Manage your time using Mind Mapping - new e-book |
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Finally! A method to manage your time effectively![]() We are delighted to be able to introduce one of the world’s best selling books on time management, “The 25 Best Time Management Tools & Techniques“. I have had the opportunity to get to know one of the authors of this book, Pamela Dodd. She’s a bit of a fan of Mind Mapping and loves what you can do with NovaMind, so I was able to twist her arm a bit and she has written a special e-book about applying her time management techniques using NovaMind. We are giving this eBook away to NovaMind customers who buy The 25 Best Time Management Tools & Techniques from the NovaMind online store. The special NovaMind eBook has 8 specially crafted Mind Maps (and descriptions) showing you how to:
So that’s about the bonus, but what about the e-book itself? The book itself is only 95 pages long, but packs into that space clear and concise methods for managing your time so that you can achieve the things you want to. There is detailed information about the book available at http://www.novamind.com/mind-mapping-books/time-management.php And when you are ready to purchase your copy, you can get it from the NovaMind online store for only US$21.95. This includes the bonus e-book mentioned above. Here are some of the things others are saying about the book: “A priceless guide to smarter, better business and living.” Alastair Rylatt, author of Winning the Knowledge Game “Please accept my gratitude on behalf of all procrastinators and disorganized individuals who desperately need such a streamlined source of information on how to manage their time and lives. I am grateful for all of the research you’ve conducted, all the books you read, and for extracting only those details truly necessary to get to the point. You have succeeded in providing the exact information and steps people need to take to stop wasting time and begin spending it wisely, so they can enjoy life rather than figure out ways to get through it.” Paige McQuay, business owner “This book provides a realistic perspective on why there is ‘never enough time.’ Anyone who feels overwhelmed at work will find practical tips on how to save time by negotiating priorities and learning to say no. Dodd and Sundheim use their years of experience in the business world to show us how to better manage ourselves and be more productive. Investing a couple of hours to read this book will save you many hours of wasted time and energy.” Diane Pick, I have read the book too, and follow the principles laid out in the book to manage both my businesses and my life. I highly recommend this book, so when you are ready to get your copy, it’s there waiting for you at the NovaMind online store for only US$21.95. This includes the bonus e-book mentioned above. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! |
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NovaMind Mind Mapping News and Information
Archive for the ‘Announcements’ Category
How to upload your Mind Maps to NovaMind Connect |
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Hi, in this video you’ll learn how to upload a Mind Map to NovaMind Connect from within NovaMind. The text below is basically the script of the movie for those who prefer having it in writing. |
Introducing NovaMind Mind Map export to MS Word |
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NovaMind are pleased to introduce a new export to Microsoft Word DOCX format. The video below gives you the details.
With the new export feature, all that has changed. When you export a Mind Map to Word, the Mind Map title becomes the title of the document, and each branch is mapped to a Word heading according to its level. This allows you to generate tables of contents and work in outline mode if you want to. All of the text is added to the document using the Word default fonts unless you have explicitly set a font or color in NovaMind. If you have only set the style of some of the text, the rest of the text will take the Word default formatting for the attributes of the text you haven’t changed, and for the rest of the text. This means that the Word templates and styles are easily applied and update the text in the same way as if you had made those changes in the text within Word. The text comes across using the standard Word formatting except where we explicitly set it to something else. And if we apply a specific style to the document in Word, then it applies that style to the text of the document. You can also work with the NovaMind themes without affecting this - only the text styles that you have changed to be something different than the theme settings will have those specific settings applied in the Word document. This allows you to use the full power of the Word themes for your Word document. Also, the hyperlinks on your NovaMind document are translated into the MS Word equivalent - either hyperlinks or bookmarks and links if the link is to another branch. The images are exported, including any reflections you have put on the images. This also includes attached graphics and adornments. Also the branch notes are exported, including any embedded graphics. All of these features are designed to give you the absolute best experience when you export your NovaMind document to MS Word. |
Introducing NovaMind Connect - Social Mind Map Sharing |
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We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of NovaMind Connect - the new social Mind Map sharing web site from NovaMind. This video gives you an overview of some of the capabilities of NovaMind Connect: NovaMind Connect is an easy way for you to share NovaMind Mind Maps with other people. You can upload your Mind Maps to NovaMind Connect and view them online, navigating right down through all the branches of the Maps. You also have full text search capabilities for every branch of every Mind Map that has been uploaded to NovaMind Connect. NovaMind Connect allows people to comment on your documents, Mind Maps and even on individual branches, and the comments are maintained in threads according to where they were made. This allows you to have conversations with others about the Mind Maps, and everyone can benefit from the additional insights they gain from the conversations and collaborations. You can even be notified by