File commands:New map - Ctrl+NOpen map - Ctrl+OSave map - Ctrl+SSave as - Ctrl+Shift+SPrint - Ctrl+PClose - Ctrl+WQuit - Ctrl+QPrevious map - Alt+Shift+LEFTNext Map - Alt+Shift+RIGHTExport file to HTML - Ctrl+EExport branch to HTML - Ctrl+HExport branch to new MM file - Alt+Shift+AOpen first file in history - Ctrl+Shift+WEdit commands:Find - Ctrl+FFind next - Ctrl+GCut - Ctrl+XCopy - Ctrl+CCopy single - Ctrl+Shift+CPaste - Ctrl+VMode commands:MindMap mode - Alt+1Browse mode - Alt+2 File mode - Alt+3Node formatting commands:Italicize - Ctrl+IBold - Ctrl+BCloud - Ctrl+Shift+BChange node color - Alt+Shift+FBlend node color - Alt+Shift+BChange node edge color - Alt+Shift+EIncrease node font size - Ctrl+'+'decrease node font size - Ctrl+'-'Node navigation commands:Go to root - ESCAPEMove up - UPMove down - DOWNMove left - LEFTMove right - RIGHTFollow link - Ctrl+ENTERZoom out - Alt+UPZoom in - Alt+DOWNNode movement commands:Move node up - Ctrl+UPMove node down - Ctrl+DOWNMove node left - Ctrl+LEFTMove node right - Ctrl+RIGHTNew node commands:Add sibling node - ENTERAdd child node - INSERTAdd sibling before - Shift+ENTERAdd new parent - Shift+INSERTNode editing commands:Edit selected node - F2Edit long node - Alt+ENTERJoin nodes - Ctrl+JToggle folded - SPACEToggle children folded - Ctrl+SPACESet link by filechooser - Ctrl+Shift+KSet link by text entry - Ctrl+KSet image by filechooser - Alt+K
Installation2
Links
Download the Java Runtime Environment (at least J2RE1.4)
Download the Application
To install FreeMind on Microsoft Windows, install FreeMind-Windows-Installer-x_y_z-max-java-installer-embedded.exe. This download also includes the obligatory Java installation routine.
To install FreeMind on Linux, download Java Runtime Environment and FreeMind application itself. First install Java, then unpack FreeMind. To run FreeMind, execute freemind.sh.
To install FreeMind on Mac OS X, download the universial binary Mac_OS_X_Freemind-x_y_z.dmg, double click it and drag the application FreeMind into the program folder. After that FreeMind is started via double click on the application icon inside the program folder.
On Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, you can also simply double click the file freemind.jar located at the folder lib to run FreeMind.
Modes
Browsing the files on your computer
To browse files on your computer, switch to file mode in pull-down menu using Modes > File.
You browse the file tree as if it was a mind map.
To make a folder the central node of the map, in node context menu use Center.
To view, edit or execute a file, follow the link of its node.
The file mode is currently not very useful. It is a demonstration that it's not too difficult to feed data into the tree from other source than mind map. But some people seem to use this mode.
Browsing mind maps
To browse mind maps rather than to edit them, switch to browse mode in pull-down menu using Modes > Browse. Unless used in FreeMind applet, this function is useless.
The reasons for having a separate browsing mode are technical. Browsing is the only thing you can do in FreeMind applet which can be put to your website. Normally, you would not use browse mode in FreeMind.
About modes
Although Freemind is primarily a tool for editing mind maps, it is designed to be able to view data coming from various data sources. To make a specific data source available for viewing in FreeMind, a programmer has to write a so called mode for that data source. File mode is an example. We do not know of any other modes implemented. It is not clear if anyone would really want to make use of this architecture; it's here to be exploited if someone wants to.
There is code almost ready for scheme mode which enables you to edit scheme programs. Again, the usefulness is far from clear. Unlike mind map mode, other modes are more of a demonstration of what is possible rather than something actually in use.
