Tools of the craft: Mind mapping (II)

Newly tested mind mapping tools:

1.    Creately. Fast, easy to use application that supports virtually any browser. Its interface is quite intuitive and allows you to create several different types of flowcharts, diagrams and mind maps. You can customize from one of their templates or create yours from scratch. Very few exporting options.
2.    Exploratree. A simple and visually appealing online application that provides dozens of templates to choose from. It allows for comfortable collaborative work. There are no exporting options explicitly available. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support most browsers and freezes over under Safari.

Tools of the craft: Outlining

Outlining applications and software has never seemed particularly interesting to me. In class, students normally use the utilities already included in word processing software intended for the purpose of preparing outlines. There are, though a few interesting online options that are worth commenting here. None of them is addressed to university students and/or scholars, but they may be helpful when authors are having difficulties unveiling the links between their ideas.

1.    Thesis builder. It’s a very simple application that conflates general, supporting and opposite arguments into an outline, illustrating the relationships between them. As a bonus, it constructs good thesis statements that can be used as headings in outlines.
2.    Essay map. Ideally, this tiny tool can guide you through the whole process of outlining a text. All you need to do is feed your propositions in the text window.

Tools of the craft: Mind mapping (I)

Using paper and pencil to diagram your mind map is just fine if you don’t mind running out of space in the middle of the process. Online tools provide writers with simple, easy to use, free online tools that help create mind maps in virtually no time. Some of my favorites are listed below.

1.    MindMeister. It’s a powerful, user-friendly tool that includes quite interesting features. It allows you, for example, to export your mind maps as a Microsoft Word outline, as a .pdf document or as an image. It’s also compatible with other mind mapping commercial programs. You can also share your maps with other people, either to work with them in collaborative projects, or to provide mutual feedback on your progress. Maps are automatically saved to MindMeister’s server when you close your workspace.

2.    Mindomo. This tool lets you diagram up to seven maps for free. Its layout is complex, but easy to go about. One of the assets of this resource is that it allows users to upload images, video and text onto the map. It also provides a spell checker that can be very useful. However, one of its major flaws is that it does nor support exports, so the only way to transfer map contents to another file is by copying and pasting them as images.

3.    WiseMapping. Another good free option online. The interface is friendly and somehow tasteful. It has a fewe exporting options (.pdf and image files). You can also save your files to the server. Mac users will be disappointed to know it WiseMapping does not support Safari.