A 5-minute “mind movie” that Michael uses to program his brain for higher levels of productivity and success.
• A 47-minute video that shows how some of the world’s leading internet marketing gurus successfully use mind mapping software in their businesses (this is something I’ve been wanting to do, but Michael beat me to it!).
• A 57-minute video that teaches you how to develop new products using mind mapping software – knowledge that you can use to create new and unique products as well as improve and strengthen existing ones.

All of this is available for the incredible introductory price of $US97. I believe strongly enough in the value of this program that I have decided to support it with a special bonus of my own, which you will only receive if you buy it through me:

If you purchase the Business Profit Productivity Blueprint between now and June 28th (that’s 10 days) via the link below, I will send you a free copy of my popular Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping Software E-book - the resource guide that has become THE bible for getting the most out of this type of productivity software.

As I indicated in my post of last week, I’ve gotten to know Michael Tipper over the last year - he’s the real deal, not some fast-talking charlatan trying to peddle some “snake oil.” He is an expert mind mapper, who also has a strong sense of the needs of business strategists and entrepreneurs.

I recently got a sneak peek at some of the materials that Michael has included in the Business Profit Productivity Blueprint. It’s great knowledge, well organized and presented, and definitely worth your while.

In short, I’m confident that you’ll make your money back many times over (ROI = Return on Ideas!) if you purchase this program. Think if it as an investment in your personal productivity and your creative future!

Learn more and invest in the Business Profit Productivity Blueprint today (and receive my e-book as a free bonus - only until June 28, 2009!)

Here are 8 lesser-known capabilities of NovaMind that can help you to increase your productivity:

1. Customize your workspace: The user interface of NovaMind is customizable so you have easy access to the features of the program you need at the time. For example, you can double-click a tab on the ribbon bar in the Windows version of NovaMind to hide it and give yourself more space for the Mind Map. Then whenever you select a command from the ribbon, it will close again, giving you the full working area. In addition, you can use the dialog box launcher (the little square at the bottom of a command group in the ribbon bar) to access the advanced formatting functions, and then leave it open as a floating window to give you quick access to the full range of formatting functions. NovaMind also offers many other options to customize the workspace to meet your needs.

2. Share maps and leverage the NovaMind Connect community: NovaMind Connect has hundreds of Mind Maps which you can browse, search, and download. You can use these as starting points for your mind maps, or as examples to see what you can do with NovaMind. When you have a mind map you would like to share, you can upload it to NovaMind Connect directly from within the program. Editorial comment from Chuck Frey: You won’t find a more colorful, inspiring collection of software-produced mind maps anywhere else on the web than NovaMind Connect.

3. Advanced image handling options: Not only can you attach an image to a topic by dragging and dropping it onto a topic. You can also resize it, flip it horizontally or vertically by dragging its control knobs, and enhance it using a reflection, rounded or chamfered corners. Editorial comment: These last three options are unique to NovaMind, by the way, and give mind maps produced with this program a unique visual appeal.

4. More topic image formatting options: There are three types of image fitting available for topic images in NovaMind that many users may not realize are available to them. First, you can scale them to fit within the space available in the topic, Secondly, you can scale the image to fill the space available in the topic, cropping any of the image that would be outside the bounds of the topic. Finally, you can stretch it to fill the space, scaling the X and Y axes separately so that the image fills the space, distorting the image to do so. In addition, you have options to put the text on the topic above or below the image. These formatting options give you a lot of flexibility of layout for topic images.

5. The Suggesterator: This brainstorming tool is available as a separate, downloadable enhancement for NovaMind. The Suggesterator will suggest new directions for your thinking based on the selected topic on the mind map. The Suggesterator is only available in English. Editorial comment: Picture a thesaurus, but optimized for lateral thinking - that’s what the Suggesterator is all about. Click here for my blog post that describes its functionality in detail.

6. Easily manage multiple mind maps within a single NovaMind document: In the Pro and Platinum versions of NovaMind, You can drag the tab for a mind map to another document to copy the entire map into the other document. You can create a new mind map from a selected topic by using the “New Map from Branch” menu command (on the Insert tab on Windows and under the Map menu on Mac). When you have multiple maps in a document, you can view them in Document View where you see a thumbnail of all the mind maps and you can select multiple of them at once and change the map level settings (e.g. background style, view options, outline numbering etc) for all the selected maps.

7. Arrange topics automatically: If you are working in assisted or free layout mode in NovaMind, sometimes you want to arrange some or all of the topics in the map you’re working on. Here’s how to do it: Select the parent topic (or topics) of the ones you want to arrange, and then press Command = (Mac) or Control = (Windows) to arrange the children of those topics. To arrange the entire mind map, select the the title topic and use the hotkey to arrange it. To change the spacing (on the flip side of the layout palette on Mac and in the layout dialog on Windows), alter the repel distance and use the hotkey again to arrange the topics with the new spacing.

8. Write your Hollywood blockbuster script: NovaMind Platinum has a built in screenplay editor that enables you to attach portions of your screenplay to topics in your mind map. This allows you to use your Map as a visual storyboard for your screenplay. You can reorder your script by rearranging the topics, and do experimental screenwriting by only enabling the screenplay on selected topics. NovaMind is used by the most filmed screenwriter in Europe, and was used to write the winning screenplay in the top European screenwriting awards.