From FreeMind
Please post no new questions here: see .
Here are poorly consolidated, not so relevant or not yet answered questions.
the wiki page
has an XSLT for converting MindManger v5 maps to freemind. That is really cool, but how do I use it?
see File/Import/MindManager X5 Map! Works very well!
I am exploring the way freemind works and would like to know if you can have the mind map only grow out one side of the first node. at the moment when you add child nodes to the first one it puts them on each side of the first one. I would like to be able to have the first node at the top left of the page and then all others growing down from left ot right and top to bottom of the page.
start by grabbing a node on the left of the root (first) node, and drag it over the oval for the root node.
When you have dragged it over the root node oval, notice that the root node oval is shaded either on the left half or the right half depending on which side you have your mouse pointer over.
Release the node over the right half of the root node oval and the entire node is shifted to the right side of the root.
Use this to get every node from the left side onto the right side. Does this help? --?? Jan 6 2005
using the keyboard, you can use control arrow up or down to move a node. When you reach the top or bottom they will move to the left or right side.
Is there a way to associate a whole subtree from another part in the map? For instance, I am trying to create topics of programming knowledge and find that "Patterns" would fall under "C++", "JAVA" and "General programming techniques". I just want to make sure that what gets changed under one subtree gets propagated to the other instances.
(the same user later) The answer to the above "Linking Trees" is (teaches me to read the friendly manual first) is to be found in the article. --?? 07 May 2004
Can I configure the html export so that it includes a link to a CSS? So I don't have always to change the exported html page.
No. Currently, you can't configure the html export so that it includes a link to CSS or CSS itself. -- 08:24, 2 Oct 2004 (PDT)
As a Java based an hopefully crossflatform application, is it theoretically possible to run on Mac not OS X?
What are the problems? --?? 19 May 2004
It's just that nobody reported running FreeMind on other OS of Mac than Mac OS X. I am ignorant on Mac's operating systems anyway. --??
The old Macs are in effect a different operating system and Apple is nolonger updating it. The old macs do not have Java 1.4+ and will never get it. Solution, old mac user upgrade to OSX and then run FreeMind, which works very well on OSX 10.3.3 Java 1.4.2 --??
Hello, under W2K, I can link nodes with external documents without any problem. Under Linux I didn't figure out a way of doing the same. A 2003 post by Daniel stated that, at this time, there was no other possiblity under Linux but launching Mozilla whatever file extension or mime type was associated in the link. Is there a way now&? --?? 07 Jun 2004
Self answer, found in a forum&: Unlike Windows, Linux does not have a core facility that launches applications based on a file's MIMEtype. Such capabilities exist in various places - such as in the file managers for the desktops - but I know of no command you could reliably use in all Linux environments to launch an application from a file." One possible solution might be to launch the file in Netscape itself, with the AppletContext.showDocument() method. Netscape would presumably "show" the document in some way that makes sense for the document's MIMEtype."
Well well, if starting an application based on the mime type seems difficult in Linux, it may exist another way. Sorry for the presumable childish question&:
is it possible to use Mozilla for issuing a shell like commande, like "../program/swriter toto.sxw"&? Or anything else that would open the linked openoffice file from a node and letting not only view (a html save as would do it) but actually edit? Thank you for your attention. JFD
P.S.: If there is no elegant workaround, I'll copy the full text paths in the text nodes and later copy to the openOffice url locator for editing / viewing.
&& What about the files:
/usr/lib/mime/packages/freemind
application/x- /usr/bin/freemind '%s'; test=test -n "$DISPLAY"; description="FreeMind MindMap file"; nametemplate=%s.mm
and /etc/mime.types&?
application/x-freemind
On debian it's handled by mime-support package.
Since upgrading my OpenOffice from 1.1.0 to 1.1.1 a link to a spreadsheet no longer works.
I've tried re-doing the link to no avail.
No other problems noted with the OO what now? --?? 09 Jun 2004
Regarding this problem of mine -- might it help to reinstall FreeMind? --?? 18 Jun 2004
load it all in one folder with relative links and burn... tell us what happens --?? 10 Jun 2004
How do I paste in an email link?
I can paste in a link to a message, but it doesn't seem to work like the example on the Documentation --?? 17 Jun 2004
Is German or French available?
Change the language in .
Hello, how do I install freemind[bla].deb on my debian system? I did not find any answers about what to do after downloading the dot deb file on this page&:( --?? 20 Jun 2004
I tried the following on Debian/sarge and it worked: $ dpkg -i freemind.deb --Christophe 15 Jul 2004
freemind Debian package needs j2re1.4 or java2-runtime packages that are not in Debian archives.
