To see our features in action, view our video demos.
XMIND organizes and arranges your information in the most logical manner possible. User can choose six(6) popular structures - including mind map, logic chart, org chart, tree chart, 2D chart and fishbone chart - to automatically position their topics on a map. Different strutures can even be selected for each branch of the map.
The Mind Map structure contains
a root in the center, with main branches radiating from it.
This structure works especially well in brainstorming sessions, where users can
collect ideas related to a central topic, but do not need analyze, organize,
or prioritize them.
This hierachical pyramid displays
brother topics horizontally above or below their parent topics. It
is particularly useful for representing structured data that should
be viewed in a hierachical manner, i.e. from the highest to lowest levels.
This map is a linear hierarchical list , with
brother topics displayed vertically below their parent topics, along with some
left or right indents. Tree charts allow for easy navigation through topics from
top to bottom.
A logic
chart is a sequential list of topics placed either on the right or left
of parent topics. Logic charts are ideal for presenting structured data
in list form(i.e. a list of steps), and enabling readers to fully explore
each point on the list before moving to the next.
This tool, also known as a Cause & Effect diagram
,Ishikawa diagram, or,
fishbone pattern, is highly effective for solving quality problems by logically
organizing them by branches. The direction of these branches resembles the shape
of a fish bone.
Fishbone charts help users visually organize the causal relationships in complex ideas or events. They also increase awareness of cause and effect, and more simply organize learned materials or theories.
Business users also find fishbone charts valuable in project management or activity progress control scenarios, where time sequencing is a concern. A series of activities that impact the project's progress, as well as their time order connections, can be clearly illustrated. Additionally, every single brance can be detached into detailed recursive activities. As a result, users can quickly understand key activities and time arrangements, and take proper measures to accelerate project completion.
2D charts also enable successful 'cause and effect' analysis,
providing a systematic approach to drawing meaningful concusions by
tracking different measures and their possible outcomes.
A set of complex factors and behaviors that impact final measures are exhibited in perpendicular rows and columns. This enables the in-depth analysis of strengths and weaknesses, and provides a clear, easy-to-interpret view of different lines of thinking.
2D charts are typically presented on paper, in a spreadsheet program, or using commercial software that is not particularly user-friendly. XMIND allows users to easily insert factors and behaviors into 2D chart, and include multiple topics - complete with individual appearances and structures - within each cell.
Concept maps
graphically illustrate the relationships
between pieces of information. In a concept map, two or more concepts are linked
by words that describe how they relate.
With XMIND, users can create floating topics to convey a variety of concepts, and rapidly build and describe relationships between them in just a few quick steps(see keyboard shortcuts). Users can also divide relationships by inserting topics between them.
Floating topics are not attached to any other topic, and can be freely located anywhere on the map. Floating topics can be used to represent out of the box ideas, or to start new threads of thinking, and can also include sub-topics..
Through intuitive drag and drop functionality, floating topics can be attached to other topics as sub-topics. Similar steps can also be used to separated any topics from its current branch, and make it a floating topic.
Several topics with similar information or concepts can be grouped together
within a boundary. This not only provides emphasis, it helps to loosely categorize
the specified topics. Boundaries are decorated with colors and/or line patterns for
clear and easy distinction.
When two topics has
relationship to each other, XMIND illustrates the relationship with a line
that links them together on the map. Users can easily create relationships
between topics, and add notes to describe the relationship(i.e. gives rise to,
result in, is required by, etc.)
The XMIND software inlcudes hundreds of high-quality images. Users can access
these images through the Gallery, and incorporate them into maps by simply
double-clicking on them, or dragging and dropping them onto the desired positions
within the map.
Rich text notes are used to record
complementary topics details. Users can add information about
the topic, insert images for illustration, as well as change the appearance of
the text(i.e. font size, color, etc.). Notes can even be viewed and edited in
Presentation mode.
A theme is a collection of colors, shapes, line patterns, and other coordinated graphical attributes of a map. XMIND provides a variety of professional themes for users to choose from, which can be applied to any map in just one easy step.
For convenience, users can extract a theme from an existing map, and save it for future use.
Markers represent some attributes as image icons, and are
widely used in project management, planning, and others. XMIND provides a wide array
of markers, or allows users to add their own images as markers.
Once added to a map, a marker can be renamed to express specific meaning.
A Legend is a floatable box describe all map markers and their specific meanning,
similar to the legends found on ordinary geographical maps. Legends are very
useful in presentation, planning, printing, etc. Users
can drag and drop a legend anywhere within the map, or hide the legend from
viewing.
