SpiderScribe Builds Flexible Web-based Mind Maps

As someone whose particular business role involves laying out ideas, planning creative content, and writing articles, I drop a ton of time making mind maps to organize my thoughts. Unfortunately, most mind mapping tools aren't flexible enough to handle multiple kinds of input. But a new Web app called SpiderScribe delivers enough tractability to turn around mind mapping into an online team mutation.

Unlike your true mind correspondence app, SpiderScribe gives you the ability to implant a variety of links, notes, files, and other content into your idea map. Better still, information technology lets you brainstorm collaboratively with your coworkers by simultaneously editing shared multimedia system mind maps.

Now two weeks genuine in beta, the SpiderScribe user interface is staple, simply it's more robust than the majority of online mind mapping apps I've tried. When you log up in, you starting at a simple mapping list. You keister double-clack any map in your list (which, like the documents list in Google Docs, lists maps that have been shared with you in add-on to maps you've created) to undefendable information technology. Or click Make New Map in the top-left turning point to start something fresh.

In SpiderScribe's terminology, maps go "boards." Give your new board a appoint and description (or don't, it doesn't issue) and you'll experience a blank background flanked by the toolbar, Properties corner, and Navigator. Unlike MindManager and XMind, SpiderScribe doesn't start you off with a central theme box of any kind. This leaves you open to select what rather media you want to build your map out around.

At the time of this writing, the toolbar consists of quintuplet options: Text, File, Image, Mapping, and Issue. Drag any of those options to your map to get started. If you choose Text, you'll get a standard box to type in. The File option gives you a loge with an upload file in button in information technology. Click the button to browse for a file from your hard push on, and embed it into your map out. Same goes for images.

To engraft a Google map in your mind map out, drag the Map icon onto your board and put up it wherever you like. Then type in a position and it'll come out in the box.

The Outcome selection works much like the map box. Drag it onto your board, then click the pencil button to choose a date. You tush enter notes nigh the event in the Notes field. Unfortunately, you behind't currently importee events from your Google calendar, Mind-set, or iCal. Information technology would comprise awe-inspiring if you could, but alas, they're just not there yet.

Your Navigator box shows you where you are along the board. As you and your collaborators total new items near the edges of the board, the control board automatically expands to leave elbow room for more stuff. To voyage to another part of the board, just tick on the area you want to see within the Navigator box.

In my limited examination of SpiderScribe, I'm to a higher degree a bit impressed. Information technology's out and away the coolest free mind chromosome mapping tool I've played with, and it's scarce fortnight gray-headed arsenic a beta release. I'd really equivalent to see endure for imported calendar events in the near future tense, and a corresponding mobile app for Android and iOS would certainly help, but divided from those issues it's pretty hard to complain about a freebie with this many fashionable features. If you're half as fanatical about mind maps A I am, you postulate to check this nonpareil out.