How can I find them&? Thanks for your answer. --?? 28 Jul 2004
and follow the the instructions for a manual download and installation of the JRE under Linux.
Follow instructions on the
- simple matter to update your /etc/apt/sources.list, then you can install from apt-get as per the instructions, or through dselect - then freemind dependencies will be taken care of. - Kurt Woodham 1/12/05
Can you have nodes that are URLs?
(later the same user) I am sorry - Ctrl K does what I wanted. (great tool by the way!) --?? 25 Jun 2004
Why do you say that FreeMind isn't really like Buzan-style mind-maps?
We have several reasons for warning users that FreeMind does not comply fully with Buzan's wishes. Firstly, the graphical possibilities are limited. The look of the main branches is basically the same as the look of secondary branches. The positioning of the main branches is not flexible, unlike in MindManager. Secondly, the support for pictures is inferior. We do not support pictures embedded directly in the mind map, i.e. the picture files are stored outside the mind maps. And when you try to edit a picture, your favorite bitmap editor is not opened. Summed up, it is possible to work with pictures, but not seamless. Our main point is to keep as many as possible of the statements we make on the web pages traceable. We don't want to create a gap between expectations created by our presentation texts and by the actual user experience. -- 05:55, 26 Sep 2004 (PDT)
Depends on the internet browser you are using. With Mozilla Firefox with TabBrowser Extension you can customize Mozilla to work with one window only, open new links in separated Tabs. --?? 07 Jul 2004
Hmm - can you specify a picture to be used as the background and not a color per se?
No, it's not possible.
Multi-line nodes overlap with other nodes, making the others difficult to see and access. How can I stop this happening?
T only the children of the root suffer from this.
I'm trying to install freemind-0.7.1-2.noarch.rpm on Sun's Java Desktop 2.0 (which is essentially SuSE with some interface changes.
I get the following messages:
# rpm -i freemind-0.7.1-2.noarch.rpm
error: failed dependencies:
java_runtime &= 1.4 is needed by freemind-0.7.1-2
However, as you can see, I have TWO j2re's &= 1.4:
j2re-1.4.2_04-fcs
j2re-1.4.2_05-fcs
java is in the path:
# which java
/usr/java/j2re1.4.2_05/bin/java
# java -fullversion
java full version "1.4.2_05-b04"
And just for good measure, I've set the JAVA_HOME variable:
# printenv JAVA_HOME
/usr/java/j2re1.4.2_05
What is the secret handshake, here?!? --?? 07 Jul 2004
Whatever your problem is, the plain binary distribution of FreeMind (in contrast to RPM packaging) should work for you. --?? 29 Jul 2004
I have just installed FreeMind RPM and had the same problem. As I was sure my j2re was OK, I just made a 'rpm -i --nodeps'. Freemind is working fine.
Is there any support for import/export from MindMapper? If not are there any clever hacks to do most of the work? --?? 13 Aug 2004
23 Aug 2004
history of install:
sudo rpm -i --nodeps freemind-0.7.1-2.noarch.rpm
whereis freemind
sudo updatedb
sudo freemind
/usr/bin/freemind: line 30: java: command not found
I'm not nearly as successful as you. I just installed the jre but it's not coming up when I run which java... How did you set your path? dgd goes looking --?? 23 Aug 2004
Is there a way to invoke the deletion of a node with a keyboard combination rather than the right click menus.
Althought this is a personal preference anyway, as someone who suffers with RSI, I try to avoid as much mouse activity as possible.
Many thanks --?? 17 Aug 2004
Press Ctrl + X to cut out (ie. delete) a node with keyboard.
Is there a way of attaching a note to a node? For example I want to provide more information on a specific node for review purposes without having to add the contents of my note as a separate child node because it is not part of the scheme at hand. --?? 18 Aug 2004
No. -- 05:25, 26 Sep 2004 (PDT)
See also .
