MindMeister updates: map out your ideas even faster

Karl Ortenburg

https://community.meister.co/discussion/comment/11221#Comment_11221

Hey Cornelia, thanks a lot. I figured it out in the meantime but your way is even faster. Appreciated!

Karl Ortenburg

Hey Mark, yes you are and so was I. They made it so simple, I didn't get it. 😁 You simply paste the hyperlink onto that node, that's it. Contrl + C

Karl Ortenburg

https://community.meister.co/discussion/comment/11214#Comment_11214

Hey Mark, for your next update: If you post a list of changes or an explanatory video with it, I believe you may be able to avoid a lot of user frustration and save yourself a bunch of time. Thanks for your support anyway.

Gui. C.

https://community.meister.co/discussion/comment/11345#Comment_11345

that is GREAT NEWS Mark.

I am sorry for all that pressure but Mind Meister is really important and that specific functionality is gold. Cannot replace it!

Thank you and share my appreciation with the rest of the team.

Stephan Klockner, Beratung

https://community.meister.co/discussion/comment/11183#Comment_11183

Same

Gui. C.

IT IS BACK GUYS!!!! 😁 THANK YOU MM TEAM. MUCH APPRECIATED.

Cornelia Patscheider

Hi everyone,

I’ve got a couple of updates from the MindMeister team that I think you’ll be excited about, especially since these came out of the suggestions many of you have made right here.

1. We brought back mixed layouts: You told us how much you missed combining Org Charts with Lists, so it's back! However, we are still very conscious that mixed layouts often led to overlapping elements in the past, so we are trying to find a good solution that offers flexibility but also avoids overlapping topics. If there are other layout combinations you find helpful, just let me know in the comments. I’m here to collect your thoughts and pass them on to the MindMeister team.
2. Task assignment and due dates are visible again in tasks: We’ve returned to showing who’s assigned to what and the due dates on tasks in MindMeister. This should make it easier to keep track of everything.

We’re always trying to make MindMeister work better for you, so don’t hesitate to test these updates and share how they’re working out. And if you have more ideas, feel free to post them below.

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theo west

Org chart list layout issue: Unable to apply to multiple nodes!

Appears to be a regression. Please fix ASAP.

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Tatsuhito Koya

I still like see a way to make the toolbar less intrusive.

Here's an example why. Suppose a mind map looks like this:

When I click Sub-Topic 3, the map looks like this.

Topic and Sub-Topic 2 are hidden from the view. This interrupts my concentration when I'm brainstorming. I have to conciously click outside of the topic to hide the toolbar.

My suggestion is when the focus mode (Ctrl+.) is on, the toolbar is toggled (show/hide) by clicking a three-dot button, as shown below.

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Mark Mosher

SITUATION: When you select an item from Options interface on a node when a node is near the Top, Left, or Right, the resultant dialog box is occluded by the browser frame. Tested in Safari and Chrome.

PROBLEM:

1. 🖱️This introduces the need to CONSTANTLY reposition the map and relaunch the dialog to make room for the dialog box, especially when using Mindmeister on a laptop.. Sometimes I find I haven't moved it enough and have to reposition again. This adds SOOOOO many MORE CLICKS, and EXTRA MOUSING / TRACK PADDING .
2. 😵‍💫 Drives me crazy and takes me out of the flow
3. 🤕 Aggravates my Repetitive Stress Injury

CRITICALITY:
HIGH. This is a near show stopper for me as it makes the product nearly unusable when working with anything more than the most basic small mind map on a laptop. Not so great with large maps on a big monitor either. It also reduces accessibility to those with RSI.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:

1. If you detect the node is near an edge and dialogs will be occluded, present the dialog box to the other side of the node without occluding the node.
2. Add additional back ability to launch options box back in the right-side control to operate on the node in focus.

Nima Shokouhfar

Hi,

I’m having an issue with the pop-up window as well. The problem occurs when you zoom in too much—the pop-up window goes off the screen. Sometimes, it plays hide-and-seek with you! You move up to see the full pop-up menu, and when you close and reopen it, it pops up underneath, forcing you to move down this time.

I wouldn’t say it makes the product unusable, but it’s definitely very annoying.

Haha...

