In a storm of (US) holiday weekend web surfing, I re-bumped (is that a word?) into InfoRapid KnowledgeBase today. I noticed that version 1.0 was mentioned here way back in 2013 (http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/4731/5 but it had not been mentioned here since.

The URL I visited is http://www.buildyourmap.com/ http://www.inforapid.de/html/knowledgemapeng.htm can also get you there.

The current version is 4.5 and it looks like it has seen some nice improvements since version 1.0. The update log on the left side of the site page is quite extensive and shows a regular and steady update stream.

There is a "Create MindMaps of Unlimited Size" tab under Videos that showed a couple of notable features:

1) At 2:01, the video shows the ability to use a "Wikipedia" search mode. While Wikidedia certainly does qualify as an academic/peer-reviewed data source, I can see this functionality as a useful mode for quickly building a concept map structure that includes basic information without the need to separately copy/paste initial top level information.

2) At 3:24, the video demonstrates functionality that I've not seen before. After creating a node that has associated text note data, you can select a "related node addition" mode. In this mode, InfoRapid creates an associated node on the diagram for each concept in the text notes that is then selected.

The above feature #2 has me quite intrigued. In the other mindmap/concept map tools I've used, I've had to create a separate related concept node manually, and then relate the two. Even Via this feature of InfoRapid, I can instead scan through the text of a node I've imported and quickly select the related concepts to include on my diagram. In this way, I can focus on identifying important related concepts and put my energy into describing the relationships between them. I've found the amount of effort to add semantic annotation to information management tools to be more work than I care for, and this approach seems to be a nice solution....

I had a play with this in its live web previews,
Thanks,

I can nearly let Thebrain to rest now! Not that its bad, but lacking on Apple OS. (no quicklook!)

I agree with you assesment of the unique features.
Their highlighter selection is very nicely done! It's pretty capable counterpart to Marginote and then some!

Is this program rather like The Brain?

An iOS version has just been released, in addition to the various other platforms already available:

www.buildyourmap.com

Lucas wrote:

An iOS version has just been released, in addition to the various other
platforms already available:

www.buildyourmap.com

I don't recall noticing before that there was a Win 10 App Store version available (new? or just overlooked by me before?).

This is the first App Store app that I would consider buying, especially since the App Store version is $9.99, which is a steal.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/knowledgebase-builder/9wzdncrdj68h?rtc=1&activetab=pivot:overviewtab

The licensing includes installation on up to 10 devices (requires using your Microsoft Account).

A unique and quite interesting app that's been around a while (i.e. mature) and really does some nice things that I haven't found in another Win app....

PIMfan wrote:

I don't recall noticing before that there was a Win 10 App Store version
available (new? or just overlooked by me before?).

I've noticed it a few months ago.

This is the first App Store app that I would consider buying, especially
since the App Store version is $9.99, which is a steal.

Do you happen to know the difference to the $99 version that's available on Ingo's website?

The $99 version is the Pro multi-user version (so between the individual desktop and server versions), allowing multiple people to use the same database.

It's a really interesting program. I acquired it fairly recently (I think I mentioned it somewhere?), but so far, haven't found anything I can usefully apply it to. But as an arch-CRIMPer, I live in hope!

Cheers!
Bill

I asked Ingo Straub, the developer, about the differences between the Professional Edition and the Windows Store editions. He wrote:

The Pro edition ...

* is multi-user-enabled
* does not run in a sandbox and is therefore able to access files and folders wherever they are stored
* displays data is a bit slower than the sandboxed edition.

I’ve just reinstalled the InfoRapid Knowledgebase Builder (iOS, macOS, Windows, possibly also Android?) on my Mac after buying the iOS version.

This after a lengthy search for a piece of knowledge-mapping software that wasn’t just an overblown mind-mapping app.

It’s a profoundly impressive piece of software, with a huge range of useful features and a very good search function. In many ways, it’s the perfect embodiment of the Zettelkasten concept, allowing you to view (and export – a vital point) information in many different ways, from many different angles.

Because of the fairly steep (but by no means vertiginous!) learning curve, I had failed to appreciate just how powerful and yet user-friendly it is. It’s worth spending time on the tutorials (of which there are many, accessible both from the apps and on the InfoRapid website). Yes, at first glance the GUI is slightly old-fashioned, but the more you use it, the more you appreciate the speed and efficiency with which you can input and manipulate information.

I’ve also found the 3D rotating view amazingly conducive to meditative states wherein sudden insights appear as you watch the informational elements gently circulating… no, really!

As I wait for Christian and Sascha’s The Archive to evolve into a world-beating Integrated Thinking Environment (https://zettelkasten.de/the-archive/roadmap/ I’m finding Knowledgebase Builder a very satisfactory alternative.

Cheers,
Bill

Interesting, thank you Bill - and comparatively extremely inexpensive.