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Getting started with Mindomo

Creating mind maps


Click on the "Create" button on the top-left corner of your Dashboard. You'll be presented with a panel from which you can choose to create mind maps, concept maps, folders etc., as well as choose from several mind map templates.

Click on the "Create" button from "Blank mind map" to create a mind map from scratch.

Click on the arrow from the right to select the theme of the mind map before creating it.

You will see all the themes available: the ones created by you and the predefined themes from Mindomo.

Choose a theme and click on "Create" to start working on the mind map.

After creating the mind map you'll be presented with Mindomo's tidy and easy to use interface.

Topic types

There are four topic types:

  1. central topic
  2. main topic
  3. subtopic
  4. floating topic

Naming topics

  1. To name a topic, click on the topic to select it. The topic shape will turn blue. Click again to have the text in the topic highlighted in blue. Now you can type in the words.

  2. To insert a new text line into a topic, place the mouse cursor at the end of the current line, hold the SHIFT key, and then press the ENTER key.

Creating a topic or subtopic

  1. Use the Subtopic (1) or Topic (2) buttons on the Map's top menu.

More options

  1. Click on the arrow icon in the top right corner of the central topic, then click on the last icon from the context menu and choose "Insert". Here you have the option to create a "Floating topic", to "Duplicate topic", to create a "Topic with same style" or a "Subtopic as Task".

  2. Use the keyboard shortcut for a quicker topic creation: keep the mouse cursor in the central topic and press the ENTER key.

  3. Hover your mouse over a topic, click on the triangle which appears inside and drag to insert a new topic.

  4. To delete a topic, click on the arrow icon in the top right corner of the topic, then click on the last icon from the context menu and choose "Delete". You can also delete the topic by tapping the "Delete" key from the keyboard.

Repositioning a topic

Drag-and-drop your topics to reposition them on the screen or move them to other topics.

Now that you've created your first map, learn how to Save and Share your mind map, or Open one of the many mind maps created by other Mindomo users.

Zoom

  1. Use the "-" and "+" buttons in the bottom right corner of the map to change the zoom level.

  2. Another way is using the mouse scroll to adjust the zoom level.

To zoom in and out just by using the keyboard, press the "+" and "-" keys while pressing the CTRL key.

To pan with the mouse click and drag the mind map canvas.

To pan by using the keyboard, press CTRL + ALT while pressing the arrow keys (up, down, left, right).

Opening mind maps

Mindomo Dashboard

The Dashboard allows you to access your maps, folders, projects, and/or assignments. Just click on the map (1) to access it.

If you've accessed a folder and you want to return to the Dashboard, click on the Mindomo logo (2) or the Home icon (3).

Saving mind maps


Saving your mind map

  1. Save - you can find the "Autosave" function in the top toolbar. This function is enabled, so you don’t have to click "Save" every time you want to backup your work.
  2. Make a copy - this function is also accessible from the top toolbar by tapping on the first icon. In order to make a copy of the map, you will be asked to name the copy and add other options. Once the information is complete, click "Ok".
  3. Export - you can easily export the map on your computer/Dropbox/OneDrive/Google Drive in a variety of formats: PDF, RTF, PNG, mind map formats, Microsoft Excel formats, and other types of formats.

Make a copy

This is the tab that appears when you choose to make a copy of a map. To save that copy, you will have to follow these steps:

  1. Fill in the map's title.
  2. Add a description.
  3. Specify the target folder.
  4. Choose if you want to protect your map with a password.

Sharing mind maps


  1. By default, the map is private but you can change its settings to make it public.
  2. You can choose to password-protect the map if you are a premium user.
  3. Share the map via e-mail.
  4. Set editing rights.
  5. Save changes and send an invitation to collaborate.
  6. You can also use the share link – it will be copied in your clipboard. When a user accesses this link, the map will open in view mode if you made it public or it will open in the editor if you shared it with that specific user via email.

  7. You can also share your maps from the Dashboard.

Publishing mind maps


  1. Change the map access from private to public.
  2. The mind map will be public in the Mindomo Gallery so that anyone can view it.
  3. The mind map will be accessible for anyone who has the map link.
  4. Anyone who has the map link can both view and edit the map using fully premium features.
  5. Click on 'Save'.
  6. Use direct links to give view access over the mind map, embed it, view it as RSS and HTML.

Editors Rights

  1. Editors are allowed to add people and change the permissions.
  2. Only the owner can change the permissions.

Styling mind maps


Formatting and Styling your Mind Maps

You can change the look and style of your mind maps to help you organize or even present your data.

Topic Appearance

To beautify the topic appearance, click on the second icon from the context menu.

You have the following options to format the topic:

  1. Topic shape - change the shape of your topic.
  2. Fill style - with or without gradient, with or without border
  3. Paddings - - set a custom padding for your topic or reset to default values

  1. Topic color - set a color for your topic using the color picker

  1. Topic line color - change the color of the border of the topic.
  2. Topic line thickness - set the thickness of the line.

Topic shape

  1. Shapes - There are various shapes you can choose from.
  2. Fill style - with or without gradient, with or without border
  3. Paddings - set a custom padding for your topic or reset to default
  4. Topic color - set a color for your topic using the color picker

Topic Text format

You can format text by using the Font Menu.

  1. Font Color - choose text color.
  2. Bold, Italic, Underline, and Strikethrough - use these to format your text.
  3. Text Alignment - you can choose Left, Center, and Right.
  4. Font Size - change the size of your text.
  5. Font Family - choose from various fonts.

Boundaries

The boundary will help you mark and determine the limits of an area on your map. You can apply boundaries to any topic but the central one.

Use the handler to easily include other topics/branches in the boundary.

You can add a boundary around a floating topic and it is also possible to add a boundary within another boundary.

To customize the boundary access its context menu. In the first tab you can select the fill color (1) and the boundary type (2).

From the second tab you can set the boundary's border color (1), line weight(2), and pattern(3).

Summaries

You can add a summary to your topics, and you can customize its color (1), line weight (2), and shape (3).

Relationship Appearance

  • Go to the context menu of a topic then click on the "Connection" icon to insert a relationship between two topics.

  • To customize the relationship's appearance, you will have to hover over and click on the triangle. You can change the relationship's color, weight, shape, pattern, and arrows.
  • Label - add/edit label on the relationship.
  • Style - copy style or set it as default for current map.

Map styles

  • Themes Style - choose the appearance of your current mind map from the predefined layouts (1), color paletts (2) and sizes (3).
  • Theme Editor - create your own personalized theme (4).
  • Import Theme - import previously saved themes (5).
  • Export Theme - export your themes (6).
  • Diagram Background - right-click on the canvas (7), then click on Diagram Background (8) and choose a color/pattern/picture.

Adding information to the topics


To add Text and Links, Multimedia, Boundary & Connection, click on the first icon from the context menu. You will find the following options:

  1. Add notes
  2. Add comments
  3. Add hyperlinks and attachments
  4. AI generation
  5. Add a video
  6. Add an image
  7. Add an icon
  8. Add audio files or record your speech
  9. Determine the limits of an area in the mind map
  10. Insert a summary to your mind map
  11. Insert a relationship between two topics
  12. Add bookmarks