email when someone posts a comment on one of your Mind Maps, so you can come back and continue the discussion. You can rate the documents to build up a list of both your favorites and everyone’s top rated mind maps. You can tag the documents with relevant words and build up a communal tag cloud linking to the most popular topics and allowing you to view all the related Mind Maps in just a single click. You can download the documents as NovaMind files, or individual Mind Maps as either PDF documents or JPG images. You can build up a group of friends within NovaMind connect, receive messages when they have posted Mind Maps, and send them messages. You can be kept up to date on new Mind Map additions by using the RSS feed which contains links to all the documents as they are added. You can send links to specific branches and Mind Maps to your friends and associates, and use your favorite bookmarking tool to bookmark them for future reference. As you can see, NovaMind Connect is a great way for you to connect with other NovaMind users, and the rest of the world, and share the benefits of Mind Mapping with everyone. Come and try it out at http://www.novamind.com/connect |
NovaMind Mind Mapping Software for Mac gets PowerPoint export, MS Project import and export |
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PowerPoint Export NovaMind for Mac received a significant update today with the ability to export Mind Maps directly from NovaMind to PowerPoint. This capability opens up new sharing opportunities where there is a need to brainstorm ideas using Mind Mapping techniques, and yet to share the information using more “traditional” presentation software. Although NovaMind for Mac used to have similar functionality, it did not work with the latest version of PowerPoint, and so we took the opportunity to completely rewrite the PowerPoint export in such a way that it no longer requires PowerPoint to be installed on your computer for the export to work. The files produced are the new PPTX files used by PowerPoint 2007 for Windows and PowerPoint 2008 for Mac. Here is a video of the export procedure and results: Standard text styles are used wherever possible to make sure that when you apply a theme to your presentation in PowerPoint, the styles are applied consistently throughout the presentation. Images on the branches are transferred to the presentation, and the branch notes become speaker notes. This makes the transition from your NovaMind Mind Map to your PowerPoint presentation almost instantaneous. PowerPoint export is available immediately as a free update to NovaMind 4 Platinum and NovaMind 4 Pro, and requires Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) to function. MS Project Export and Import For some time, the Mac edition of NovaMind Platinum has had the ability to add project related information like start and finish dates, percentage complete, priorities, and assign resources to the branches on the Mind Maps, and then import the project information into Merlin project manager for Mac. While this is a really good solution, we realize that many of you are using other project management software. The Microsoft Project file format has become the de facto standard for project management applications, so no matter which project management software you use, it is almost certain that you will be able to use the MS Project format. This means that you can carry out the project inception phases in NovaMind, brainstorming your ideas and working out the project’s scope and objectives, then export into Microsoft Project format for detailed project management. During the project, if you need to bring someone new on to the project or brainstorm solutions to particular problems in the project, you can either import the whole project file into NovaMind, or export a portion of the project plan from your project management package and open it in NovaMind, and work with it in NovaMind. Using the Mind Map format makes it easy to see the interrelationships between objectives and requirements and tasks within the scope of the project, which makes it a powerful tool for both understanding where all the different pieces of the project fit together, and also for designing solutions to project related issues. The Microsoft Project import and export functionality is available immediately as a free update for NovaMind 4 Platinum for Mac users, and requires Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) to function. |
NovaMind Mind Mapping Software for Windows gets PowerPoint export |
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NovaMind for Windows received a significant update today with the ability to export Mind Maps directly from NovaMind to PowerPoint. This capability opens up new sharing opportunities where there is a need to brainstorm ideas using Mind Mapping techniques, and yet to share the information using more “traditional” presentation software. The files produced are the new PPTX files used by PowerPoint 2007 for Windows and PowerPoint 2008 for Mac. Here is a video of the export procedure and results:
Standard text styles are used wherever possible to make sure that when you apply a theme to your presentation in PowerPoint, the styles are applied consistently throughout the presentation. Images on the branches are transferred to the presentation, and the branch notes become speaker notes. This makes the transition from your NovaMind Mind Map to your PowerPoint presentation almost instantaneous. |
Merlin Project Manager for Mac gets Web Sharing capabilities |
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We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of Merlin 2.6 with web publishing capabilities. With the Web Sharing module, you can publish your project file over the web either as a live HTML document so you can collaborate with other users over the web or as a static HTML page that you can share with the team. This feature opens the door for all users who wish to use Merlin but can’t because they are tied to an operating system other than Mac OS X. By publishing your Merlin project file using Merlin application and its Web Module add on, you can allow any user to access the project and collaborate with you on it only using their web browser. Here is a project that has been shared using Web Sharing - as you can see, it has just about all the features of Merlin available to the whole team on the web.
