41 comments

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  Rebecca

  2 years ago

  So who's the overall "winner"?
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  Sid Yadav

  2 years ago

  Whoops - the last bit got deleted in editing.
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  yasmin

  2 years ago

  I find comapping to be the best by far especially in terms of online collaboration. The left to right mind mapping is great in that it provides great overview for brainstorming. And I like the ability to focus rather the scrolling like crazy as in all the other applications (very helpful for big complex maps).
  
  Mindomo is also good but it doesn´t allow real time collaboration. Each save seems just to overwrites other’s work. But maybe I’m wrong and just misunderstood something.
  
  Regardless Comapping does it for me.
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  Clint

  2 years ago

  Thanks for the insightful post and mentioning Gliffy. Just as a note, the free version of Gliffy does offer all of the functionality of the premium version. The only difference is that you can only create 3 private diagrams (you can always create unlimited public diagrams) and there is an image upload limit of 2MB.
  
  Also, another great feature of Gliffy is that it allows you to publish your diagram, so you can easily put it in your web-page or blog. When you change your diagram, it automatically changes in the web-page or blog, too.
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  Vic Gee

  2 years ago

  If you really want to know more great mind mapping and flow charting tools...
  
  Web of Web :: webofweb.net
  Mapul :: mapul.com/
  Bubble Mind :: bubble-mind.com/
  
  not mind mapping tools but can do mind maps and they're web based:
  Thinkature :: thinkature.com/
  Touchgraph :: touchgraph.com/ (an odd one -- read-only mind maps of relationships between web sites)
  
  Web based but not Web 2.0 - expensive
  ForceTen :: eedo.com/products/forceten.html
  Thinkmap :: thinkmap.com (read only)
  
  I'm not so sure about Comapping - it's really a graphical outliner rather than a mind-mapping product - too rigid.
  
  Vic
  mind-mapping.org
  The master list of mind mapping &
  information management software
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• 

  yasmin

  2 years ago

  I find free form mind mapping is the best when it is paper based. I think many people are trying to force free form mind mapping on to computers and to use it as something more then just brainstorming ideas. Thats why I think Comapping is good because it provides a balance between free form and structure. That way im sure that the result at the end is something me and my team can try to transfer to something meaningful even weeks after we have created the map. Isnt´t mind mapping in essence to create and structure ideas so we can extract something meaningful Vic?
  
  Comapping for me can do that. But I do agree that left to right structured form of mind mapping might not be everyones cup of tea.
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  Sid Yadav

  2 years ago

  Both have great points, I think it's really dependant upon personal preference -- if paper suits you best and is the most productive option of all [for you] -- then paper it should be. On the other hand, of course, you have tools that are mentioned in this post, and whichever you find as your cup of tea seems like the best of all. In that sense, there's no real "winner." Some might even find no mind mapping tool the best tool - some might even settle from things like Freemind, etc. This list is just to showcase some options in the market. The use is up to the user. :-)
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• 

  David Storrs

  2 years ago

  Sid,
  
  Dave Storrs of Team Kayuda here. Thanks for giving us the nod; we're really proud of what we've built and the community that has grown up around it, and it's nice to be appreciated.
  
  You might be interested to check out the new features that we just deployed, including (among others): (a) full revision history for node text and (b) layers. Layers work a lot like in Photoshop--every node belongs to one or more layers, and you can turn layers on and off to filter out nodes that you don't want to see right now. I'm finding it very useful in a project management capacity.
  
  --Dks
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• 

  Andrew Middleton

  2 years ago

  CMap Tools concept mapping tool is great: http://cmap.ihmc.us/
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• 

  Scott

  2 years ago

  Scott from WriteMaps here - thanks for the writeup!
  Just to clarify, WriteMaps does not use flash at all. The app is built entirely with html/css/js.
  Good list, thanks.
  -S
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• 

  Pierre

  2 years ago

  This is a great article. It's been a few years that I realized that what's missing to market leading mapmapping software like MindManager, VisualMind and others, is the possibility of online collaboration.
  When I realized a huge mapping work for the preparation of the 2005 World Social Forum, no such tool had been identified, which could have made the work much more participative, as was hoped.
  Next time, I'll surely use one of the mentionned software.
  I also encourage you to mention CMap, which, though not Web 2.0, is fully collaborative and comprehensive.
  Long live rev2.org
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• 

  Paulo Veiga

  1 year ago

  Hi,
  
  I suggest taking a look to WiseMapping(www.wisemapping.com). WiseMapping is a free mind mapping.
  
  I hope you find it useful.
  Paulo
  reply
• 

  Oleksandr Bondar

  1 year ago

  DoStorm.com - online application for brainstorming. Find idea, solution, answer in you subconsciousness.
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• 

  Generic Celexa

  1 year ago

  Makes sense! Nice article! I'll Digg right away....
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  Edwin Yip

  1 year ago

  OK, I recommend MindVisualizer here.
  
