MindMeister 3 Rolls Out

I just received an email that MindMeister 3 has been released with a a large number of new features and tweaks to the user interface. Here is a list of the new features and changes in MindMeister 3:

• Task Management

  Many more features for easier task management in MindMeister, including start date and duration, email notifications, iCalendar feeds, WunderTasks and a task overview from all maps.

• Search and filter, better tags

  The new map search - you'll find it in your map list view - makes managing many maps a lot easier. You can search for titles and contents, and even use Find in maps (CTRL-F). Also, managing tags was enhanced with a new overflow dropdown.

• Resize ideas and wrap

  Overlong idea labels always created problems. In the new release you can now resize them via drag and drop, and your maps will also keep the wrappings when exported e.g. to PDF or as image.

• History View

  We completely revamped the version history to make viewing and replaying the collaborative changes of a mind map a useful and fun experience. Clicking on the coloured bullets starts "replay" mode. See also our tutorial video.

• WikiMaps

  You can now turn any public map into a WikiMap. This will make it editable for everybody (well, everybody who has a MindMeister account, to avoid spamming). Quite useful to gather input from many people at once!

• Import text files

  In addition to Freemind and MindManager^TM formats, you can now also import plain text files into MindMeister.

• Emailing attachments

  Geisesblitz Email now supports attachments which will be inserted as attachments to your ideas into MindMeister.

• Many more key shortcuts

  Our users say they love them, so we've added quite a few more for common operations. See a complete list.

• Other enhancements

  New user interface, revamped "My Account" section, Offline mode for Safari, recommendations in map view, new export dialog and options, better printing (via PDF), clone public maps, larger note previews and much more.

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Mindjet Acquires JCVGantt- Project Management Software

Mindjet announced today in a Press Release that the company has acquired JCVGantt a project management software application from Gannt Solutions. The marriage of MindManager and JCVGantt provides a strong solution for project management and is an invaluable communication tool. You can now derive the benefits of using MindManager for brainstorming and working out the goals and deliverables of the project and use JCVGantt to develop the timeline, look at resources and figure out the costs. I have reviewed JCVGannt earlier this year and understand the the latest version provides faster synchronization of data from MindManager and more control as to what is included in your Gantt Chart. The true beauty of JCVGantt is how it synchronizes the data from MindManager so that any changes that you make in MindManager are automatically updated in JCVGantt and vice versa. I hope to review the latest release of JCVGantt in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned.

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Mind2Chart- Project Planning Made Easy!

I had shared with you a couple of weeks ago about a new MindManger Pro 7 add-in called Mind2Chart that adds project planning to your visual maps. I had a chance to use Mind2Chart and find it to be a valuable add-in for those of you that want to take your visual maps to the next level and add project management. Mind2Chart uses the underlying MindManager 7 database to drive the application. In a sense they are one in kind- any changes to MindManager Pro 7 are reflected in Mind2Chart and vice e versa. The changes are immediate and Mind2Chart feels very snappy and fast when working with it. I for one know how wonderful a tool MindManager Pro 7 is when brainstorming and setting up the "what" of projects whereas a Mind2Chart is very adept of doing the "when" portion and providing the group with a Gantt Chart to visually see when deliverables are due and how far along tasks are.

Installing and setting up Mind2Chart was a breeze and once installed you will now notice a new icon on your Home tab called Chart Item. This lets you add items on your MindManager Pro 7 map to Mind2Chart. By doing a select all and then selecting the Chart Item bottom you can add all of your items to your Mind2Chart. To view Mind2Chart you simply click on the Mind2Chart button which is on the View Menu. This splits your MindManager 7 screen and displays your Tasks and Gantt Chart on the bottom of the screen. Any changes that you make in Mind2Chart are automatically updated on your MindManager 7 visual map. Using the Mind2Chart tools you can link tasks and control the dependencies for tasks. You will notice that Mind2Chart keeps the first task item as a Summary item that varies depending on the amount of time that the sub- tasks below take. You have the full complement of dependencies that you can use including: Start to Start, Start to Finish, Finish to Start, and Finish to Finish. To set the dependencies you simply click on two or more tasks and then select from the drop down menu the type of dependency and immediately you will see this relationship show up in the Gantt Chart. You will also notice that your MindManager visual map has a new relationship line with the type of dependency noted on the relationship line. Setting the Start Date is as easy as clicking in the field and selecting the date from the Calendar picker. Now all you need to do is decide how much time the task will take and you are ready to view your Gantt Chart. Using the Resource button on the Mind2Chart application you can easily add the name of resources who will be working on the task. If you prefer you can also add resources within MindManager Pro 7 using the Task Information pane. Once you are done adding Resources and Tasks you can create a Task and Resource Spreadsheet with Excel with a click of the mouse. It is also possible to use the Print Preview command to generate a preview of your Gantt Chart and Tasks.