I don't understand the question. FreeMind is an application while ASQ is a programming language. How can an application be a part of programming language? Whatever ASQ is, we at FreeMind don't make any commitment in ASQ's direction. -- 04:59, 26 Sep 2004 (PDT)
In a sense, FreeMind is a personal non relational XML database. But as I don't know how the term non relational XML database is used in general, I cannot answer that question properly. I don't think that program like FreeMind without any indexing capability can properly be called a database. -- 04:59, 26 Sep 2004 (PDT)
Indexes are not essential. Having worked with non-XML, non-relational databases, such as Honeywell IDS II, IDMS, HP Image, and Cincom Total, I can say that if you have a store mechanism relying on pages, hash keys, and linked lists, you have the rudiments for network style databases (a subset of which were known as CODASYL compliant). Presentation in an arbitrary order would require managing sorted linked lists or sorting on the fly. -- 06:09, 4 May 2007 (PDT)
Now I don't know what non-linear books and N-psi-clopidieas are, and don't have time to find out. FreeMind can certainly be used to store complete books. -- 04:59, 26 Sep 2004 (PDT)
Is there a simple way of changing the fonts (or color, size, etc) of all nodes at once? --?? 07 Jul 2004
Do it by selecting multiple nodes, which you can do by holding control while selecting. Also, you can select a complete subtree by selecting its root while holding alt.
From version 1.1.6 on, you can simply copy and paste the code. Otherwise try to link the map. See
for more deatails.
I can't find out the answer to this simple but essentially question&:-(.
Use "Edit Long Node..." in FreeMind 0.9 --
15:37 30 Mar 2009 (IST)
The left toolbar is too long to fit on a
screen. I'm running FreeMind 0.8.0 on Ubuntu Breezy with Sun JDK 1.5.0_04. Is there any way to make the buttons at the bottom of the toolbar visible?
On WindowsXP it is possible to detach the left toolbar to make it float. When it is a floating window, i can access all icons. -- 01:43, 20 Jul 2006 (PDT)
Is it possible to create a node with more than parent? So maybe i want to have something like this:
-- 02:32, 18 Jul 2005 (PDT)
No it is not! MindMaps are hierarchical, you may want to use graphical links to connect nodes in some way even though that's not what you requested. Another option is to use Cmaps instead (see other software section...).
The diamond-form above, that is, a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) is a hierarchical structure though: you can still see what node is sub-ordinated to what node(s) and what are the sub-ordinates of some node. It's still hierarchical, since there are no cycles, but it's not a Tree any more.
Who said that MindMaps should have to be trees? Hierarchical? Yes. But trees? Not necessary. The neuronal connections in human brains are connected like DAGs - still some neurons are "more important" than others, but each neuron can get input impulses from many other neurons, not only one. It's all about free associations.
MindMaps are that good because they reflect the neuronal structure of the taxonomy of knowledge in human brains. There are topics which are common to several parents. E.g. if you are building a MindMap for vehicles, and you have cars, boats and aeroplanes there, then where would you categorize an amphibia? It's a car, but it is also a boat. But FreeMind doesn't allow you to attach it under both categories, only one is allowed.
Links can circumvent this obstacle, but it's only a "hack", since there is always one connection which is exceptional over others [which are only links]. It doesn't make sense logically. -- 01:39 22 Dec 2008
Where is the "undo"?
CTRL-Z should do it (on my german keyboard)
And theres a button in the toolbar, try these blue arrows.
In freemind.mm -& Demonstration of some features,there is a
featrue called "emulate labelled edges". But no infomation
about how to do.&:(
-- 22:42, 9 May 2006 (PDT)
Here is the trick:
Create a node, right click -& select Physical Style -& Default F6
or Create a node and just press shortcut key "F6".
What is the easiest way to combine two large maps into one, preferably preserving the first two?
I'd like to run two separate sessions of Freemind with two different groups of people, then combine the results. --?? 27 Aug 2004
Open first map, select root node (Esc), copy (Ctrl+C), open second map, select root (Esc), insert (Ctrl+V) You might want to organize the second map by dragging the first level children to one side and insert only the children of the first map omitting the additional root.
Is there any way to have FreeMind export to a simple text outline from the map?
Select the root of the branch you need, press Ctrl+C, open up a plaintext-editor like kwrite or notepad and insert with Ctrl+V
Starting from a map.
How can disable the ability to save, edit a node, delete a node or insert a new node.
Practically, how can I not allow any modifications to my map?
Suppose, I have prepared design/flow of my project using freemind and sent to team members. If my team members don't have this software, then how can I show them? It should allow same functionality as freemind document. same feeling. [For developers: You can probably give this permission when it's connected to internet and it should open in IE or firefox in same tree format.]
When using mindmaps I very often reorganize them after a first brain storming. For doing that it would be helpfull if I could disconnect nodes/branches and drop them in the 'free' space (sort of a second map), temporarily. Is that feature planed?