The update from earlier versions of Merlin 2 is free, but a separate license is required for the web sharing capabilities. The web sharing licenses can be purchased from the NovaMind online store. Merlin 2.6 also has a wide range of bug fixes, and enhancements to things like Microsoft Project import, and application of styles. |
NovaMind screenwriter ready for prime time! |
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The New Face of Screenwriting: NovaMind Introduces ScriptMapping - A Powerful Combination of Screenwriting and Mind MappingNovaMind Software has just released a new version of NovaMind Platinum with enhanced screenwriting functionality which can be used for all aspects of screenplay writing as well as experimental screenwriting, visual storyboarding, movie and production planning. See http://www.novamind.com/screenwriting/ for full details. Brisbane, Australia — Writing screenplays used to be a difficult process where it was difficult to find the portion of the screenplay to edit, keeping track of the storyline could be difficult, writer’s block was common, and you really couldn’t “play with” the script to get it right. These problems are a thing of the past with ScriptMapping - powerful screenwriting software built in to NovaMind mind mapping software. It allows the user to capture ideas easily during brainstorming sessions, and attach portions of the screenplay to different branches of the mind maps. The screenplay can be reorganized just by dragging the branches into different locations. Experimental screenwriting is now possible through the ability to disable the printing or export of the script on specific branches of the Mind Map. Visual storyboarding is accomplished by attaching images to the branches, or creating links to movies and other resources where required.
Many professionals in the live theatre, movie and TV industries already use Mind Mapping and brainstorming techniques to generate and develop story ideas and characters, and plan, organize and manage many aspects of production. These uses are also fully supported in NovaMind with the ability to add notes to the branches, hyperlink to other documents, set start and finish dates, percentage complete, durations and allocate resources. John Brownlow, writer of the movie “Sylvia” starring Gwyneth Paltrow, said:
The screenwriting functionality in the Mac version of NovaMind Platinum has been completely rewritten over the last 6 months, and now includes the following capabilities:
The combination of screenwriting and mind mapping is totally unique to NovaMind, and provides everything you need to write and publish your screenplay directly from within NovaMind. NovaMind has been used by some top screenwriting professionals for several years, and even with the old capabilities of the screenwriter, they have done amazing things. For example, Hector Cabello Reyes used the screenwriting capabilities of NovaMind to write the screenplay with which he won the top professional screenwriting award in Europe. The combination of Mind Mapping and Screenwriting is a revolution in screenplay programs. It benefits the entire movie production business, allowing all the people involved to communicate better, be more flexible and creative, and produce better movies more quickly and with lower risk.
NovaMind has been the top Mind Mapping program available on Mac computers for the last 6 years, and is rapidly gaining recognition in the Windows market. NovaMind makes Mind Mapping intuitive and fun, and revolutionizes screenplay writing, idea generation, story development, and the entire writing and production workflow. For more information about NovaMind, please visit http://www.novamind.com/ or e-mail Gideon King at gideon(at)novamind.com. |
Case study of a presentation given using Mind Mapping techniques |
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I have just put together a video based on a story from my dim distant past…about 25 years ago when I first started using Mind Maps. It shows how I made good use of mind mapping techniques to give a great presentation under … trying … circumstances. There’s lots of information on the NovaMind web site about using Mind Maps for presentations and a good starting point is the following: http://www.novamind.com/presentations/ where you will find this video and also lots of other information related to Mind Mapping for presentation research, preparation and delivery. And without further ado, here is the video: I hope you enjoy it and find it useful. Gideon . |
Mind Map Connection: Site license sale, new Mind Mapping articles etc |
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NovaMind is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the latest Mind Map Connection newsletter, which contains information about the latest developments in NovaMind, including: Mind Manager import functions MS Project import and export functions Crossgrade discounts New Mind Mapping tutorial videos and web pages about how to use Mind Mapping for various types of planning The “back to school” site license sale starting on 3rd July with 50%+ off a limited number of site licenses. Although this was prompted by the tight funding within schools, it is also open to anyone who is feeling the pinch of tough economic times. Here is the link to read the full newsletter: http://www.novamind.com/mind-map-connection/mmc-2008-06-28.php Enjoy! Gideon |
NovaMind adds Microsoft Project import and export; Mind Manager import |
