Help | yahui110

Getting Started (tap on the cross next to a topic to reveal more information)
1. Create a new map
  1. Tap the + icon on the (left hand end of the) toolbar
2. Deleting an existing map
  1. Display the map list
  2. Tap Edit
    1. ...or swipe across the map name
  3. Tap on the 'No Entry' symbol next to the target map
  4. Tap on Delete
    1. This cannot be undone
3. Create a new topic
  1. Double tap the canvas and a new topic will be created at that point or....
  2. Tap one of the topic creation buttons on the right of the toolbar - corresponding to...
    1. Add new CHILD
    2. Add new SIBLING
    3. Add new CALLOUT
      1. This is a callout
    4. Press and hold one of the buttons for more options
4. Delete a topic
  1. Method1
    1. Tap the selected topic and the cut/copy/paste/delete menu will be displayed
    2. Tap on the Delete option
    3. If the topic has children then there will be an option to delete topic or delete branch.
      1. Delete topic will delete just that topic and reattach the children to the parent of the deleted topic.
  2. Method2
    1. Drag the topic/branch to the lower right corner and drop it on the waste bin icon.
5. Edit an existing topic
  1. Double tap the topic and the keyboard will be displayed
6. Add a note
  1. Select the topic by tapping it once
  2. Pull down the tab just below the title on the toolbar to open the note view window - tap on it to edit.
    1. The + and - symbols can be used to adjust the font size of the note
  3. Flick the tab upwards to close.
7. Change the shape/colour/icon
  1. Select the topic by tapping it once
  2. Tap the i button on the right hand side of the toolbar to display the Inspector
  3. Set the various attributes as required
8. Move a topic/branch
  1. Drag and drop it onto another topic - an arrow will indicate if the topic will be added as a child or sibling (above/below)
    1. Hold the dragged topic over another for a short time and the option to merge the topics will appear
    2. Hold the dragged topic over a blank area of canvas for a short time and the option to 'float' the topic will appear
9. Change the text size
  1. Drag the pointy finger horizontally to change the topic width and vertically to change the topic size
  2. The width and font size will be displayed as numerical values next to the topic during resize
  3. Tap on the finger to reset the font size and width to the default
    1. The 'pointy finger' is somewhat contentious - you can change it in the Settings App.
10. Insert an image
  1. Open the Inspector
  2. Select the Images tab
  3. Select Images from the lower toolbar of the Inspector window (adjacent to the Icons button)
  4. Choose one of the 'stock images' or select the bookmarks button on the lower toolbar to select a photo from the album
    1. To copy an image FROM a topic (eg extract from an imported map) select + from the lower toolbar
  5. Once inserted, drag the pointy finger to resize the topic/image
11. Re-centre the map (it's disappeared off the screen)
  1. Tap on the map title in the toolbar to re-centre on the currently selected topic.
12. Zoom out to show the whole map
  1. Double tap the map title in the toolbar to zoom out and show the entire map - double tap again to return to the original view.
13. Import/export maps
  1. 4 methods
    1. Cloud (box.net/ Dropbox/ MobileMe/ WebDAV)
    2. Browser/WiFi
    3. Email
    4. iTunes
    5. Press me to visit the website for more details
14. Undo/Redo
  1. To undo the previous operation tap on the toolbar button (with the two opposing arrows)
  2. To redo an operation (after having undone it) press and hold the Undo toolbar button then select Redo.
15. Link from one map to another
  1. Open the link tab in the Inspector
  2. Browse to the map to link to and its path will be added to the link field (it's case sensitive)
  3. To follow the link PRESS and HOLD on the topic with the link
  4. After jumping to a link, press the back button to return to the original map (the map picker toolbar button will change to a back button automatically)
    1. To open a map when the toolbar is showing the back button press and hold the back button.
      1. As an example, this topic links to the release notes map
16. Auto number topics
  1. Tap on the parent of the topics to number
  2. Tap on the Text page of the Inspector
  3. Select a numbering scheme
    1. The numbering schemes are highly customisable - see the website for details
17. Change the map layout (vertical, fishbone etc.)
  1. This is an Extras 2012 feature (purchased separately) - see the Extras option on the Send To menu
    1. Tap the gear toolbar menu
    2. Select the Map Layout option
    3. Choose from
      1. Horizontal
      2. Vertical
      3. Top Down
      4. Fishbone/timeline
    4. Adjust the Radial setting as required
      1. This will result in the topics being justified along a curved path (concave or convex)
18. Change Link Styles
  1. This is an Extras 2012 feature (purchased separately) - see the Extras option on the Send To menu
    1. Tap the gear toolbar menu
    2. Select the Link Styles option
    3. The style for Level1 and Level N (all subsequent levels) can be configured independently
      1. Straight Line
      2. Right Angled
      3. S-Bend (the original)
      4. Curved
      5. Kinked
      6. Reverse Tapered
19. Passcode protect your maps
  1. This is an Extras 2012 feature (purchased separately) - see the Extras option on the Send To menu
    1. Tap the Send To menu
    2. Select System Passcode menu option
    3. Select Turn Passcode On
    4. Enter a Passcode (and confirm)
    5. Edit a map or folder name then tick the Protected option.
  2. NB:
    1. Passcode protection is a privacy option - not a security solution. Maps are not encrypted and it is not difficult to break a 4 digit code.
