MindGenius Ltd. just announced an update to its mind mapping program that should significantly broaden its appeal to enterprises. MindGenius 4.2 now supports SharePoint check-out/check-in and you can export your project map data directly to Microsoft Excel.
SharePoint integration
In the past, if you wanted SharePoint integration, you had to get your hands on a special version of MindManager. All that’s changed with MindGenius 4.2. Check-in/check-out ensures that only one person at a time can edit a mind map. If you have it checked out, no one else can edit it, but they can still view it in read-only mode. This gives you greater control over shared mind maps in a team environment.
MindGenius 4.2 is compatible with SharePoint 2007 and 2010; SharePoint 2003 is not supported. For MindGenius files to be recognized by SharePoint, your SharePoint administrator will need to register MindGenius file types and icons with the SharePoint server. This is not something that the average worker can do on their own.
You can open mind maps hosted on your organization’s SharePoint server either by using a mapped drive on your computer or by typing the SharePoint server URL into the file/open dialog box.
Also, you can perform version control by assigning a version number to your mind map, each time it’s updated. Finally, if you have a map checked out, it is stored locally, so you can take it on the road with you and edit it while offline. Nice!
Excel export Gantt view
Most mind mapping programs that have project and task management capabilities also offer a Gantt chart. That’s somewhat useful. But what if some members of your team don’t have MindGenius – or Microsoft Project? With MindGenius 4.2, you can now export your Gantt chart to an Excel spreadsheet. This should be a great solution for many users of MindGenius, because the Microsoft Office suite is so widely used worldwide.
MindGenius 4.2 offers a number of options to help you customize your exported project data, including:
- Calculate column summaries in Excel
- Apply grouping – in other words, you can expand or collapse “branches” within the spreadsheet, in much the same way as you can expand and contract mind map branches.
- Retain the colors and styling of your mind map or export a plain, black-and-white spreadsheet
- Export range – export the current map view or the entire contents of your mind map
Of course, you need to make sure your mind map is arranged in a meaningful way before you perform your export to Excel.
This is a very positive move for enterprise users of MindGenius. Version 4.2 is a free download for current users of MindGenius 4. For more details, please visit the upgrade page on the developer’s website.
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