Is there a way to compute easily the number of children (and children's children, etc.) of a node&? Thx -- 06:25, 10 Oct 2006 (PDT)
How should I proceed to suppress a link (to an external file) or a local link?
Thanks for the answer...
--[User:Nanou] 06 Aug 2006
Edit the local link and change it to "" (null) -- 12:24, 10 Oct 2006 (PDT)
I'd like to know whether theres a functionality to move the nodes around so that parent nodes can reside above child nodes (and vice versa). IMHO the MindMap structure in Freemind is somewhat limited if it does not offer to place child nodes AROUND (in every direction) the parent node...
-- 01:21, 20 Jul 2006 (PDT)
Hello everyone, I found out how to transform the invalid
elements into something more XHTML and HTML compliant.
are available for the purpose of demonstration.
I read the , to guide myself while converting 'applet' into 'object' tags.
Here is what I came up with:
&!--[if&!IE]&--&
&object classid="java:freemind.main.FreeMindApplet.class" type="application/x-java-applet" archive="" width="450" height="300"&
&param name="scriptable" value="false" /&
&param name="modes" value="freemind.modes.browsemode.BrowseMode" /&
&param name="browsemode_initial_map" value="" /&
&param name="initial_mode" value="Browse" /&
&param name="selection_method" value="selection_method_direct" /&
&!-- &![endif]--&
&object classid="clsid:8AD9C840-044E-11D1-B3E9-" codebase="" height="300" width="450"&
&param name="code" value="freemind.main.FreeMindApplet" /&
&param name="archive" value="" /&
&param name="scriptable" value="false" /&
&param name="modes" value="freemind.modes.browsemode.BrowseMode" /&
&param name="browsemode_initial_map" value="" /&
&param name="initial_mode" value="Browse" /&
&param name="selection_method" value="selection_method_direct" /&
This browser does not have a Java Plug-in.
&a href=""&
Get the latest Java Plug-in here.
&!--[if&!IE]&--&
&!-- &![endif]--&
It is an example code that you would place in a webpage (replace ' /&' with '&' if it's an html page... leave them for xhtml).
-- 18:08, 26 Mar 2006 (PST)
How is the color of a cloud's border set by FreeMind? Can this behaivor be altered with user.properties? Can a default color be set?
Is it possible to change the outline color of a cloud? (not bubble or fork or background).
Is it possible to change the default directory that FreeMind points to for saving files under Windows?
I prefer not to use My Documents and it would easier if FreeMind could be pointed to my preferred directory instead.
is there a way to include and use the FreeMind browser applet on a CD-ROM. I want to use it to present my mindmap in a browser with links to documents included on the cd-rom and on the internet. --?? 05 May 2004
I installed the latest Java and then FreeMind. I had a play with FreeMind and it crashed. I had to restart my WinXP machine. Since then, cannot run FreeMind.
I have uninstalled FreeMind and Java.
Then re-installed Java then FreeMind. If I double click or run the FreeMind exe I don't see a window appear, nothing in the taskbar or anything.
Also, if I try open a page on your site, that needs Java then my IE window just closes.
Shame, I was looking forward to trying FreeMind. Any ideas? --?? 16 May 2004
Other user: PC with Windows 2000, Java JRE build 1.4.1_01-b01. After having installed FreeMind, when clicking on FreeMind icon, the mouse pointer turns into the hourglass for a couple of seconds and then turns back to the regular arrow, however FreeMind does not launch. Looked in the "Asked Questions" section of FreeMind Wiki, where it is suggested to run FreeMind.bat and check for messages. Cannot find any freemind.bat file in my "c:\program files\freemind" installation directory. Run a search on the whole hard drive, no file "freemind.bat" could be found. Any clue on what prevents FreeMind to launch? (30 Nov. 2004)
Tariq: I have the same issue, I installed Freemind but it doesnt run.T his is what I got after running the freemind.bat file
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: java/util/logging/Log
at freemind.main.FreeMind.getLogger(FreeMind.java:643)
at freemind.main.FreeMind.&init&(FreeMind.java:109)
at freemind.main.FreeMind.main(FreeMind.java:647)
any idea what this would be
I had the same symptoms and when I ran freemind.bat the same diagnostic reported on my Windows XP SP 2 machine. SUN JRE 1.5.0.06 was installed.