Installing FreeMind applet at your web site
You can install the applet at your website so that other users can browse your mind maps.
Installation using Export
Use the functionality Export as Java Applet
The applet is opened in the browser directly after the export.
Installation by hand
Download the applet, that is freemind-browser.
The downloaded archive contains freemindbrowser.jar and freemindbrowser.html. Create a link from your page to freemindbrowser.html. In freemindbrowser.html change the path inside so that it points to your mind map.
Applet's jar file must be located at the same server as the map itself, for java security reasons. You have to upload the FreeMind applet jar file and your mind map file to your web site.
Using the FreeMind applet
In FreeMind applet, you can only use the browse mode; you cannot edit remote maps. Click a node to toggle folding or to follow a link. Drag the background to move the map. To search the map, use node context menu.
Changes in user interface in version 0.6.5
Some of the keyboard settings have been redefined so that they align themselves with what we consider shared standard or intuitive use. Some of the new keyboard settings are modelled on Microsoft tools. New key settings include enter for creating of new siblings below the node, insert for creating new children, F2 for editing nodes - here the Microsoft influence is apparent while there is no intuitive reason to have F2 for node editing. But once you get used to it in all the applications you use, you want to have that one in FreeMind too.
The keyboard settings can be changed in pull-down menu Tools > Preferences.
Credits
Authors
Joerg Mueller
ponders@t-online.de
University of Freiburg, Germany
Daniel Polansky
Petr Novak
Christian Foltin
christian.foltin@gmx.de
Dimitri Polivaev
Eric Lavarde
Linux packaging
Smaller contributions
Andrew Iggleden
Installer Windows
Bob Alexander
Eclipse howto
David Butt
Tutorial flash
David Low
Helpful
Translations
Bob Alexander
Italian translation
Knud Riishøjgård
Danish translation
Takeshi Kakeda
Japanese translation
Kohichi Aoki
Japanese translation
Alex Dukal
Spanish translation
Hugo Gayosso
Spanish translation
Sylvain Gamel
French translation
Koen Roggemans
Dutch translation
Rafal Kraik
Polish translation
Goliath
Korean translation
Martin Srebotnjak (nick: Miles a.k.a. filmsi)
Slovenian translation
William Chen
Chinese translation
Radek Švarc
Czech translation
Balázs Márton
Hungarian translation
Luis Ferreira
Portuguese translation
The credits for translations are probably incomplete. If we have forggoten you, let us know. There are so many translations that it is difficult to keep trac of the authors. In any case a warm thank you goes to everyone who has helped to make the program better.
Press Ctrl + F to search. Press Ctrl + G to find next. To make the search global, press Esc before searching.
Press right arrow to unfold a text box.
Introduction
FreeMind makes it possible to create so called mind maps. Still, many people use it as an alternative to a tabbed notebook or a personal information manager.
Information is stored in text boxes, called nodes. Nodes are connected together using curved lines called edges.
This is a documentation for FreeMind 0.9.0. Keyboard mappings and positions of functions in menus can change from version to version.
Demonstration of some features
Appearance
Nodes can have different colors.
Red
Green
Blue
Node can have various background colors
This
That
Nodes can have different font style
Bold
Italics
Bold and italics
Font of nodes can have different size
small
normal
bigger
Large
OOh
Different font families may be used
This
Or that
Or that one
Different node styles can be used
Fork
Fork
Fork
Bubbled
Bubbled
Bubbled
Nodes can be folded
Fold
Hidden
Tree
Oak
Beech
Elm
Nodes can contain followable links to ...
Web pages
http://www.google.com/
www.google.com
Freemind thinks this is executable :)
Local folders
C:/Program Files/
/home/
Executables
%SystemRoot%\regedit.exe
You see that the node is executable by icon.