Mark Mosher

https://community.meister.co/discussion/comment/11426#Comment_11426

Wow, look how far down I have to scroll the map to get the "Add Custom Colors" dialog. In this case I had to slide down twice. Once to get to the "Topic Style" Dialog, then again because the next dialog popped up even higher.

Nima Shokouhfar

Hi Mark,

I know, I’m facing the same issue. However, I believe this isn’t something new; previous versions seem to have had this issue as well.

Mark Mosher

That toolbar was introduced in late September I think. I realize they did a point release to bring some functionality back, but I assume this alignment issues has been there since late Sept. I didn't bump into because I was using Legacy again after all the changes.

Either way, it's a taxing user experience.

Nima Shokouhfar

Hi @Mark Mosher,

Oh, I see. To be honest, I’ve had issues with that pop-up window for as long as I can remember. However, the ones you mentioned might be new—I’ve lost track at this point.

That said, other software like Photoshop, SolidWorks, Autodesk, etc., handle these situations using sidebar tabs, making them more predictable to control and render. Additionally, they don’t obstruct the view, unlike the case that @Tatsuhito Koya shared earlier.

Besides, sidebar tabs offer much more advanced control. With a pop-up menu, you are more restricted. How many buttons can you fit into that thing before customers like me start complaining that it’s too complicated and obstructing my view?

By no means am I suggesting switching to sidebar menus; I’m just sharing how others have solved similar issues in this thread.

As a senior software engineer, I believe that pop-ups are something that makes people excited to open their wallet, but they are a nightmare for developers to improve and maintain. Features like this can break every time there’s a major UI upgrade.

To be honest, I’m very happy that I’m not the one responsible for maintaining it—it’s definitely not fun to manage.

Santhosh S

Its gone from great to bad now. I have to look for other mindmap softwares. This was a great tool till this update happened. Seriously what is this new thing floating on top when i select a node. I just cannot present now with this on top. Is there a way to go back to earlier version. Or can you guys atleast move this to the extreme left so that its not over my content. Distracting when i do presentations. Disabling right click options was a bad move too.

Whoever designed the UI/UX were clearly not thinking of the users.

(P.S : I dont use the presentation mode. its not useful for my kind of work)

Dil Dissanayake

<cant find my previous comment - re posting again>

Hi @Mark Jack ,

Thanks for the update and happy that you guys are starting to consider our suggestions. I think the backlash of user feedback might prompt you guys to re-think things before going LIVE and facing the same iteration of responses.

Further to my initial post, another important functionality was sharing links with external parties.

when sharing a link with an external party, they now require an account to view / edit. This is terrible, we only want them to create an account if we want them to collaborate, as some of our mindmaps are shared with entities who just need to view it.

Publishing the mindmap is NOT the solution! It will be "publicly accessible" and "indexed by search engines" as detailed in your article here

https://support.mindmeister.com/hc/en-us/articles/5115583082130-Publish-or-Embed-a-Mind-Map

We can't expect all our customers to create accounts with you guys jsut to view a mindmap of the solution we are providing them with. (no "exporting" is not counted and is for the final document)

dokusyo tari

https://community.meister.co/discussion/comment/11451#Comment_11451

Hi everyone,

I totally agree with Santhosh S. It is very inconvenient during brainstorming and presentations. I really hope that the development team will improve the UI so that it doesn't get in the way.

Nima Shokouhfar

I love @Dil Dissanayake's comment to death. I am a hardcore believer in mind mapping and have hundreds of mind maps. I literally create a mind map for every single thing I’ve learned in the past three years, and I recently started to open-source my entire knowledge to the world. I’m calling it 'open-sourcing my brain—you can clone it if you want'. However, not everything can be open-sourced. Especially when I was in my previous company, this was a huge obstacle for me when collaborating with colleagues. You guys are obviously leaving a lot of money on the table by forcing users to buy the software just to view maps beyond the specified limits.

Believe me, when power users like me—who use these tools as trainers to document and share corporate private information—get restricted, we just stop using the tool for private stuff. On the contrary, if you empower us, we create so much documentation that some big boss will open his big fat pocket and buy more licenses.

Of course, the number of mind maps you can view should be unlimited. An even better business model would be to make public mind maps unlimited and place limits on private ones, just like the business models of package managers such as npm.

Definitely, you should target network effects. This product naturally benefits from network effects, so your focus should be on reducing resistance and making collaboration easier for everyone to dominate the market further.