  It depends on your requirements to choose an online solution or a desktop solution.
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• 

  beecccccca

  8 months ago

  do we have to download this cos that would just be gay wouldnt it?
  yeah i know it would.
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  booboo

  8 months ago

  no thats really mean
  why would it be gay?
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• 

  beecccccca

  8 months ago

  excuse me well i dont think you understand why i think its gay in the first place
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• 

  booboo

  8 months ago

  actaully i do
  because your a mean person.
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• 

  beecccccca

  8 months ago

  atleast i know how to spell actually dumbo
  yeah thats right
  dont bother righting back
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  Steven

  8 months ago

  Nice resource - thanks!
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  color_chart

  8 months ago

  There are some really good resources there thank you... I also spend alot of my time using and creating flow charts but i write my own code...... Its a shame that people cannot write more constructive comments than the ones above..
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  CityMart

  6 months ago

  Good work Thanks for sharing great site, I totally diagree with guys who gave negative comments.
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• 

  Italian Restaurant

  6 months ago

  I always have difficulties doing mind maps and flow charts online. I always end up redoing numerous times. Those tools and software are definitely great help to me . Save my time and make work more efficient . Thats cool ! Thanks for the information. Disqus is great !
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  Fashion Shop

  6 months ago

  Mindmapping and brainstorming is an important process, especially in business planning. Thanks for the great resources.
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  Singapore Escorts

  5 months ago

  mind mapping is great way for people studying for exams or giving the public speaking but you have to constantly practice it to be effective.
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  AllNutri

  5 months ago

  Its very embarising to read comments about this post. I have visited many of above site and found some good things, but the people who don't like this sites they should be in manners and encourage writer to improve this thing.
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  Property Sale

  5 months ago

  Wow, all of the above are about important tools to use whether at work or in school. Great resources all under one post. This is great. Will test drive them all.
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• 

  natural colon cleansing

  5 months ago

  I think that you have done good job and it will be useful for me and for my freinds who I will advice to read it. It is a good way to study.
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  Website Monitoring

  5 months ago

  Many thanks for the links!
  I have tried Bubbl.us and Mind42. Now I'm going to try the other services on the list.
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  SEO

  5 months ago

  Thanks for the list. Tried Mind42.com and it is pretty good in its usability.
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  replicaloh

  4 months ago

  Was not really updated.Didn't we can do mind-mappings online!Thanks for the information!Now I can really save up time in doing mind-mappings manually
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  ezdisqus1

  4 months ago

  No more ugly handwritten mind maps!Thanks for the informations!
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  dupleang

  4 months ago

  Can this mind maps be shared?Didn't manage to try it out yet!Hope its simple and easy to use.
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  ezditto

  4 months ago

  Mind mappings. Students are encouraged to use it.
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  Mike

  4 months ago

  Thanks for this valuable resource I will make sure that I use at least one of these services.
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  jonaw

  4 months ago

  Are the freeware comparable to those that we have to pay?Thanks for the consolidated information.Mind mapping are exceptionally important for adults or to students as it is the easiest way to get things into our brain.However,at times we might have miscalculated the needed space and scribbles would be seen.Guess doing it online will be the best way to get neat results.
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  ryanlow

  4 months ago

  After reading descriptions of all the 9 mind maps, It's tough to decide on which to use! If only there is one that has all the advantages of the mind maps software given. I haven't really tried any of them, but mindomo seems to be more appealing with its flash based alternatives that are fully Office'07 inspired!It really tempt me in using it.What's more ,its free!Shall give it try when i need to draw mind-maps.
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  Property Singapore

  4 months ago

  Business men or women will certainly find it useful. To conduct a power point presentations with mind maps will create better impression for the people.Of course not with hand-writings and disorganized pages. The amount of time that are saved as well as a neatly organized datas, it's certainly worth to get the mind-map tools.
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  nate

  4 months ago

  Just a comment that there are two types of applications here, one is the mind mapping variety that lets you build trees that contract and expand, and the other is a more free form flowcharts (or "graphs" in the mathematics sense) that can have loops and many arrows pointing into one node. In general graphs are more expressive than hierarchical trees, and of course if you are disciplined about how you make the flowchart be a tree (or mind map).
  So here are the Tree oriented Apps (mind mappers) : MindMeister; Mindomo; Comapping; Writemaps; mind42.
  The Flow charters (or freeform graphing apps) are: Gliffy; Bubbl.us; Flowchart.com;
  Kayuda, gave me a "Address Not Found" error.
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  Mohammad B. Irshid

  4 days ago

  Thanks for the greatest list ever. Very useful tools
  reply