Any document on your local computer or your company network
Multiline nodes
You can see multiline nodes as a paragraph or as several paragraphs. An alternative to multiline nodes are the notes attached to each node (see notes). Instead of having a plain text file to keep your set of notes, you can have one short node with many multiline nodes as its children.
"Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science." --Henri Poincaré
Short multiline nodes with newlines
Line,and second,and yet another will do,so what do you think of that?
You can emulate labelled edges
Tree
is a
Oak
is a
Beech
is a
Elm
Tree
<>
Leaf
<>
Trunk
You can have icons in a node
You can have clouds
With custom colors
You can have graphical links
Connecting node
To another
With different color
And different routing
Node can be positioned freely
One
Another
Rich text nodes
Application
Fun
FreeMind
High
L*tus
Low
Node may have notes
Creating and deleting nodes
To create a child node, press Insert.
To create a child node while editing another node, press Insert while editing.
To create a sibling node below, press Enter.
To create a sibling node above, press Shift + Enter.
To delete a node, press delete.
To delete a node while keeping for pasting, press Control + X.
Alternatively, use node context menu, by right-clicking a node.
Editing node text
To edit a node, press F2, HOME or END key, or in node context menu use Edit. To finish editing a node, press ENTER.
To replace the text in a node with new one, start typing.
To force long node editor when editing a short node, press Alt + Enter.
To split a long node, use the button Split at the top of long node editor, or press Alt + S in the long node editor.
To insert a newline in long node editor, press Control + Enter. You cannot insert newline in short node editor.
To copy a selection to the clipboard while editing long node, press right mouse button and choose copy.
By default, Enter finishes editing of a long node, and Control + Enter inserts a newline. By unchecking the check box "Enter confirms" you can reverse the function of the mentioned key combinations, i.e. ENTER enters new line and CONTROL ENTER finishes editing. You can set the default value of that check box in preferencess. Moreover, the value of the box is saved during a session of FreeMind.
FreeMind fully supports unicode. Thus you can use the script of your choice.
Formatting a node
To make a node bold, press Ctrl + B.
To make a node italic, press Ctrl + I.
To change the text color of a node, press Alt + Shift + F
To change the background color of a node, in node context menu use Format > Node Background color.
To increase node font size, press Control + plus (not the plus on numeric keypad).
To decrease node font size, press Control + minus (not the minus on numeric keypad).
To change the font family, use the field in the main toolbar.
To copy formats of a node, press Alt + C
To paste formats onto a node, press Alt + V.
Using physical styles
To apply a physical style, in node context menu use Physical Style > Style of Your Choice. To speedup applying physical styles, use keyboard shortcuts as shown in the node context menu.
To add your own physical style or change an existing one, just open the style editor. The styles are automatically stored for you unless you choose cancel to exit the style editor.
Highlighting nodes with clouds
Clouds are well suited for highlighting a region. Highlighted are the node and all its descendants.
To add a cloud, press Ctrl + Shift + B or in node context menu use Insert > Cloud.
To change the cloud color, in node context menu use Format > Cloud color.
Clouds can have various background colors like green ...
... or brown.
Adding hyperlinks
Usual Hyperlinks point to
Web pages
Other maps
Local files
To add a hyperlink to a node, press Ctrl + K or in node context menu use Insert > Hyperlink.
To remove a hyperlink, set the hyperlink to empty after pressing Ctrl + K.
Knoten
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Adding Icons
A node can have several icons.
It can have the same icon more than once.
To add icons to a node, select a node and click one of the icons displayed in the left toolbar.
If you use the mode in which the nodes are directly selected when touched by the mouse cursor, you should read the following: while moving the mouse cursor to the left toolbar, hold ALT or CONTROL so that you do not loose focus.
To remove one icon, press red cross at the top of the icon toolbar.
To remove all icons, press trash can icon at the top of the icon toolbar.
To add a new icon to a node without using the left toolbar, press Alt + I.
Currently, it is not easy to extend the icons present in FreeMind (see FreeMind's wiki for an explanation). This will probably change in the next release.
