Please share your thoughts in the comments section of this blog post. What I’m looking for is a discussion of map types, such as meeting maps, strategic plans, project maps, etc.

Both versions are enabled for online sharing and collaboration via XMind Share, a new website which allows XMind users to share their mind maps and other visual thinking content in a Web 2.0 style online community.

The major new feature in XMIND Pro 3 is the addition of a Gantt view, which will make it more attractive to project managers. This new map view is completely interactive with your map’s task information; if you drag a task bar in Gantt view to change its duration, this will also be reflected in the topic’s task data. XMIND 3 Pro is available for a US$49 per year subscription, a great value in these troubled economic times.

XMIND Ltd. says that the open-source version of XMIND isn’t stripped down, but provides extensive functionality. Users of this no-cost version can share their maps via the new XMIND Share community, but only publicly. Only XMIND Pro 3 users can designate their maps as private, and control who has access to them. Both versions make it easy to upload maps to this site; the program prompts you to login when you first open it. Then, it’s simply a matter of clicking on the “upload” command in the file menu. One click – that’s nice!

Watch for a detailed review of XMIND Pro 3 in the coming weeks.

What makes this site unique?

In many respects, NovaMind Connect is similar to Mappio, BiggerPlate and other map sharing websites. But what makes this one truly unique is that, if you are using NovaMind 4.5 or a newer version, you can upload files directly from the program to your account on the Connect site. You can also link to any branch on any document uploaded to Connect, which means you can refer to these map elements via a permanent URL in e-mails, blog posts and other online tools.

Other features of NovaMind Connect include:

• The site acts as handy backup repository for your mind maps, and gives you a way to view and download them from any web browser
• You can be notified when your friends post new maps
• You can notify your friends when you post new maps or update existing ones
• You can attach comments at the document level (NovaMind documents may contain multiple maps), the map level or even the branch level
• Rating maps enables the best maps to percolate to the top of the map list – giving the community of users a great way to find and learn from well-designed, effective mind maps
• A sizeable “tag cloud” on the home page of NovaMind Connect can be used to quickly find maps on specific topics.
• You can share specific map records from the site on social networking sites like Digg, Del.icio.us, Facebook, StumbleUpon and Reddit.

NovaMind Connect is a well-designed, easy to navigate website. Each map can have a sizeable description, which makes it easier to understand what a map is about before you view it. You can download any map as a NovaMind file, PDF or JPG image.

Who can participate?

Only users of NovaMind who have a valid license key can sign up for an account on NovaMind Connect. Unregistered users can search for maps and view them, as well as view profiles and comments. However, you cannot rate, comment, upload, make friends, send or receive messages or receive notifications until become a member.

NovaMind founder Gideon King wisely waited until he could amass a sizeable collection of his own maps before launching NovaMind Connect. The result is that the site already contains an amazing variety of high-quality mind maps. In fact, it does a great job of showcasing the many cool visual effects you can incorporate into NovaMind maps. Wow!

If you’re a current user of NovaMind, then you should definitely sign up for an account. There’s a lot to see and learn from here!