MyMap
a mindmapping program for *nix

Important!

My MyMap does not have anything to do with the MyMap of the german company eminec. When I chose the name mymap I did not know of their program "MYmap" which is a mindmapping program as well (I know, sounds unlikely, but that's the truth). A rewrite of my program (if that should happen) will have a different name, probably "kreativitree". For a very beautiful and powerful mindmapping program for Windows, please visit http://www.eminec.com.

Due to my finals approaching, MyMap development has stalled. I will not continue development until at least my written exams are over (in January 2001) but more likely after my oral exams (March 2001). The current version is nice, but should not be used for serious work: future versions will use a different XML file format I've agreed upon with Jörg Müller, the author of the freeMind Java mind mapping program. Unlike MyMap, freeMind is currently actively being developed by Jörg, and I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a free mind mapping application; especially because Jörg is using a very modular approach and the Java portability is nice for team workers. I will try to make MyMap available in 2001 again and if that happens you will be able to read freeMind files.

What's mind mapping?

Mind mapping(tm) is a way of visualizing information, similar to "outlines". It's like a tree, with branches spreading in all directions from a common center. The principle is simple, however many people (like me) like to work with mind maps. Mind mapping has been made famous by Tony Buzan, who, as far as I know, also owns the trademark. Take a look at it especially if you're a consultant or a creativity nerd, those people just love this kind of stuff.

What do I need mymap for?

All you need to create a mind map is a sheet of paper and a pencil. In many cases this is enough. However, when you are working with very complex mind maps, mind maps that evolve over time or mind maps that several people are working on, computers can be a useful tool. There have been some mind mapping programs for MS-Windows, but I didn't know of any port to Linux, so I started the MyMap project.

What I'm aiming for

MyMap is hopefully going to be a feature-rich mind mapping program, offering "fork style" as well as "bubble style" mind maps (you can already mix those two types), many options to make your maps colorful and nice (especially my mother wants this!), an outline-style editor for easier writing (especially I want this!) the possibilities to insert pictures and other objects of your choice, links to your file system, to the web or to some branch in another mind map, and export functions to other file formats. I want to implement the creation of jpeg, png, PostScript and other image formats. It'd be nice to interface mymap with things like organizers or file managers, so you can visualize your Tasks, appointments or organize documents using MyMap.

Note that this will take its time, especially since I'm preparing for my state exam in laws, which I'll hopefully enter in a year. However, MyMap is already quite usable right now, so there's no need to wait.

MyMap's current status

First of all: MyMap is ALPHA Software. It's in its very beginnings, only the most basic functionality has been implemented, it may be unstable. Please, only use MyMap if you're prepared for crashes and want to write bug reports or help me. Although this is very unlikely, the file format may change. Please tell me, if you want to use MyMap for real work, so I can write a conversion program in this case.

As of version 0.2.0 MyMap offers:

editing of mind maps in fork-, bubble- or mixed-style
several maps per file (like tables in a spreadsheet). NOTE: this needed a backwards incompatible change in file format. Tell me if you need help converting your files.
saving and loading of mindmaps (using XML)
node properties (text, colors, linewidth, font etc.)
simple connection properties
simple printing support
keyboard accels for fast, easy work.
hopefully less bugs than in 0.1.0

This is hopefully going to come next (version 0.3.0):

more node properties
more connection properties
a better user interface

Please have a look at TODO.mymap in the mymap examples directory. There you can find a more detailed roadmap of where I'm heading.

What do I need for using MyMap?

MyMap uses Qt-2.2 and KDE-2 libraries.

License

MyMap is distributed under the terms of the Artistic License. This license implies, that you can use and share MyMap for free. You can get the source and are allowed to apply modifications under the terms of the license.