Labels are small text tags that are attached to topics, and are typically used for simple
annotation and categorization. A topic can have multiple labels, separated by
commas.
When users begin typing a label, XMIND will dynamically offer suggestions based on existing labels from the same map. Users can simply select one from the list, and press enter to add the label to the topic. More advanced labeling capabilities's are available for Filter and 2D Chart.
The Powerful Filter offers tremendous
productivity improvements for large, complex map.Filtering allows users to
makeonly specific portions of map content visible, based on certain topic
attributes such as markers
and labels, to facilitate faster information review
and understanding.
At the bottom of the editor area, users can choose a marker from the popup list. All topics with that marker will then be filtered out of the map. Or, multiple markers and labels can be selected as a combined map filter in Filter view.
What makes the filtering functionality of XMIND unique is its ability to shadow out topics, but not hide them completely, making the un-filtered topics much brighter and more noticeale. This allows users to highlight key points, without losing the entire map view.
Unlike
traditional linear slide-shows, which limit the imagination and
creativity, and makes meetings less participatory, XMIND
offers users a brand new presentation style that combines
single point focus and a holistic conceptual grasp, with fully customizable
and interactive.
At the start of a presentation, only the central topic is visible to the audience, effectively presenting the main concept of the speech, without distractions. Yet-to-be-mentioned topics are hidden, and can be exposed one by one as the speech continues. Presenters can use Spacebar, Enter, Tab, or Arrow keys to navigate through topics. Every time a new topic is selected, it will be highlighted and positioned in the center of screen so the audience can concentrate on it.
When users move their mouse cursor to the bottom of the screen, a control panel with additional functions is shown. Through this panel. users can:
External file attachments can be added
to XMIND maps as floating topics, or attached to a topic as subtopics.
There attachments can be renamed, moved, or deleted at any time. Users can change these
attachment's attributes such as color, shape, or line patterns, or add additional subtopics
or attachments to them.
Attachments can be rapidly dragged and dropped from a user's local folder to a map. Images can be dropped on an existing topic, and will automatically become the topic's image, or can be used to create a new topic.
All Attachments traval with XMAP files during distribution and sharing. Viewers can open an attachment directly, or save it to their drive as a local file.
Hyperlinks can be used to connect maps to
websites, folders, or files such as Excel or PDF documents. Each topic
can be given a URL and presented as a hyperlink(multiple URLs cannot be associated with a topic).
Hyperlinks can be opened by simply ALT-clicking the topic, or can be modified
or canceled at any time.
When a user drags and drops a hyperlink from a web browser to a topic, the hyperlink's URL will be inserted into that topic, or replace an existing URL that is already associated with the topic. As with attachment, hyperlinks can also be dragge and dropped into a map as subtopics of an existing topic, or floating topics. Hypelink attributes such as decreption, postion, and color can also be altered.
XMIND's powerful audio notes feature helps to capture spoken information during meetings and enables users to annotate topics without typing.
Users can record voice information by selecting a topic and clicking the record button in Audio Notes view. Clicking the button a second time will cease recording, and automatically save the audio file as an attachment. Audio notes can be played directly, or saved as an external .mp3 file for independent distribution.
Take a snapshot of a specific region of a map to the clipboard by a
drag-drop and a double click, and paste it in other applications. It's
easy with Map Shot to share either the whole or a part of the map with
someone not nearby in seconds.
XMIND provides dozens of images that can be used beneath the map as wallpaper.
Or, users can choose their own favorite images or photos as the map wallpaper.
All wallpaper settings are saved with map themes and styles when they are extracted and stored.
An XMAP map can be printed in much the same way as printing documents from other applications. The printer optioins panel is used to select the printer, print range, etc. Users can add page headers and footers, or print backgounds and/or border lines.
XMIND is a fully-compatible solution with a wide
range of third-party applications. Users can export maps into variety of
formats, such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, PDF, or RTF. Maps can also be
exported as single or multiple images in .JPEG, .BMP, .PNG, or .GIF formats.
When exporting a map to a graphical text document format such as Word, PowerPoint, or PDF, XMIND uses the central topic as the title, each main topics as a chapter heading, each subtopic as a section heading, and each floating topic as an appendix. Rich text notes are used as the text of eahc chapter or section.
XMIND will automatically place an overview picture representing the source map below the title, making it easier for users to instantly capture the structure of the entire documents. Users can also choose to separate the overview picture into small pieces for each chapter and/or section, or exclude overview pictures in the exported document.
XMIND also has integrated with Mindjet MindManager greatly. Users can directly export XAMP to MindManager Maps.