Overall, I found Mind2Chart to be a very easy and powerful MindManager Pro 7 add-in for project planning. This is an ideal tool for those of you who are not full time project managers but who are using MindManager Pro 7 to orchestrate projects. Its split screen interface makes it very easy to work with when going back and forth within MindManager Pro 7. I have found the Mind2Chart Company to be very responsive to my feedback and they have already added features to Mind2Chart since its initial release. It would be nice if Mind2Chart allowed you to be able to color code your tasks in the Gantt Chart or for that matter to inherit the color from within your MindManager Pro 7 visual map. More importantly, I for one would vote for Mind2Chart to be able to generate the overall cost of the project based on your resource type, cost information and time. With the exception of these issues, Mind2Chart is a powerful project planning tool that continues to impress me. You should be aware that the folks at Mind2Chart are working on some of my recommendations and I hope to be able to report to you soon that the aforementioned recommendations have been implemented within a new release of Mind2Chart. If you are using MindManager Pro 7 to orchestrate projects you will find the Mind2Chart is a little gem to move you towards project planning. Likewise, once you have used MindManager Pro 7 and Mind2Chart to plan your project you can then export it to Microsoft Project to take advantage of its advanced reporting and charting features. You can download a free 14 day trial of Mind2Chart by clicking here. Mind2Chart has a full set of video tutorials on their website for anyone who is interested in taking a look how the application works with MindManager Pro 7.

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New ConceptDraw Office Release

FYI- CS Odessa announces the release of ConceptDraw Office which provides an innovative approach to managing and visualizing information within your organization

--------------------------------

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Olesya Yatsuk
Email: O.Yatsuk@csodessa.com
Phone: +38 (0482) 722 66 14

New ConceptDraw Office Release From CS Odessa Takes an Innovative Approach to Managing and Representing Information Within Organizations

Odessa, Ukraine, May 6, 2008 - CS Odessa announces the upcoming release of ConceptDraw Office, scheduled for general availability in mid-June 2008. The brand new business productivity software suite targeted at assisting knowledge workers and project managers in successfully completing extensive sets of tasks in any businesses of any size. ConceptDraw Office addresses the needs of modern managers in a single software solution by covering all aspects of project management including: creativity, productivity, team management, project planning, information management, tracking, resource allocation, and reporting results to stockholders and executives.

The key innovation behind ConceptDraw Office is that for any particular project scenario there is an appropriate visual representation for the respective information. Sample usage scenarios include brainstorming project ideas using a whiteboard-like view, organizing results into highly informative mind maps, and transforming data into detailed project plans and Gantt charts.

ConceptDraw Office reflects the entire collective CS Odessa expertise in developing leading market business applications, data visualization technologies and project management tools. With CS Odessa's revolutionary InGyre Technology, the business productivity applications ConceptDraw MINDMAP, ConceptDraw PROJECT, and ConceptDraw PRO are securely and seamlessly integrated into a single software solution. Depending on the tasks that need to be resolved at a particular moment, the three different applications within the suite can be used while all project data is kept consistent.

The InGyre Technology introduces the capability to work with a single data file when using CS Odessa's project management tool ConceptDraw PROJECT, along with visual mapping software ConceptDraw MINDMAP. Depending on the tasks that need to be resolved, users can decide which application within the suite is most appropriate to accomplish their needs. Any changes to project data in one application are automatically integrated in the others.

