For many years, MindManager has been surrounded by an ecosystem of add-in programs that extend its functionality in creative and fascinating ways. I recently did some research to learn what’s available today and discovered some truly useful applications.
Here are the 7 best MindManager add-ins I discovered:
aHa!1Way XLS add-in
The aHa!1Way XLS add-in exports Mindjet’s task information into task lists in Microsoft Excel while maintaining the hierarchic structure of your map. This add-in is a great way to quickly generate action lists based on a mind map of your meeting minutes, so each of the participants knows what to do after the meeting.
aHa! Visual web export
The aHa!Visual web export generates a HTML version of your mind map, including links, notes, attachments (which become downloadable), colors, images, icons and so on. Why is this significant? Because Mindjet did away with its HTML export several versions ago, in favor of Flash-enhanced PDFs, followed by a different proprietary solution. It’s nice to see that someone still offers this simple, elegant way of exporting clickable image maps.
Mapping Action Pack (MAP)
Mapping Action Pack for MindManager (MAP) contains over 30 additional functions, organized into 12 Groups. They are displayed on the MAP ribbon menu and functions can be added/removed from it to customize it to your needs. Here are some of the tools it includes, which I believe offer the greatest business value:
- Collection access – This creates a new “home” button that enables you to open a specific mind map or a collection of maps using a drop-down combo box.
- Image export – This tool enables you to utilize the Slides feature of MindManager to generate images of map topics so you can use them in other applications. You can also jump-start documents and presentations by quickly creating a sequence of map/topic images around which you can then add further content.
- Edit notes font – This function lets you change the font style and/or font size of text in multiple topic notes. It eliminates the need to edit each note separately.
- Edit property value – This function enables you to change a custom property’s value across all instances of it across the entire map in one action. This eliminates the need to update them separately.
- Character map – This function gives you fast access to the Windows OS Character Map directly, saving you several steps and time when looking for special characters you are unfamiliar with, such as copyright, trademark, accented characters and more.
MyThings 2
MyThings 2 helps you implement productivity expert David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. He says that our minds tend to get cluttered with tasks and priorities, which makes it hard to be productive. He instructs followers of GTD to capture all of these items on a daily basis. so you can free up your “psychic RAM” for higher-level tasks like creative thinking.
MyThings 2 enbles you to capture all of your tasks and priorities in one place, which it calls your Inbox Map. It also includes other mind maps for organizing and managing your tasks, a project list and a waiting map (which contains the tasks where you must wait for an answer before you can continue with them). In addition, it installs a small application that enables you to quickly capture tasks, even if MindManager isn’t open, using a hotkey combination.
Export2PDF
With the introduction of MindManager for Windows 14.1, Mindjet removed the ability to export your mind maps as a static PDF. With Export2PDF, you still can export a map as PDF directly from MindManager without the need of a third-party printer driver.
GyroQ
As an idea person, I’m always on the lookout for tools and software that helps me to do a better job of capturing ideas on the fly. Gyronix offers a cool desktop applet called GyroQ that helps you to capture ideas, fleeting thoughts and “to do” items quickly and easily, without having to open MindManager. Later on, with the click of a button, you can dump them into the map of your choice for further processing and refinement. This highly useful app has been around since 2006 (10 years!), and it’s still one of my favorites because it performs a simple, highly useful task in a very elegant way.
Project4Maps
Project4Maps provides a templated approach to designing and managing projects within MindManager 2016. When you install it, it adds over 40 project map templates to the programs’ template view, covering everything from a project initiation plan and risk assessment to issues management and a project closure report (in a separate Projects4Maps folder).
It also adds a new tab to the program’s ribbon toolbar that provides you with one-click access to a dashboard map called the project management checklist that provides you with links to all of the templates. Another button links you to a project management ebook that explains the purpose of Project4Maps (to help MindManager users learn how to use it for project management faster) and walks you through the purpose and use of each template.
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