Getting the most out of FreeMind

Mind Tricks

By Dmitri Popov

Although you might think that FreeMind [1] is just a mind-mapping application designed to help creative professionals organize their thoughts and ideas, in reality, it sports so many nifty features that it could prove to be an indispensable productivity tool no matter what you do for a living.

Because FreeMind is a rather straightforward application, you can learn how to use its basic features in a couple of hours. But if you want to get the most out of this excellent application, you might want to master its more advanced features.

Basics

The first order of business is to install Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on your machine. FreeMind is rather finicky about Java, and it refuses to run on anything other than Sun JRE. This can be an issue with Linux distributions like Ubuntu, which ships with an alternative Java engine.

To fix the problem, install the sun-java6-jre package with the Synaptic package manager or run the sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre command in the terminal. Once the package is installed, use the sudo update-alternatives --config java command to set Sun JRE as the default environment on your system.

On Mandriva, Sun JRE is installed by default, so you don't have to install or tweak anything.

The next step is to download and install FreeMind. If you don't mind living on the bleeding edge, you might want to opt for the latest test release of FreeMind that comes with a few nifty features not found in the stable version of the application. Just download the zip archive containing the latest development version of FreeMind (currently, it's 0.9.0), and unpack it.

Also, you might want to rename the resulting directory to, for example, freemind and move it into your home directory.

In the terminal, switch to the freemind directory, and run the sh freemind.sh command to launch the application.

Using Shortcuts

Being a graphical application, FreeMind lets you work with mind maps by the point-and-click method. It also supports keyboard shortcuts, which allow you to perform virtually any operation without touching the mouse.

The main advantage of keyboard shortcuts is speed: it's much faster to hit a key combination than to find and move the mouse. It might take you some time to learn FreeMind's shortcuts, but once you've mastered them, you can create and navigate mind maps with consummate ease and speed.

These keyboard skills can come in particularly handy when you are brainstorming a problem or taking notes during a lecture and you don't have time to fumble with the mouse or the trackpad on your laptop. The full list of FreeMind keyboard shortcuts is rather long, but you can start by learning the most essential ones:

• Enter: Add sibling node

• Insert: Add child node

• F2: Edit selected node

• Alt+Enter: Edit selected node with the rich text editor

• Space: Fold/unfold the selected node

• Ctrl+Up: Move node up

• Ctrl+Down: Move node down

• Ctrl+Shift+K: Add link with the file chooser

• Ctrl+K: Add link by entering it manually

Usage Scenarios

FreeMind is not only good for mapping your ideas, with a bit of creativity, you can use FreeMind for pretty much anything. For example, FreeMind has all the features you need to use it as a task manager. To start, create a mind map that represents the overall structure of your task manager.

The exact structure depends on how you usually manage your tasks, but it could look like the example in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Simple task mind map.

Because FreeMind supports drag-and-drop, you can move your tasks between categories with the mouse. For example, if you don't have time to do the dishes today, you can move the task to tomorrow by dragging it onto the Tomorrow node. Also, you can use the available icons to assign priorities to the tasks quickly; right-click on the task and choose the desired priority icon from the icons list.

The Filter feature can help you to manage complex task lists (see Figure 2). Say you want to display only the tasks with Priority 1. Press the Edit button (it looks like a pencil) in the Filter toolbar, and use the available drop-down lists to define the following rule: Icon - Contains - 1. Press the Add button to add the rule to the list, then press Apply to enable it.

Figure 2: Defining filters.

In a similar manner, you can create a filter that shows only tasks in the Urgent category by creating the Node - Contains - Urgent rule; just remember to tick the Show Descendants checkbox to display the tasks in the Urgent category.

Attributes is another powerful feature you can use to keep tabs on your tasks. With it, you can add the Done attribute with values of Yes and No, which you can use to mark finished and unfinished tasks (Figure 3). Choose Tools | Attribute Manager, and press the Edit button in the All Attributes row. Type the name of the attribute (i.e., Done) and press the Add button. Then press the Edit button next to the Done attribute and add the Yes and No values to it. To assign the defined attribute, select the desired task, and press Alt+F9 (or right-click on the task and choose Edit Attributes). Add the Done attribute and set its value.

Figure 3: Using attributes to keep tabs on tasks.

Thanks to the inclusion of a rich text editor that lets you add notes to the nodes, FreeMind makes a powerful and flexible note-taking tool. For example, if you are attending a conference, you can create a mind map containing separate nodes for each conference track, and you can specify different attributes that allow you to identify each track quickly (e.g., "Development," "Marketing," "Birds of a Feather," etc.). Then, you can use the text editor at the bottom of the main window to add richly formatted notes to each node.

FreeMind can also encrypt individual nodes and entire mind maps, which makes it suitable for storing private information. With this feature, you can turn a mind map into a password and account info manager. Say you want to use a mind map to store your account information for different websites. Choose Tools | Insert Encrypted Node and specify a password.

Once the encrypted node is added, you can add child nodes for each website account to it. Then, you can use the text editor to add notes containing login and other important information. Next time you open the mind map, you must enter the specified password to access the encrypted node and its children. The ability to encrypt individual nodes can come in handy when you want to create a mind map containing both public and private information.

If you prefer to keep all the confidential data in a separate file, you can create an encrypted map for that with the File | Create Encrypted Map command.

With third-party tools, you can put FreeMind to some less conventional uses, too. If the way del.icio.us displays bookmarks doesn't tickle your fancy, you can add a whole new dimension to your bookmark collection by turning it into a mind map with a clever utility called DeliciousMind [2]. Just download the deliciousmind.zip archive, and unpack it into your home directory. Next, you have to export bookmarks from your del.icio.us account. To do this, point your browser to http://del.icio.us/api/posts/recent?count=10000, enter your username and password when prompted, then save the page as bookmarks.xml in the deliciousmind directory (in Firefox, choose File | Save Page As). In the terminal, switch to the deliciousmind directory and run the sh deliciousmind.sh bookmarks.xml bookmarks.mm command.

This converts the XML file into a mind map, which you can open in FreeMind (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Displaying your del.icio.us bookmarks as a mind map.

Getting Physical

To provide a more efficient way of applying formatting to nodes in a mind map, FreeMind sports so-called physical styles, which you can use to specify styles and their properties, such as node color, type, font, borders, and so on. To do this, choose Format | Physical Style | Manage Patterns. This opens the Patterns dialog window (Figure 5), where you can tweak the existing styles. To apply a physical style to a node, right-click on it and select the desired style from the Physical Style list.

Figure 5: Working with physical styles.

Exporting Mind Maps

FreeMind can export mind maps in a wide range of formats, including PDF, ODT, PNG, SVG, and interactive HTML pages, as well as Java and Flash applets, and it can even export your mind maps as TWiki pages and TaskJuggler tasks. But that's not all.

The mm2odp [3] and mm2s5 [4] utilities, for example, let you turn FreeMind mind maps into OpenOffice.org Impress and S5 presentations, whereas the mm2notes [5] tool can transform a mind map into hierarchical notes.

All three utilities are written in Python, and they are rather easy to install and use.