It turned out after a little research that an Oracle client install had installed a different version of Java. I added the new JRE 1.5 path to my path environment variable and FreeMind now starts up OK. (24 Apr 2006)
I had the very same problem and also detected a jre 1.3 installed by an oracle client, but adding the new JRE 1.5 path to the path environment variable wasn't enough since the selected javaw was still that from 1.3. I manually unistalled it so Freemind would pick the 1.5 one. Thanks for the advice. (10 may 2006)
I just found this blog entry that solved this problem for me:
Basically, Freemind.exe will not work if your java installation path is after anything else surrounded by quotes.
OK, none of the above solved my issue, but showed me the way!
I have Win XP SP2, JRE 1.5.0_06, and no quoted strings in my path.
What I had to do was, add the JRE 1.5 path to the beginning of the path, then it starts up just fine.
Oracle Enterprise Manager console came up just fine, but haven't tested any further on Oracle.
How to Host freemind on IIS? --?? 08 Jun 2004
This worked for me&:
1 ) copy freemindbrowser.html, freemindbrowser.jar and &yourmap&.mm to some folder
2 ) go to IIS, right-click on your web site and choose properties. Go to HTTP Headers tab and click on MIME Types. Add the following MIME type&:
extension&: mm
MIME type&: application/freemind
[sergio giraldo][19 Jan 2005]
Is there a way to establish a link from one node to another node, either in the same, or a different map? --?? 01 Jul 2004
How, precisely, do you change the background color - not text - of the forked (not Cloud) style of the nodes? --?? 07 Jul 2004
It would be fantastic if resources were found to supply an rpm repository for the educators using apt-get or yum to maintain and update LTSP; LTSP supplies some 100,000+ students with computer services. --?? 23 Aug 2004
I am trying to create a link in one mm that links to another mm file. This works okay if the target mm is in my home directory (in my case "P:\My Documents"), but if the target is in a subdirectory of home, I get a "New Mindmap". --?? 02 Sep 2004
When creating a graphical link and it's beyond the page borders...how do you
scroll the screen while holding left mouse button + cntrl + shift. I can's
find a way to scroll. Is it possible? Mouse scroll button does not function
and neither does the side bar. Maybe I'm missing something.Any suggestions? --?? 06 Sep 2004
Having published a test map at
I fid it works so well
in IE6, right clicking functionality and (un)folding children, but there's
no such interaction in Firefox 0.9.
I've checked my java settings, but no
idea, any help?
-- email Wedgekin &at&
09 Sep 2004
I can see your mind map in Firefox without any problems. -- 08:17, 2 Oct 2004 (PDT)
I've tried to export a mindmap with icons to HTML. The icons however do not appear in the HTML-Document. Is there a way to manually copy the icon-files into an image folder on my webpage. Where are these files located?
I would like to add that some options in user.properties would make such an export VERY useful:
ExportText.IncludeTopNode:
Default is true, which is normal.
A setting of false removes the top node from the export (would be nice if it could become the filename).
This is needed for example to allow PowerPoint to import the children as slides.
ExportText.IndentString: Default would be four spaces as it is now, but would allow any string.
This would make it easy to export to many formats.
It would be REALLY nice if these two parameters (and perhaps others?...) could be packaged together and displayed as a droplist in the menu so one could create many variations on the basic text export and have them readily available.
Is it possible to save a page setting to be used each print run? Currently I need to set-up the page format (margins and orientation) each time I fire-up FM.
Colouring the nodes - of course - changes the text colour. Is it possible to change the background colour too - ala clouds?
It's a pretty stupendous tool, by the way. In a matter of weeks I find all of my work can be organised in this way. I have been using MM's for years and this tool has made it all more formalised! Its great!!
Thanks to all who made the effort - you done good!
How would I go about linking images to nodes on a web page - that is, what path should I use to create the links and where should I store the images in the web site?
Seems like this should be obvious but there seems no way to use referential linking of paths so when its saved on a Host it can still find the graphics!
Instead of the cumbersome "&html&" string required at the beginning of the text.
And even worse, having to keep the MaxNodeWidth enforced with something like &body width="600"&.
Why not take a different approach.
One that seems like it would have little impact on the code, though I have not read it as of yet...
If html was treated as an attribute like bold and italic as in html="true", then process the entire node as html same as when the string "&html&" is detected at the beginning of the text.
There would be a default &style&body {width:&MaxNodeWidth&}&/style& in place, though the actual html in the node could override this just the way normal CSS does.
This has MAJOR implications for the use of the xml file.
Though I have not written any XSLT yet for FreeMind,
I was APPALLED at the thought of having to strip out this "&html&" string out of every node that used it.
