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Collaborative mind mapping with computer illiterate
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Posted by Dr Andus
Sep 13, 2012 at 04:51 PM
I need a tool to collaborate remotely with someone who has poor computer literacy. The nature of the collaboration is simple project management, involving mostly brainstorming and work break-down, task development and tracking, and some very basic financial management. Also, I don’t want it to cost any money. We both have PCs and we both have Dropbox and an iPod Touch each.
I tried Google Spreadsheet first but it turned out to be too complex for the other person. I checked out a number of online mind mapping software but free versions rarely include collaboration or there were some other problems.
In the end I set up Freeplane on both PCs and have the .mm file saved in our shared Dropbox folder. The problem with this solution is that if the other person deletes some content or does something to our shared file, it may render the file useless. So an online mind mapping service might still be better.
It would be also good to be able to view and edit this .mm file on our respective iPods. I am currently testing Mindjet, which, amazingly, is free for iPod and iPad. It looks fairly good feature-wise but my confidence is a bit dented because the very first test file lost some branches on the mind map after I synced the Mindjet file with Dropbox. Also, it saves it as a Mindjet file, .mmap, though I was able to import it into Freeplane. Moreover, Mindjet on iPod creates its own Dropbox folder, so anyway, it’s a different file and folder, can’t be synced easily with Freeplane.
I also found out about MindMeister for Google Drive, however I don’t like it that they are requesting access to my Google profile and email address before allowing me to see what the service actually looks like. I just find that too intrusive.
I guess another option would be to bite the bullet and by iThoughts for both iPods, and sync them with Freeplane via Dropbox.
I would actually consider paying for some good value online mind mapping software, as long as it is really amazingly good for this kind of purpose.
Any suggestions?
Posted by Dr Andus
Sep 13, 2012 at 05:10 PM
Dr Andus wrote:
>I guess another option
>would be to bite the bullet and buy iThoughts for both iPods, and sync them with
>Freeplane via Dropbox.
This might not actually work either because there wouldn’t be an easy way to share the exact same file, as iThoughts would sync with its own iThoughts folder for each user.
Posted by Dr Andus
Sep 13, 2012 at 05:20 PM
Dr Andus wrote:
>Dr Andus wrote:
>>I guess another option
>>would be to bite the bullet and buy
>iThoughts for both iPods, and sync them with
>>Freeplane via Dropbox.
>
>This might
>not actually work either because there wouldn’t be an easy way to share the exact same
>file, as iThoughts would sync with its own iThoughts folder for each user.
I was wrong. It turns out it’s possible to share a folder on Dropbox with iThoughts. That’s promising.
Just came across this great comparison of mind mapping software for the iPod/iPad:
http://blog.hansdezwart.info/2011/01/27/mind-mapping-apps-for-the-ipad-a-comparison/
There is also a helpful table in a spreadsheet:
http://bit.ly/mindmappingontheipad
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Sep 13, 2012 at 06:16 PM
Dr Andus wrote:
>In the end I set up Freeplane on both PCs and have the .mm file
>saved in our shared Dropbox folder. The problem with this solution is that if the other
>person deletes some content or does something to our shared file, it may render the
>file useless.
You can always go back to previous version of the shared file in Dropbox.
>So an online mind mapping service might still be better.
You might want to try out Mind42 http://mind42.com/ It’s completely free and good for collaboration. Whether it’s ‘easy’ is on the eye of the user, I guess.
Posted by Daly de Gagne
Sep 13, 2012 at 11:19 PM
Alexander, how does Mind42 compare with other web based mind mappers, such as MindDomo?
MindDomo has a free and a premium level of service - Mind42 appears to be completely free. In terms of features is it any better than MindDomo or the others?
Daly