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Microsoft Project Import and Export For some time, the Windows edition of NovaMind Platinum has had the ability to add project related information like start and finish dates, percentage complete, priorities, and assign resources to the branches on the Mind Maps. Unlike the Mac version of NovaMind which can be imported directly into Merlin, the Windows edition did not have any way of getting the information over into a project management package. Now that has all changed with the introduction of both import and export of Microsoft Project XML files. This means that you can carry out the project inception phases in NovaMind, brainstorming your ideas and working out the project’s scope and objectives, then export into Microsoft Project format for detailed project management. The Microsoft Project file format has become the de facto standard for project management applications, so no matter which project management software you use, it is almost certain that you will be able to use the MS Project format. During the project, if you need to bring someone new on to the project or brainstorm solutions to particular problems in the project, you can either import the whole project file into NovaMind, or export a portion of the project plan from your project management package and open it in NovaMind, and work with it in NovaMind. Using the Mind Map format makes it easy to see the interrelationships between objectives and requirements and tasks within the scope of the project, which makes it a powerful tool for both understanding where all the different pieces of the project fit together, and also for designing solutions to project related issues. The Microsoft Project import and export functionality is available immediately as a free update for NovaMind Platinum for Windows users, and will be integrated into the NovaMind Platinum Mac product shortly. Mind Manager Import The Pro and Platinum editions of NovaMind for Windows also now have the capability of importing Mind Manager files. We have a lot of users who have a number of old Mind Maps that they want to convert to NovaMind format and work with in NovaMind, and people who receive Mind Manager files from colleagues, so we have built this capability into the Windows version of NovaMind Pro and Platinum. Mind Manager import and export has been in the Mac version of NovaMind for several years, but the techniques we are using in the Windows product gives a better result, so we are going to be porting the new Windows import capability over to the Mac, and it will be available shortly. To get the latest version, just do a check for updates in NovaMind and download the latest version. |
New Tutorial Video: learning the NovaMind user interface and Mind Mapping terminology |
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This video will teach you the NovaMind user interface and Mind Mapping terminology. Here is the Windows version: And the Mac version: Flash Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Podcast Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Flash Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Podcast Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download |
NovaMind crossgrade discounts available for Mind Manager, iMindMap and others |
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NovaMind is pleased to announce the immediate availability of $50 discount coupons for people trading in their other Mind Mapping software for NovaMind. These coupons are available for people who used to use Mind Manager or iMindMap or any other Mind Mapping software that they purchased for over $100. The coupons are valid for NovaMind Pro and NovaMind Platinum, as well as bundles of NovaMind Pro or Platinum plus Merlin project manager. NovaMind owner Gideon King said “we have had quite a number of people requesting crossgrade discounts recently, as they have found that NovaMind fits their needs better. We have decided to make their migration to NovaMind easier by offering this discount.” The coupons are now available at https://www.novamind.com/store/crossgrade.php. |
Mind Map Connection web archive |
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Starting with the current Mind Map Connection newsletter that was just released today, we will be archiving the newsletters and announcing the links to them on this blog. In this newsletter, there is a summary of the things that have been happening in the world of NovaMind over the last few months, including links to many of the mind mapping articles and videos that have been released by NovaMind in that time, and the enhanced mind mapping capabilities of the latest release of NovaMind. Some of the new web site features such as social bookmarking, easy linking and the articles are discussed. The new version of the NovaMind screenwriter for Mac has been released and we are looking for feedback so we can make sure it is the screenwriting tool of choice for both budding and professional screenwriters. It was also announced that NovaMind for both Windows and Mac will be getting import and export capabilities for Mind Manager and MS Project files in about 3 weeks. The Mac version of NovaMind has had Mind Manager import and export for some time, but it was difficult to maintain, and the new version improves the handling of Mind Manager files in many respects. There is some preliminary information about the new web system that NovaMind is developing, and a few hints about what is coming in the future. Stay tuned for further information in due course. Here is the link to the full newsletter: http://www.novamind.com/mind-map-connection/mmc-2008-06-12.php
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Get started with Mind Mapping - new video for NovaMind for Windows |
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NovaMind is pleased to announce the first of a new series of tutorial videos on NovaMind for Windows. This first video shows you all the basics of creating your first mind map in NovaMind. |
NovaMind Makes Stunning Visual Mind Mapping Even Easier |
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Make your Mind Maps look even better using the new image reflections, branch image layout modes, glossy button look branches, new corner styling and new themes. This allows you to more effectively present the Mind Maps to other people and to recall information more easily. Brisbane, Australia, June 2, 2008. NovaMind has long been recognized as the Mind Mapping program that produces the best looking Mind Maps. These new features take that even further, allowing you to create stunning looking Mind Maps that really grab your attention and make the Mind Maps even easier to remember. These new capabilities are available immediately in both the Windows and Mac OS X versions of NovaMind. The image reflections for attached images allow you to create stylish “Web 2.0” look images to enhance the look of your Mind Maps. You can now also apply both the chamfered and rounded corners to attached images, to further enhance the look of the images. Using the new branch image layout modes, you can fit, fill, or stretch the images to suit your needs within the branches. This allows you to maintain the shape of the image where necessary, or to fill the branch with the image as required.