And positively frustrated at the idea of having to test for irrelevant tags used to control width, i.e. &body width="600"&.
I really thought this crude and that it would slow the proceesing of files that use what is really a most beautifully clean concept.
However, an html attribute does away with all of this and seems to me to be a much more elegant and cleanly way to deal with html....
BTW, it would be very straight forward to write an XSLT transform to upgrade existing .MM files.
I have the FreeMind browser working on my local machine from a flash drive (without a web server), so after uploading it to my website, it's unable to load the map file. You can try it at
to see what happens.
Here is what I get in the Java Console:
Warning: the font you have set as standard - null - is not available.
freemind.main.XMLParseException: XML Parse Exception during parsing of a div element at line 7: Expected: ' or &
java.lang.Exception
at freemind.modes.browsemode.BrowseMapModel.load(BrowseMapModel.java:115)
at freemind.modes.browsemode.BrowseController.load(BrowseController.java:205)
at freemind.modes.browsemode.BrowseController.loadURL(BrowseController.java:181)
at freemind.modes.browsemode.BrowseMode.activate(BrowseMode.java:74)
at freemind.controller.Controller.changeToMode(Controller.java:325)
at freemind.main.FreeMindApplet.init(FreeMindApplet.java:262)
at sun.applet.AppletPanel.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
[Freemind-Developer-Internal-Warning (do not write a bug report, please)]: Tried to get view without being able to get map module.
View is null.
I've tried placing ./PubMap.mm, the full path, and simply the map filename in the browsemode_initial_map paramter. I get the same error everytime. That makes me wonder if it's not the web code, but the applet's. I even placed the full path in the ARCHIVE paramter, and nothing changed.
Any help would be great. Contact info on my page
11:34, 16 May 2006 (PDT)
Ok, the XML Parse Exception on the div element at line 7 is being caused by the code that my host uses for the banner they place at the beginning of all of my pages. Since I can't disable this, my only thought is it's a bug that needs to be fixed in the XMLParseException.class file... or I'm out of luck.
13:30, 16 May 2006 (PDT)
root@jabber: Desktop# apt-get install freemind
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
Since you only requested a single operation it is extremely likely that
the package is simply not installable and a bug report against
that package should be filed.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
freemind: Depends: j2re1.4 or
java2-runtime
E: Broken packages
I've java, I've and I work with NetBeans...
Branches are created only at right and it's impossible to move them left.
answer&?: if you try to move the node over the top or under the bottom it moves left, but only if you already have one on the left. With 0.8.0, if all my branches are on the right, when I create a new child off the root, it shows up on the left. Then I can move things over to the left.
I have a large and complex mindmap with lots of levels and nodes. I would like to be able to filter the map so I only see on screen the nodes that are relevent to a particular category, eg High Priority, or tagged with a certain icon for a certain project I'm working on, or tagged with an icon which to me has a particular meaning. Is this possible? If not, can this be added as a feature please as it would make the mindmaps especially useful...
Any plans to make Freemind support multiple parents/siblings. It would be useful for social networking mapping among other things. Another example would be to use it to draw a computer network.
This is absolutely essential for creative thinking - ideas are born from two parents connecting together!
Hierarchical mind maps are great for analysis: breaking a problem down, but not so good for creating new ideas.
It would also be able to put down free standing nodes and work out their relationships later.
You developers are doing a terrific job and have a lot on your plate!
I hope you'll prioritise this one though as it opens up a whole new way of mind mapping, much more in keeping with how our minds work!
Thanks people!
( I really like that I was looking for a solution myself. I use Mindmaps on structuring my writen work and very often I try to visualize processes. In a process very often two different 'states' lead to a single solution.)
Hi everyone,
first I want to thank all developers for making FreeMind (0.8.0). It's a great tool!
Working with FreeMind I still miss somethings and maybe you like the ideas and can integrate them in the 0.9 oder 1.0 release. As I did not find a "proposal" page, I'll put it in here.
It takes too much interaction to change the color of text, background, line color and/or icon for a node element
How about presets, easily accessible with hotkey, say CTRL 1-9. For each hotkey, an interface lets you define a combination of icon and the 3 textcolors. CTRL 1 can be Icon Question + Line color red (the background and text color are not influenced, so I could use CTRL 9 setting these both too on the same node without overwriting the first CTRL 1). This would be easy and convenient.