To hide or show the icon toolbar, in the context menu at the background use Toggle Left Toolbar . The icon toolbar is called left toolbar there.
The icons as attached to this node are included, and more.
Icon tweaks
If you press SHIFT while adding an icon from the icon toolbar, all other icons are removed from this node before adding the new one.
If you press CONTROL while clicking on an icon, the first occurence of this icon will be removed.
Adding graphical links
To create a graphical link between two nodes, drag a node and drop it to another node holding both shift and control keys; release the mouse button before releasing shift and control keys.
Alternatively, you can select two nodes using Ctrl and to choose "Add graphical link" from the "Insert" menu or its shortcut Ctrl+L
Context Menu
To change the color of the link, use link context menu, by right-clicking the graphical link.
To change the arrows of the link, use link context menu.
To delete a link, use link context menu.
To navigate to one of the end nodes of the link, use link context menu.
To change the routing of an arrow link, drag it and move it.
An example of graphical link follows.
Example
Link to another part
Node with folded subnode
Subnode
Another link
Searching
To find text in a node and all its descendant nodes, press Ctrl + F or in the "edit" menu use Find.
To find the next match of your search, press Ctrl + G or in the "edit" menu Find Next.
To search the whole map, select the central node by pressing Escape before searching.
The search is a breadth-first search. This is because the deeper a node, the greater the detail described in the node.
Search will only search the selected node and its descendants. To search the entire mind map, either select the central node directly, or press <ESC> before searching to automatically search from the central node.
If you enter multiple words into the find dialog, then each word must occur (but not necessarily in that order)
If you want to search for a given sentence then put it into quotation marks.
Example
one
one one
one two
two
two one
two two
Searching for ...
one one (without quotations), you'll get four hits.
one two (without quotations), you'll get two hits.
"one one", you'll get only one hit.
New interactive search
Using CONTROL+SHIFT+F you'll see the new search and replace dialog
It searches the whole mindmap.
It supports regular expressions.
It finds when you type.
Selecting multiple nodes
To select multiple nodes, hold control or shift while clicking.
To add single nodes to already selected nodes, hold control when clicking.
To select a continuous range of nodes, hold shift when clicking, or hold shift while moving around with arrow keys.
To select a complete subtree, hold AltGr while clicking, or hold shift while moving with arrow keys from a node to its parent. Finally Ctrl+Shift+A does the same via the keyboard.
To cancel the selection of multiple nodes, click on the map background or onto an unselected node.
Dragging and dropping
You can move nodes around using drag and drop.
To drop a node as a child, position the cursor at the outer part of the node while dropping.
To drop a node as a sibling, position the cursor at the top part of the target node while dropping.
To copy nodes rather than move, hold control while dragging, or drag with middle mouse button.
To edit an existing map, drag its file and drop it on the background of FreeMind; this works at least in Microsoft Windows operating system.
If you have selected multiple nodes, all are being moved or copied.
You can drop data from external applications, like files on Microsoft Windows operating system, or pieces of text selected in a browser.
Copying and pasting
You can copy and paste (multiple) nodes between mindmaps as expected. In addition, you can paste normal text or HTML from other applications.
If you paste plain text, multiple lines are pasted as multiple nodes, with their depth determined by the number of leading spaces in the text. An example follows.
Tree Oak Beech
is pasted as
Tree
Oak
Beech
If you paste HTML, it is pasted as plain text. Additionally, the links contained in HTML are pasted as children of an additional node with text "Links". Example follows.
Example result after pasting:
Shopping (120236)
Urban Living (19)
Links
Shopping
Urban Living
If you paste file list selected in Explorer in Microsoft Windows, it is pasted as a set of links to the files.
If in FreeMind you copy a branch and paste it into a plain text editor, the tree structure is shown by indentation. Hyperlinks are pasted in <> brackets. An example follows.