The existing themes have been updated, and new themes added to take advantage of the new visual styling that is available. This gives you professionally designed themes for your Mind Maps to make them look great by simply applying a theme. About Mind Mapping Mind Maps are diagrams that work the way you think – they organize the information in the same way your brain organizes information. They make it easy to understand, remember, and communicate complex information. Our brains like thinking in pictures. The smooth curves and colorful pictures used in Mind Mapping create powerful images for your brain to remember. Mind Maps cater to both logical left brain thinking and pictorial right brain thinking at the same time, which makes them a very good way of storing and recalling information, presenting things to other people, and brainstorming new ideas. About NovaMind NovaMind has been the top Mind Mapping program available on Mac computers for the last 6 years, and is rapidly gaining recognition in the Windows market. NovaMind makes Mind Mapping intuitive and fun. ### Flash Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Podcast Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
If you’d like more information about NovaMind, please visit www.novamind.com or e-mail Gideon King at gideon@novamind.com. |
New ScreenWriter for NovaMind for Mac |
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We are pleased to announce that we have completely rewritten the screenplay module for NovaMind Platinum for Mac, based on the feedback from our screenwriter users. Full Screenplay EditingThe new screenwriter has the entire screenplay shown all the time, with the text for the selected branch highlighted. This makes it much easier to create and work with your screenplay, and see how it is attached to the branches. When you move the cursor in your screenplay, the branch for that part of the screenplay is automatically selected. When you select a branch that has no screenwriting attached to it, a line is opened up in the screenplay so you can attach a portion of your screenplay to that branch. All this makes it a breeze to create your screenplays.
New Control BarAt the bottom of the window is a control bar which allows you to jump through all the branches with screenwriting text attached to them, see the page and scene numbers, change the element types, change the capitalization of the selected text, see what the next element types are when pressing Tab or Return, and zoom the screenplay for easier reading. This gives you all the tools you need to work with your screenplay at your fingertips. Improvements in Basic ScreenPlay EditingWe have made many improvements over the previous screenwriter in the handling of element type selection, completions, mores and continueds, copying and pasting, character and scene completions etc. In short, the whole screenwriting functionality of NovaMind for Mac has been rewritten to match the needs of screenwriters. It is now in beta testing and will be released shortly. This is a free update for existing NovaMind 4 Platinum users. Other New Screenwriting FeaturesIn addition, we have many new features which make the screenwriter much more powerful and flexible. These include:
The new screenwriter requires that you use MacOSX 10.5 Leopard.This decision was first announced over a year ago, and we now have implemented based on this decision. The reason is because we use a number of new features that were only introduced in version 10.5. It will not run at all in earlier versions of Mac OS X. Windows version coming soonWe will be introducing a Windows version of the new screenwriter in a few months, and in the meantime any screenplays you write in either the Windows or Mac version of NovaMind will be able to be read and used on the other platform. |
Make your Mind Maps look even better - new options coming soon to NovaMind… |
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We are pleased to announce that there will be a number of new ways that you can enhance the look of your Mind Maps, in our next release of NovaMind. This will be a free update for existing version 4 license holders.
The new features include:
The new features will be available in both the Windows and Mac version of NovaMind. All this is currently in beta testing and will be released shortly…hope you like it! Gideon |
Recommended Mind Mapping program - NovaMind gets 5 star rating in Innovation Tools review |
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NovaMind Platinum for Windows was awarded a 5 star rating in the review on innovation tools. In the review, Chuck Frey highlights a number of the features of NovaMind, including:
In conclusion, Chuck says “I don’t know how Gideon King and his development team do it – they continue to push the envelope in terms of new features and functionality that no one has thought of before. This program is a pleasure to use, and I really like the Suggesterator.” |
Use Mind Mapping to Grow Your Business |
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You can use Mind Mapping to make your opportunities and priorities clear. It makes growing your business easy and systematic. Many businesses struggle because the owners and managers don’t have the right strategies to grow their businesses in the marketplace, or even if they do know the strategies, they are either not sure how to implement them, or are overwhelmed by the number of different things to think about all at once. In this article you will learn how you can grow your business using Mind Mapping. Included in this article is:
So hop on over to find out how you can grow your business using Mind Mapping. Gideon |


