I store a lot of plans/projects in FreeMind. Notes are implemented rather simple at the moment. First I miss a hotkey to add a note. Second I simply cannot find a way to remove a note. (Here is a question hidden&;) )
Third, the lower part of the screen is not the best way to edit larger nodes. An (optional?) popup window would simplify both editing and reading (and could be the same hotkey as the creation of the note).
An optional setting that copies color/icon settings on creation of a new node from its father. And an additional hotkey to clear the setting, if it is not needed. This would be a great help in Mindmaps where one wants for example maps with nodes starting from root with different color and passing them down the whole structure.
Thanks for reading, keep up the good work
Using Freemind to take notes, being limited to text is very frustrating.
Yes, bitmap images are possible, but I simply want to draw a graph or systems map etc.
Nothing too fancy, but it would be nice to be able to add a "vector graphics" node with the following features:
- Cutdown, SVG-based implementation
- Small, internal editor
- Rectangles, circles, lines, text
- Varying line widths, colours
- Varying 2-colour gradients, (1D, angle)
- Vector area is scalable, contents scale with border.
- When editing, contents do NOT scale with border
That would do me!
Great idea il second that one. Intergrating your vector idea into the filters would also be a nice step.
Dear developers, please, think of the possibility of including the functionality of hard links (unixlike). Thanks.
Sasha.Travov
Images and colours are a large part to do with any mind map. At the moment the use of customized images is lacking.
I appreciate the importance of having a standardized system for icons, however customizable icons would be amazing.
One can look at icons as asociative hooks, where each icon uses elements of sound, vision and feeling (by using ur imagination or the feelings this immage emotes in you). sound and vision can also be mediated using the computer, each person could costomize a vizualization for the icons on some sort of Flash animation. Like music visuals except the person manipulates the modalities and submodalities (NLP), one can do all this with your immagination anyway. this is to work with memory.
hand written mind mapps have more significance in the memory because of the creative process and kinaesthetic awareness invovled in drawing, and is a lot more free, since you are using a blank piece of paper, or just being creative in whatever medium works for you.
intergrating creativity into freemind.
A lot more work needs to be done for images
change size
crop parts of a written mind map
insert as node
Insert local hyperlinks in the image.
e.g. Human anatomy pic, hyperlinks on the muscle groups etc
I understand that there is so much one can add onto something like freemind. Which then could sacrifice the speed/functionality of the programme. plugins would be great for this. To maintain a strong, simple and effective skeleton structure. And to plug in to bigger more complicated modules/puzzel pieces when they are needed/desired.
N.b. Forgive me if I am writing thigng in the wrong places. I still have to read up on the editing protocol.
Thanks for the music!
Wold be nice to be able to select a node so that you see it wherever you are on the mind map, would save a lot of time zooming and changing positions in larger mind maps. like a mini map of the mind map, or selected nodes.
With FreeMind 0.8.0 Windows Installer Max, the Inno Setup command line switches can be used for an unattended (silent) setup:
FreeMind-Windows-Installer-0_8_0-max.exe /sp- /silent /norestart
I read about Inno Setup at the SourceForge Unattended project page for unattended software installation
I was using stable FreeMind version 0.8.0 on Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Linux.
apt-get install per your instructions worked great!
Thank you.
I exported a map, it would "do the right thing" and export the entire
map even if the entire map does not show on FreeMinds screen.
example, some of map is off the visual screen area though I could scroll
when I export I want entire map to show and it works fine
with 0.8.0.
Now, with 0.9.0-Beta3 FreeMind only exports portion of map that is on
the screen.
I have to reduce map to 75% or less in FreeMind (to get
entire image on FreeMind screen area) to export entire thing in single
image and then resolution is getting very small.
I read many FreeMind
pages and forum and did not find this anywhere.
I did not know how to
report to Developers for what is basically a Beta testing of this fine
Maybe there is a setting that I did not find that will make entire
off-screen image export also?
Is it possible to change the edge style of arrows?
They always seem to operate with beziers - wondering if I can change them to linear?
I'm trying to use arrows to show a connection between two nodes that appear similarly to the hierarchical relations.
Would love the option to actually link two nodes to different parents rather than solely hierarchically.
Thanks! Great tool!
19:17, 27 Feb 2007 (PST)
CAn all parents of a child node be expanded, i.e., "backtracked"? I think this would be a very useful feature..kind of like a reverse wiring diagram.
Could there be an option to autoformat the size of a node bubble based on the number of its children normalized by the number of total children..or something like that? It would be a nice visual of priorities ... more children meaning more time spent on that branch.
