MindMeister - online collaborative mindmaps
I stumbled across MindMiester today, a nifty ajax app for producing MindMaps online which has been created by German company codemart.
I’ve been looking for something like this for a while, I’m a big fan of using MindMaps for scoping out projects of all sizes and have quite a few of Tony Buzans books on the subject.
Whats a MindMap?
For anyone unaware of what a MindMap is, think of a todo list or written plan on steroids, your core topic sits in the middle of the Map and subtopic “trees” branch out in a clockwise direction. A format which is naturally more “in synch” with how your brain works. The trees and branches can be nested to many levels and can (usually) contain more than just words. See The Ultimate Book Of MindMaps for detailed info on how to do mindmaps or just try out MindMeister - its free!.
MindMeister - online and collaborative…
MindMeister is the first attempt I’ve seen to take the process of MindMaps on to the web. It uses an impressive ajax interface that lets you build up the maps in the same way you would in a “desk bound” version of the software but with the obvious Web 2.0 advantage of being accessible from anywhere and collaborative. At the moment it seems that you are limited to using strings of text for the “leaves” of the maps (although there is functionality to link out to Google, del.icio.us and Wikipedia using the text as a search term). It will be interesting to see how this progresses, it would be really nice to see image, audio and video capabilities added.
Widgets and Browser Extensions
Another nice touch are MacOS and Vista widgets and Firefox and IE browser plugins that let you quickly fire ideas into your “default” mindmap right from your desktop/browser - great for those frantic caffeine infused idea sessions:-)
Pricing
codemart have structured their product with 3 pricing options starting at free and working up to €38.50 per year for the premium service. The free version only allows you to create 6 MindMaps but that’s enough to give you an idea as to whether its worth coughing up for the paid version.
Syndication