Cornelia Patscheider

Hi everyone,

thanks for your feedback and sharing your experiences! I understand how these recent changes have impacted your workflow, and I’m truly sorry for the frustration this has caused, especially when it comes to the UI and sharing functionalities.

Regarding the toolbar issue mentioned by @Mark Mosher and @Nima Shokouhfar, I’ve forwarded your insights to the MindMeister team. @Santhosh S and @dokusyo tari I know the new floating toolbar can be distracting, especially during presentations or brainstorming sessions. Your feedback has been noted and forwarded to the MindMeister team as well. I totally hear you! Many users have experienced the same issue. The team is reviewing and keeping the feedback in mind for further iterations in the future.

@Dil Dissanayake and @Nima Shokouhfar, regarding the sharing options, yes, you are correct—MindMeister allows users to share your mind maps without requiring recipients to create an account, but the experience depends on your subscription level:

• Basic Users:
  • If you have a Basic license, you can share your mind map with anyone using a public link.
  • However, users who are not logged in will only have "view" rights, meaning they can view the mind map but cannot make any changes.
  • If you want to give users editing rights using a sharing link, you'll need to upgrade to a Personal, Pro, or Business plan. Or invite the user via email to edit your map. In that case, the users can simply create an account and login. 
• Personal, Pro and Business Users:
  • If you're on a paid subscription, you can share your mind map with anyone via a link without needing users to sign up or log in. This allows anyone with the link to access your mind map directly.
  • You can choose whether to give your collaborators read-only or editing rights.

I understand how important it is to share mind maps seamlessly. Click here to learn more about sharing options. @Dil Dissanayake and @Nima Shokouhfar, if you are on a paid plan, then you should be able to share your mind map without requiring login. So if you are on a Personal, Pro or Business subscription and encounters issues or if something seems broken with this functionality, please reach out to our support team with details so they can investigate further!

When you contact support, it'd be great to include as much information as possible:

• include which account (your email address) and which mind maps are affected
• Please enable access to your account. You can find a guide how to do this here: How to- Enable Access 
• Please send a screenshot or video with the developer console open. To open the developer console in Google Chrome, open the Chrome Menu in the upper-right-hand corner of the browser window and select More Tools > Developer Tools. You can also use Option + ⌘ + J (on macOS), or Shift + CTRL + J (on Windows/Linux).

We genuinely appreciate your patience and feedback. Your insights are incredibly valuable, and they’re helping us improve the experience for everyone.

Best, Cornelia

Santhosh S

Thank you for acknowledging the problem @Cornelia Patscheider . So is your team going to fix this soon?.In my opinion its a serious UX issue for people presenting and Brain storming. It even blocks off content when we expand nodes.

I am hoping this will have a speedy resolution.. If you can let us know by when this would be resolved it would be great!

Thank You

Cornelia Patscheider

Hi @Santhosh S ,

like I said, I've forwarded the feedback to MindMeister team. At the moment, I don't have any additional information to share. If I get any information or news, then I will definitely share this in this thread :)

Nima Shokouhfar

Hi @Cornelia Patscheider

Last year, I was on the Basic plan, and I remember I wasn't able to share maps. This year, I upgraded to the PRO plan, but I haven't tried sharing a private map since the upgrade because I assumed it wouldn't work. Let me give it a try now. If it works, my customer satisfaction will definitely go up by a few stars! 😄

By the way, I’m okay with the floating toolbar. It’s not a dealbreaker, but I think there’s room for improvement.

However, the Ctrl+F issue is driving me crazy! Oh, and I just remembered — is there any update on that?

Nima Shokouhfar

Sorry, Personal plan*. It was not a Basic plan. My bad.😓

theo west

For the love of god:

The new list layout in org charts is a welcome return, however, there's a critical missing feature from previous versions.

It is no longer possible to apply the list layout to multiple nodes simultaneously. This was a simple process before and is now extremely tedious having to apply the layout to each node individually.

This needs to be addressed urgently as it significantly impacts efficiency and workflow.

Cornelia Patscheider

Hi everyone,

thanks for all your feedback! I've informed the MindMeister team and they will keep it in mind for future iterations.

At the moment, the MindMeister team is currently looking into bringing back the functionality to include a link to a topic via the toolbar, so it is easier to include links in the future. Stay tuned for more updates on this! I'll keep this thread updated when there is more information available.