The search function is great...but would be even better if ti included the notes. Thanks!
inserting an encrypted node in 0.9.0 beta 9 (tested on ubuntu 7.04) makes the mindmap unusable. you can insert an encrypted node but if you want to save your mindmap, the file will be smaller than the original. the file including the encrypted node is filled with rubbish at the end.
if you open the damaged file you get a big node includig the following error message:
Error while parsing file:freemind.main.XMLParseException: XML Parse Exception during parsing of a map element at line 44: Unexpected end of data reached
if you use version 0.8.0 including a secured node, you'll get a 0 byte file.
I have a large string of categories I wish to divide into nodes and sub nodes in the following format:
FAQ.Products.Disks.CD.CD Creator
FAQ.Products.Disks.DVD.DVD Writer
FAQ.Products.Disks.DVD.patability
I would like to be able to generate a mindmap to look like the following:
CD Creator
DVD Writer
DVD Writer - Compatability
So by some batch process or script it will add the sub nodes to the parent nodes without creating new nodes of the same name. Any recommendations?
Is there anyway to have plain text notes?
I would like to upload my mind map to my wiki, but because the notes have HTML in them, I am blocked from uploading it.
Due to the dangers in allowing HTML, disabling this check is not an option.
So, does anyone know a way to allow plain text notes in FreeMind? -- 09:36, 17 Oct 2007 (PDT)
Alt+P or Format-&Use plain text converts all selected nodes to plain text and changes the default settings for new nodes.
Sadly this works for the node, but not for the node's notes.
(Though I did double check it again just to be sure&:)
If there is a way to have notes be plain text (rather than have HTML tags) I would love to hear of that!
-- 08:47, 18 Oct 2007 (PDT)
Is there a way to change default formatting (15pt top outer margin is just bad)?
Is there no spell check feature?
Apparently not. How difficult would it be to integrate ?
When I have a URL in the clipboard and paste it in a node, I get a link that works, but the text in the created node is not correct: the slashes in the URL are substituted by "&". For example: "" becomes a linked node with that URL but with text "zmag.org & Zspace & Commentaries & 3470". Is this normal? Can it be changed? Thanks! -- 13:52, 4 Aug 2008 (PDT)
There is great interest in FreeMind. I come from the Confluence community where FreeMind is popular. A FreeMind plugin was even written which was extremely useful, but it was essentially scraped for all intensive purposes because of the perceived conflict with the GPL.
Have a look:
40 comments around people trying expose FreeMind to their typically large wiki communities, but the GPL prevented this exposure.
So my question is: what would it take for you to change the FreeMind license to something other tha GPL?
Hi,everyone,I install freemind in my computer,but can't use(can't open),of course,I install java too,the following is java tools list:
1 J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 17;
2 Java DB 10.3.1.4;
3 Java(TM) SE Development Kit 6 update 6
Thanks for advice
Jiandan Luo
Xi'an,China
On my Ubuntu, there is no way to have changes to Standard Background Color or Standard Node Color take effect in document views, either through GUI preference or editing ~/.freemind/auto.properties, or ~/.freemind/user.properties. The changes can be seen only in Freemind preference property page.
This problem does not happen to the Windows version.
Please Help.
Is there an easy way, other than editing the MAP file, to remove all Icon's of a particular type e.g. Remove all the "ok" and "cancel" icons shown on a map, other than to: open the map in a text editor and Replacing all "&icon BUILTIN="button_ok"/&\n" and "&icon BUILTIN="button_cancel"/&\n" entries with nothing?
Is there an easy way to replace every occurrence of a TEXT string displayed on the map e.g. A Name or Date, other than editing the map file in a text editor?
Is it worth documenting the steps required to display Freemind maps within the various Wiki e.g.:
Download and install the
plug-in / dot command on your Media-Wiki server.
Download and unpack the Freemind
Export your Map "Using XSLT" and the "mm2dot.xsl".
Open the exported file in a text editor.
Edit the Wiki page and insert the following tag pair:
&graphviz&
&/graphviz&
Paste the contents of the file between the tags.
Preview and Save
Very similar instructions for
I start to work with a MAC and I use PAGES. I have made a lot tree structure (structure arboressante). I know then is possible the export a mind map in pages or word for having a tree structure. I would like to know if the opposite is possible and how to do... on a simple way.
Personal tools
This page was last modified on 26 August 2010, at 11:15.
This page has been accessed 177,474 times.