Tree
Oak
Beech
is pasted as
Tree Oak Beech Google <http://www.google.com/>
Google
If in FreeMind you copy a branch and paste it into an editor that understands rich text format, the formatting including color and font is pasted too. Hyperlinks are pasted in <> brackets, just like with plain text. Editors that understand rich text format include Microsoft Word, Wordpad or Microsoft Outlook, or some tabbed notebooks in Linux.
To copy a node without its descendants, press Ctrl + Shift + C or in node context menu use Copy Single.
Moving around
To move the cursor up, down, left or right, use arrow keys.
To move to the top of the current subtree, press PageUp.
To move to the bottom of the current subtree, press PageDown.
To move to the central node, press Escape.
To position node freely, drag it by its invisible handle placed at the side of the node in the direction to the root, and move it.
Folding and unfolding
To fold a node, press space, or in node context menu use Toggle Folded.
To unfold a node, press space, or in node context menu use Toggle Folded, or press arrow key in the direction of unfolding.
To fold or unfold nodes in levels, hold Alt while using mousewheel, or press Alt + PageUp or Alt + PageDown. With large maps, use this function carefully; it may lead to memory problems.
To unfold all, press the gray plus botton at the main toolbar, or in pull-down menu use Navigate > Unfold All.
To fold all, press the gray minus button at the main toolbar, or in pull-down menu use Navigate > Fold All.
Folded node is marked with a small circle attached in the outer direction.
Changing to a different mind map
To change to another already opened mind map, right click on the background and select a different map from the context menu.
Scrolling the map
To scroll the map, drag the background and move it around, or use the mouse wheel. To scroll horizontally with mouse wheel, hold shift or one of the mouse buttons.
Zooming
To zoom, use mouse wheel while holding control key, or press Alt + up or down key. Alernatively, use zooming field in the main toolbar.
Using undo
To undo, press Control + Z, or in pull-down menu use Edit > Undo.
To redo, press Control + Y, or in pull-down menu use Edit > Redo.
To set the number of steps kept for undoing, use in pull-down menu Tools > Preferences.
Exporting to HTML
To export a branch to HTML, press Control + H. Exported HTML page may contain folding support, depending on the settings in preferences.
To use another exporting function, in pull-down menu use Export > As XHTML (Javascript version).
To export a map with an overview picture to HTML, in pull-down menu use Export > As XHTML (Clickable image map version).
Exporting as bitmap or vector picture
To export the map as PNG picture, in pull-down menu use File > Export > As PNG.
To export the map as JPEG picture, in pull-down menu use File > Export > As JPEG.
To export the map as SVG, in pull-down menu use File > Export > As SVG. This function is only available if you have installed SVG plug-in.
To export the map as PDF, in pull-down menu use File > Export > As PDF. This function is only available if you have installed SVG plug-in.
Exporting to other XML formats
To export the map to another XML format for which you have an XSLT transformation sheet, in pull-down menu use File > Export > Using XSLT.
To export the map to an OpenOffice Writer document, in pull-down menu use File > Export > As OpenOffice Writer Document.
Importing folder structure
To import folder structure, in node context menu use File > Import > Folder Structure. You will be asked for the folder whose structure you want to import. By structure we mean the tree of all (not necessarily direct) subfolders with the links to the files in these subfolders. An example of inserted structure follows.
Example
Selected folder
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Bitmaps
Dbwiz
ASSETS.GIF
CONTACTS.GIF
EVTMGMT.GIF
EXPENSES.GIF
INVENTRY.GIF
LEDGER.GIF
ORDPROC.GIF
RESOURCE.GIF
SERVICE.GIF
TIMEBILL.GIF
Styles
ACBLENDS.GIF
ACBLUPRT.GIF
ACEXPDTN.GIF
ACINDSTR.GIF
ACRICEPR.GIF
ACSNDSTN.GIF
ACSUMIPT.GIF
GLOBE.WMF
STONE.BMP
Importing Internet Explorer favorites
Knoten
Key words: Microsoft Internet Explorer, MSIE, MS IE.