The simple creation of visual documentation reflecting actual work progress is a major task that InGyre Technology supports. It easily assists in the creation of visual dashboards and reports that represent key indicators of work progress from either project files or a set of selected tasks. InGyre Technology enables to transform task outlines into professional looking WBS charts. All these documents are editable with ConceptDraw PRO.

Gregory Zhukov, Chief Executive Officer of CS Odessa states, "Never before has a company integrated three visual software solutions into one suite. We place workplace capability into the hands of knowledge workers. We have broken down many of the barriers of true productivity. ConceptDraw Office is all about accomplishing goals and not accepting technical barriers that exist within many other solutions in the market. We have raised the bar, changed the workplace dynamic, and designed our products to utilize the way people think, work, communicate and most importantly:achieve. It's all about accomplishment rather than workarounds that get in the way of real productivity. ConceptDraw Office is for those who want to do."

For more information about ConceptDraw Office, please visit:
http://www.conceptdraw.com/pg?id=cdo_alfa_press-about

ConceptDraw Office is available for pre-order at the price of $499 USD at:
http://www.conceptdraw.com/pg?id=cdo_alfa_press-preorder

ABOUT CONCEPTDRAW PRODUCTIVITY LINE
The ConceptDraw product line for Macintosh and Windows is comprised of:

• ConceptDraw PRO
  Diagramming and drawing software
• ConceptDraw MINDMAP
  Brainstorming tool that utilizes mind mapping techniques to help organize ideas and tasks
• ConceptDraw PROJECT
  Professional project management software
• ConceptDraw WebWave
  Software for creating professional diagrams and drawings on the stage of website or application prototyping and design, page mocking-up and site-mapping
• ConceptDraw NetDiagrammer
  Network and system design

ABOUT CS ODESSA
Founded in 1993, Computer Systems Odessa (www.conceptdraw.com) supplies cross-platform productivity tools and graphics technologies to professional and corporate users. With headquarters in Odessa, Ukraine and an office in California, USA; CS Odessa sells products internationally through resellers in over 25 countries. The ConceptDraw Productivity Line of products has won numerous awards and is used by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.

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Mind2Chart Pricing

Several readers had asked me about the pricing for Mind2Chart and Dennis from Mind2Chart was kind enough to email me the information for this MindManager Pro 7 add-in. Below is a screenshot of Mind2Chart running with MindManager Pro 7. I just installed the trial version and will give you my feedback once I had a chance to use it a little more. So far I found it easy to use and the integration is fantastic!
Pricing
The base price for a single copy will be $79 excl. taxes. Volume discounts are
available:
5-19 licenses $69 each;
20+ licenses $59 each.

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Mind2Chart-New MindManager Add-in

I just came across a new project management add-in for MindManager 7 called Mind2Chart which I though that you would be interested in learning about. I have emailed the company to see if I can get a copy of the add-in and hope to review it shortly. The text that follows is from the Mind2Chart web site.

With Mind2Chart just a couple of clicks will turn your discussion topics into tasks for plan. Our add-in will display them in the most popular way of graphical representation of projects – Gantt chart.

Mind2Chart add-inlets you:

• Observe the whole scope of work in your project or selected part of it;
• Set key dates of the project,schedule tasks;
• Set any kind of dependencies between tasks, automatically modify plan according to them;
• Distribute and manage all kinds of resources (e.g. human resources) for the project tasks, take in account resource limitations when planning;
• Detect problem allotted works, “bottle-necks” of your project, critical path;
• Get reports about current status of tasks and resource allocation in ready-to-print form;
• Evaluate the current state of the project completion and obtain information about project progress.

Benefits of Mind2Chart:

• Complete integration in MindManager Pro 7, no external applications required;
• Intuitive interface, all common project management tasks are covered, with no redundant extra functionality;
• No additional information; Mind2Chart operates only with information that is visible and editable with MindManager interface. Your colleagues can work with your plan even without our add-in installed;
• Two-way instant synchronization with mind map;

Such pleasant details as automatic time calculation, automatic taking into account task relationships and resource capacity, and also elements of analysis, representation of all obtained information on the chart, printable reports – everything that makes planning process as easy and clear like never before.

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