    2. There is no 'backdoor' - a forgotten password cannot be recovered
20. Search
  1. This is an Extras 2012 feature (purchased separately) - see the Extras option on the Send To menu
    1. Tap on the search toolbar button
    2. Choose the scope (current map or all maps)
    3. Enter the text to search for
      1. Topic text, notes, hyperlinks and sources will be searched
    4. Tap on a search result to open that map and focus in on the topic.
      1. By default it will dim the surrounding topics - this can be disabled in the Settings App
Futures?
1. More desktop formats
2. Attachments
3. Calendar and ToDo sync
4. Outline View
5. More online collaboration
6. Finger drawn sketches
Quick Tips
1. Keyboard shortcuts?
  1. Hit SPACE 3x to create a new child
    1. Must be quick - 3 in under a second
  2. Hit RETURN 3x to create a new sibling
  3. Hit SPACE/RETURN 3x in the middle of a topic to split it.
  4. Hit BACKSPACE 3x in an empty topic to delete it
2. Single tap the canvas to cancel (or complete) what you are doing.
3. Double tap the canvas to create a new topic
4. Press and hold one of the topic create toolbar buttons for more otions - for example to create a parent or sibling above the selected topic
5. Merge 2 topics by dragging one on top of the other and holding it there.
6. Float a branch by dragging/dropping to a blank area of the canvas and holding it there.
7. Relationships (links between topics)
  1. To create...
    1. Tap the first topic
    2. Tap the link toolbar button
    3. Tap the second topic (and a relationship will be created)
    4. To cancel the operation tap anywhere on the canvas
  2. To edit/remove
    1. Tap one of the linked topics
    2. Tap the 'resize dot' to edit
8. Double tap the expand/collapse icon next to a topic to show 1,2 or all sub topics (good for slowly revealing information)
  1. Hide All will collapse all topics so that each subsequent expand will only reveal a single level.
9. To override the back button (after following a link) press and hold it - this will display the map list.
10. Extract images from imported maps for later use
11. Paste Tricks
  1. Paste Style
    1. Copy a topic which has attributes that you'd like to propagate
    2. Select another topic then 'Paste Style'
    3. Choose the individual styles to paste
    4. Choose which topics to apply the style to (select, children, siblings etc.)
    5. ...enables 'template topics'
    6. Great way to assign resources and other task info to a group of topics
  2. Copy text from another app and...
    1. Paste directly into a topic text
    2. Paste onto a topic itself - resulting in child topics being created to contain the information - new child topic for each newline
  3. Paste a branch and then...
    1. Tap the pasted topic and select 'Delete' and then 'Delete Topic'
      1. ...provides a way to move a bunch of sibling topics
  4. Copy images from the web
    1. Press and hold the image in Safari
    2. Open up iThoughts then tap on a topic and choose paste.
12. Use iThoughts as a 'web link manager' by adding 'Send to iThoughts' button to Safari.
13. Delete topics by dragging them to the bottom right corner of the screen and drop them on the waste bin icon
14. Embed the modified date and time by entering $date and/or $time in the topic text
15. Take a look in the iThoughts section of the Settings App (there are lots of config options to tweak!)
  1. Configure defaults for new maps (canvas, keep organised, rainbow etc.)
  2. Set word/sentence capitalisation options
  3. Turn on/off various ui elements such as tapered links.
  4. Email outline options
  5. Change the pointy finger to something else
  6. etc.etc.etc
FAQ
1. The crosshair - why?
2. Importing/Exporting
  1. Methods
    1. ITunes Sharing
    2. Email
    3. WiFi/browser
    4. Cloud
      1. WedDAV
      2. Dropbox
      3. Recommended
      4. Box.net
    5. Save Image to Camera Roll
    6. Send To App
  2. Formats
    1. MyThoughts
    2. Freemind 0.8.x / 0.9.x (and Freeplane)
    3. Mindmanager v6 and above
    4. Novamind 4 / 5
    5. XMind
    6. Mindview 3 / 4 (Windows ONLY)
    7. iMindmap v4 and above
    8. ConceptDraw MINDMAP 6 / 7
    9. OPML
      1. Omni Outliner
      2. Scrivener
    10. MindGenius 3.71
    11. Outlook CSV
    12. Markdown (export only)
    13. PDF (export only)
      1. Can generate PDF and PNG with transparent backgrounds - great for pasting into PowerPoint/Keynote (see Settings App)
    14. PNG (export only)
    15. .txt (import only)
  3. Caveats?
    1. Not all attributes are supported in all formats.
    2. Unsupported/recognized attributes and data will be discarded.
3. Old versions
  1. Maps are auto-saved and periodically snapshot'd - previous snapshots can be recovered.
4. Backup
  1. Do NOT rely on iTunes backups - they are overwritten each time - please take the time to backup your daily archive 'off device'
5. Cloud Synchronisation
If you find iThoughts useful then please do leave a review on the AppStore...any issues, queries or suggestions just email me (I can't respond to AppStore reviews - Apple doesn't tell me your email address!) Press this topic to leave a review on the AppStore
1. Press this topic to email support