Review: Mindjet MindManager 8

Mindjet's version 8 upgrade to its MindManager brainstorming and planning software offers a host of useful new features, principally better support for database, local and online topic searching, and the ability to share mind maps through exportable, dynamic, read-only PDF and Flash files.

The thinking behind Mindjet's package goes back to Tony Buzan, one of the proponents of visual thinking, or 'mind mapping' as it is now known. Having all information immediately to hand, whether through attached documents, hyperlinks or schedules, theoretically makes it easier for project and planning management teams to increase productivity.

This contrasts with the linear track normally associated with project management, and the propensity for documents not to be centrally accessible.

We installed MindManager 8 on Sony Vaio systems running Windows XP Professional and Vista Business, and could import maps created with the earlier version 7.0 package in under 10 minutes with no apparent errors or formatting problems.

New to MindManager 8 is the ability to produce dynamic read-only maps, which allows people not having the MindManager client to see the map content in PDF or Shockwave formats. Exporting maps to a PDF file and then viewing in Adobe Reader causes the Mindjet Player to fire up, which then plays the content.

We could also export to .SWF and play content using this method, and users having web sites or portals could choose to embed these read-only maps for public access. Advanced users can also get the MindManager Developer application programming interface and create their own web services functions.

MindManager 8 now sports an embedded browser, which can be opened on the right-hand side of the screen to view web content. When importing Microsoft Office Word files, these are opened in MindManager and can be edited on the right-hand side of the MindManager screen, with the notes stored as a topic attachment.

Database connectivity has also been enhanced in MindManager 8. When users press the insert tab in version 8, a new tab appears on the map sub-topic called 'databases', allowing them to add, browse, configure or manage database connections.

It was simple for us to pick up and connect to all the database connections we had, and query them for specific data. For example, we could connect to Excel spreadsheets containing specific data and search specific sheets for text strings. Column names can also be used as a sub-filter during the search, and we could add the search results straight into MindManager.

Some ad-hoc database queries can be quite time consuming, so MindManager 8 can be used to connect to databases and run reports against the data they contain on the fly.

Database support includes IBM DB2, Microsoft Access, Excel and SQL Server, as well as MySQL and Oracle.

MindManager 8 also boasts a comprehensive set of options to drag and drop topic searches onto the current map. These can be from local data using Google or Windows desktop search, or from online web searches with Google, Microsoft Live Search and Yahoo.

It was simple to perform a web search. Insert a topic into the map with the search term required, and on Map Parts, click which engine you want to search with. The results are tagged as sub-topics to the main search topic, and there is a refresh button that can be used to update the searches later if needed. The links next to the search result headlines are clickable.

Other web services supported are e-commerce sites Amazon and eBay, and there is also support for the MySpace and Facebook social networking sites.

Project teams that need to collaborate with more than just the read-only maps obtainable through export to PDF and .SWF may need to consider subscriptions to either Mindjet Connect or MindManager Web.

Mindjet Connect allows project team members concurrent access to online mind maps, with the ability to edit and change those maps in real time. MindManager Web is Mindjet's software-as-a-service application, which again gives project teams the ability to collaborate and use MindManager online, albeit without the full functionality of the standalone client software package.

Version 8 is a good update to Mindjet's MindManager client package, and combining it with Connect or Web subscriptions could deliver even more productivity for planning or project management teams.

MindManager 8 costs £199 + VAT. MindManager Web costs £8 per user per month for a one-year subscription.