Many professinals use FreeMind or MindManager as their thinking tool. XMIND protects prior investments and makes it easy for users to continue working on maps created in FreeMind or MindManager. Users can import files from these two applications into XMIND without losing any important data.
Every XMAP file is a workbook that can contain multiple sheets, each containing a map. Users can create separated maps with different contents or styles within a single workbook. Additionally, any single map can be saved as an independent workbook. This facilitates storage, distribution and sharing for project management purposes.
In some cases, several topics that represent the same idea or concept may be categorized under different parents, or at different locations on the map. XMIND enables these topics to be 'associated'so that complex structures or logic can be expressed more clearly.
XMIND users can create one or more associated topics anywhere within a workbook. Any change made to one of the topics will automatically be reflected in the others associated with it. Topics can also be removed from an association as required.
Since main branches represent the information that is most significant to the central topic,
their correct positions on the map is extremly vital. Users can drag main topics to any place
on the map by simply holding the Alt key, or reset topics to their default positions by click
on "Rearrange Main Branches"
Free-positioned topics, including floating topics, can be aligned to the left, right, top, bottom, and center. If "Topic Overlaps" is enabled, free-positioned topics may cover each other or be tiled when placed together.
Users can align any floating topic, much in the same way they would align
text elements in other application.
Target floating topics can be aligned to the left, right, top, or bottom. Users can also enable topic overlaps, which will allow topics to cover each other or tile together after alignment.
Drilldown enables users to focus in on a
specific branch. When selected, the focused branch will be displayed as the central
branch on the map. Users ca nmodify the details of this branch, then return to
the former level with just a simple click.
If users want to hide detailed information from being displayed in higher levels, they can put them into floating topics. This will supress information when drilling up to full map view, but make it viewable when drilling down to the specific branch.
The drilled-down map can be exported, printed, and saved as a new workbook.
In team projects, information from different sources must often be collected and merged. XMIND provides a Map Merge feaure that enhances communication and collaboration by allowing users to merge separate maps into a single map.
XMIND provides
access to several search engines, allowing users to find and retrieve information
related to their topics from the World Wide
Web, and incorporate it into their maps.
Users can choose their favorite search engines from the list in Preference dialog box. The selected search engines will appear in the topic context menu, and search results will be displayed in the internal Web Browser. Users can drag and drop text, images, hyperlinks, and any other resources onto their maps.
Images can be
added to a map from Web search. XMIND has two pre-defined
image search engines:
Google
(default)
Yahoo!Search results will be displayed in a particular view, where users can drag and drop images onto a map, adding the images to an existing topic, or using the images to create a new topic.
A spell checker is automatically invoked as users type text into XMIND. Misspelled words are marked with a red underline. Right-click on the word will correct it, or a suggeted revision can be chosen from the popup menu. Users can also add new word to the dictionary.
Additional spell checker options can be found in the Preference dialog box.
Like other world-class applications, XMIND provides powerful keyboard shortcut support. With these shortcuts, users can create compelling and intuitive maps with just a few keyboard strokes.
| Key | Command |
|---|---|
| Enter | Create a brother topic |
| Tab | Create a subtopic |
| F2 | Edit topic |
| F3 | Edit label of a topic |
| F4 | Edit rich text notes of a topic |
| Ctrl+1,2,3,4,5,6 | Quicker add priority markers |
| F5 | Start presentation |
| F6 | Drill down |
| F7 | Map shot |
| ... | ... |
More keyboard shortcuts can be found in the Preference dialog box, where they can be customized to meet unique needs.
XMIND's window framework is a composite of various views and editors. The position and visibility of each view is determined by 'Perspective', which helps users to better focus on their work by accessing frequently used views in certain scenario.
XMIND has three pre-defined perspectives, which users can change at any tiem:
Drawing
(default)
Brainstorming
MeetingUsers can place a view anywhere within the window, minimize it to a fast view bar, maximize it to fill the entire window area, or close it. The view layout is remembered every time XMIND is closed.
Users can also save the current window layout as a perspective with a specific name for future use.
XMIND includes a variety of templates for business, educational and personal use. Maps created using these templates can be easily tailored to meet specific requirements. Ideas and suggestions for template expansion or enhancement are provided in various notes. Custom templates can also be designed and saved for future use.
To further increase efficiency, XMIND includes many ready-made project plans for common business activities, such as tradeshow organizing, publication producing, and product launch. These can be utilized for training purposes, or serve as the basis for project plans.
Users can also design some particular templates to meet their requirement in work and save them for future use.
