įreeMind's documentation is itself available as a FreeMind mindmap, demonstrating many of the features of the application.
įreeMind was a finalist for Best Project in 's Community Choice Awards for 2008, which featured open-source software projects. Mac users may notice the most difference from their traditional user interface, but a MacWorld reviewer says the software's features should still appeal to the segment of users who accept function over form.
As a Java application, FreeMind is portable across multiple platforms and retains the same user interface, causing some amount of variation from the common interface on each platform.
The non-linear approach assists in brainstorming new outlines and projects as ideas are added around the mind map. Īs with other mind mapping software packages, FreeMind allows the user to edit a hierarchical set of ideas around a central concept. It runs on Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS via the Java Runtime Environment. It provides extensive export capabilities. FreeMind is licensed under the GNU General Public License Version 2. FreeMind itself was last updated in 2014. Impressively extensive mind mapping utilityįor those in the market for a powerful mind map creator, Freeplane is an excellent program that lets you create, edit and link nodes with text, images and hyperlinks for generating helpful statistics and structures based on your ideas, plans, study notes or product designs.FreeMind is a free mind mapping application written in Java, which is further developed by the fork Freeplane until today (2021).
Nodes can be edited in both layout and HTML Code views, their font can be customized, their hierarchy can be shown or hidden, their text content can be placed inside visual containers in the forms of clouds or other shapes, and their position can be set anywhere on the mind map’s plane.Īrrows can be generated in order to showcase connections between nodes belonging to different sections, and mind maps can be saved in the program’s proprietary format, for easy editing, or various popular extensions such as DOC, PDF, PNG or TXT.
By default, the template starts out with a core text bubble nicknamed “node”, to which multiple elements can be added, ranging from child, sibling, parent, floating and summary nodes, to images, links, connections, scripts and password protection. When creating a new mind map, the program allows the user to pick from a handful of predetermined templates, each with a custom theme. The application’s title bar contains a wide variety of vital options for creating, editing, visualizing, navigating and customizing the interface, while the toolbar below lists buttons for quickly editing the text inside the mind map elements. Upon starting up the app for the first time, users will be greeted by an exhaustive list of functions conveniently laid out in the form of a complex mind map, with each of the showcased options providing a link towards a more detailed instruction menu explaining the intricacies of the selected feature. Its portable counterpart also lets you edit mind maps on the go. Freeplane is one particular program capable of successfully transposing the ability of creating mind maps from a sheet of paper into a highly customizable digital template. One way of organizing one’s thoughts, schedules or study topics is represented by mind mapping, an incredibly useful tree-style overview of data for easily visualizing the connections among its different elements. Ever since the introduction of the personal computer into mainstream markets, the digitization of all of humanity’s facets of life turned from an ambitious goal into a priority for most tech giants with the necessary resources to accomplish such a feat.