Importing MindManager X5 mind map
To import MindManager X5 mind map, in pull-down menu use File > Import > MindManager X5 map.
Integration with Word or Outlook
You can paste maps or branches into Microsoft Word, Wordpad or Outlook messages. In general, you can paste it into any application that understands rich text format. The text formatting and links are pasted too.
Clicking a mail link (mailto:don.bonton@supermail.com) will open Outlook for creating a new message, if not set otherwise in Windows.
You can use subject in mail link
An alternative way of pasting mind map into Microsoft Word is by exporting it to HTML based on headings, copying the HTML and pasting it into Word.
Setting preferences
To edit preferences, in pull-down menu use Tools > Preferences. Most of the changes take effect only after you restart FreeMind.
Preferences include keyboard mappings, behavior when exporting HTML, the way node selection with mouse occurs, choice of antialiasing, and more.
Key words: customizing.
Printing
You can print either by fitting the whole map into one page, or by printing the map to several sheets of paper. This choice you can set in menu: File > Page Setup > ... .
To make better use of space, choose landscape in Page Setup.
Previewing your map before printing using File > Print Preview.
If you aren't satisfied with the printing build in into FreeMind (which is in fact improvable), you may want to use Export > As PDF and print the PDF document.
You can also print from your browser after exporting map to HTML, or from Word or Wordpad after copying and pasting the map into it. You can also export the map into HTML with headings, copy and paste it into Microsoft Word and print it from there. That way you can change styles as you want.
Using rich text by means of HTML in nodes
Nodes can be entered as rich text nodes using the new Rich Text Editor "SimplyHTML". If you start to edit a long node, you'll get asked whether or not you want to use formattings in your node. "Yes" opens the rich text editor. Moreover, it is automatically opened, if the node is already a rich text node.
There are several items:
Item one
Item two
And we have boldface or italics. Underlined a strike-through as well. We can have table:
Cell1
Cell2
Cell3
Cell4.
We can have various foreground colors.
There is on very limited support for HTML nodes and pictures in exporting to text or RTF (Word, Wordpad). At least, using HTML is convenient for publication on the Web using Freemind's Applet.
Using pictures in nodes
Pictures in FreeMind are a preliminary feature.
To insert a picture into FreeMind, press Alt + K, or in node context menu use Insert > Image. By inserting a picture, you overwrite the text you had in the node before.
Limitations:
Images inserted in this way are not correctly pasted outside FreeMind and they need not to be correctly exported to HTML.
Supported picture formats are PNG, JPEG and GIF.
To turn links to images into visible images, press Alt + K. You can drag and drop several image files into FreeMind, select them as multiple nodes, and turn them into images by pressing Alt + K.
A more technical and not so user friendly way to insert an image follows. It is possible to include HTML in nodes. You have to start the node content with the tag <html>. This way, you can have pictures in the nodes.
For example <html><img src="linked/Apple.png"> <html><img src="file://C:/Users/My Documents/Mind Maps/Linked/Apple.png">
You can use relative links in the images.
Example of pictures, working on some Windows distributions
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GLOBE.WMF
STONE.BMP
Using experimental file locking
Current version of FreeMind has experimental file locking, disabled by default. Current implementation does not perfectly prevent race conditions, but it should be fine for most of practical purposes.
File locking makes sure that multiple users do not edit the same map at the same time, preventing them from accidentally overwriting the information from each other.
To enable experimental file locking, in pull-down menu use Tools > Preferences.
New features in version 0.9.0
Main new features
New Editor
Notes enhancements
Filter
Attributes
Visual Changes
Tabular MindMapping Support
Icon Toolbar is scrollable
Usability Improvements
Move in all directions
Up and Down
Left and Right
Getting higher and lower in the tree
Across the root node
Menu items have mnemonics now
Format changes are now available at a single dialog