One of my primary uses for Freeplane is the combination of research and organization of information. Doesn't matter if it is for a potential publication that I'm going to write or the development of a list of camping equipment. The process is always the same: Gather data, sort it into some sort of reasonable pattern that will move those details into a pattern of knowledge (converting it to information), all the while, analysing what has been collected for fit and determining where there are still gaps that require additional research. At the end of it all, I often will need to document my conclusions with what looks like a simple bibliography.
I know that DOCEAR does much of this, but I've always been confused about the fork there. Many of the tools are arcane to anybody outside academic research. It represents a steep learning curve for the person that is interested in researching options for a new motorbike. The complexity keeps people from using it for any data gathering short of a doctoral thesis. And, it's a separate platform, evolving at different pace than the larger body of Freeplane development.
Much (if not all) of modern research is done digitally. Given that reality, it seems to me that there is a natural use case associated with gathering and storing data quickly, similar to the way we capture information for a bibliographic exercise in the academic world but without the complexity associated with Docear. Certainly I can cut data from a web page and paste it into a node container relatively simply. But I'm finding that I often want to capture more about the information than just the "target" pieces. Obviously a Title, perhaps a description, the URL, the date of the material, the date captured, type of material (webpage, video, picture, article, review, etc) as well as any notes I might want to include, keywords, etc. etc etc.). Typically I store this sort of data in a combination of standard node containers and associated attributes for later search and retrieval.
But capturing individual bits of information and shoving them into one or more potentially large number of attributes is unwieldy. It's hard to remember which attributes I've established already ("Publication date" vs. "Date" vs. "Published Date," etc.) Also it's tedious: cut in browser, navigate back over to FP, open appropriate node, create attribute, paste, go back over to web for more information on the same topic.
I'm interested in expert opinion about how difficult it would be to incorporate some sort of universal data gathering tools into regular implementations of Freeplane.
Use case would work something like this: User would capture data while at a web page in a series of "cuts" into a system clipboard similar to the way the utility Ditto works. As these cuts are made (either in turn or at the conclusion of the capture session, whichever is easier to implement), FP would offer the user a choice of where to paste the cut information (node, associated URL, details, notes or existing/new attribute) similar to the way filter chooser currently works. The user selects one of the choices (or creates a new one, if needed) and Freeplane "pastes" the data into the appropriate container, creating any necessary new attributes if not already there.
Ideally, image capture and paste would be supported as well.
Super ideally, the user would also be able to capture an image of the webpage for offline or historical use (in case the webpage "goes away" or morphs over time).
What makes me nervous is that the "cut" portion of the use case happens outside FP. I'm not sure there is any technical way to hook it into the operating system so that browser captures are carried over into the FP domain. Perhaps a quick alternative would be to create a chooser dialog in FP that would work in conjunction with something like Ditto: Capture lots of individual bits of information in serial fashion via Ditto and then go over and call a dialog from within Freeplane that would offer the capability to quickly paste these cuts into appropriate data containers. As I think about this, that might be a fairly simple implementation. Plus it would allow Freeplane to market itself with the Ditto community as a natural add-on to the valuable clipboard capabilities developed and already in use.
Bottom Line: Aa I think about the sorts of program enhancements that would universally attract new users, this is the sort of thing that would have high appeal, because EVERYBODY needs it. Pinterest is addressing that universal need; I think FP would find a huge potential for something a bit more robust.
Thoughts?
Q!
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@Quinbus
I agree. I have almost daily needs to bring material into Freeplane. I find myself parked in a browser or another desktop app. I want to bring a lot of stuff into a FP map, from my current parking spot, but I don't like constantly going back-and-forth... between FP and the other app.
I use the same workaround you do -- a clipboard manager (I use Keynote NF and NoteTab Pro). But I've wished many times I could start clipping and let FP use whatever node I designate as the starting poing for clipboard storage. If I clip hierarchal material I envision FP putting the info into siblings and child nodes as appropriate to the material. It would be nice to have options for "each clip = new sibling" or "each clip = new child" etc. (In Keynote NF, I can specify that all clips go into one text node or that each clip becomes a child of the tree node I'm on when I turn on clipping.)
Now, I only go back to the 3rd party clipboard manager after my clipping session in the source app. I'll cut the material from there and paste it into the FP map. Usually the material needs a bit of manipulation in FP. If I could skip the 3rd party clipboard manager, I'd still have some manipulation to do but it would all be in FP.
For starters, I'd be satisfied if I could use FP as a clipboard manager in a very fundamental way. Hopefully, the bells and whistles (e.g., attribute insertion) could be added. That would save me lots of time. Especially if I could jump back to FP, turn off capture, navigate or create a different node, and turn capture back on. This is probably a pretty dumbed-down version of what you envision.
I agree such functionality as you propose would be alluring to a lot of people who already use mindmaps. I recently downloaded and ran trial versions of several premiere mindmap apps. I didn't go very deeply, but I don't remember any of them touting such a feature.
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Ken, Ditto features drag and drop off the captured list of clipboard copies. If I copied a list that is heirarchical (like a tabbed indent or HTML "list") Freeplane automatically pastes that in as parent-child-child. It's pretty easy to drag and drop those back to siblings if that's not what is needed.
Q!
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(NB:I included a link, but it doesn't work. I'm working on how to post a map, along with it's associated data/image files. When I get that worked out, I'll post the link here) This was a map I created several years ago when people were first beginning to talk about the impacts of longterm human exposure to Electro Magnetic Force (EMF). I started collecting articles as a way of satisfying my own questions about the potential problems and then to decide what lifestyle changes were (and were not) practicable/possible. I'm never quite certain if dropbox works all the time, so let me know if the image links and such don't work.
But regardless of what you think about the dangers of EMF, this is an example of how I do research. The node title comes right off the specific page, the URL the same (each represents a separate "copy" to Ditto). There are usually a couple of attributes associated with each node with a link. Once captured in Ditto, I go back over the FP and drag and drop the copied values into the appropriate dialog boxes in a little script that takes care of stuffing everything in the right place. The date captured attribute is always defaulted in my little script to today's date. The type of resource is a little pull down groovy menu with several options (webpage, video, article, hardcopy, drivecopy on drive, etc).
The advantage of using attributes for this is that it keeps the detail out of sight--most of the time I don't care about things like what type of media or when it was captured. But when I do, it's easy enough to filter on those specifics.
I can think of lots more data buckets that might be helpful if it were more intuitive/user friendly, but managing the four or five is already tedious enough.
Q!
Last edit: Quinbus 2016-08-02
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Not sure what I'm doing. Here's a link to a public dropbox folder that contains the mindmap file AND the associated image files. Hope this works. If not, I need some lessons on how to share mindmaps publicly.
That's what Biggerplate will do if FP gets included, right?
Q!
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I too use freeplane for during "research&exploration" sessions, just like
you described, with extensive shortcut-kung-fu to switch into freeplane and
paste in html, images, make highlights, correlate info, etc
I've seen Qs map and learned a lot from observing how details, atributes
are used. It would be very usefull to us all to share "how" we use mindmaps
to organize knowledge, and also show the "knowledge gathering" process
(just like Q explained it). From there we could then identify common needs
and strategic points of improvement easy to implement.
I personally for now already have my hands full, trying to finish an addon,
but would like to help in the discussion.
For a start, I think that if we could share a mindmap, to write
proposals and register priorities and decisions, it would be of great help.
Share in the sense of download current version, upload new version (much
like GIT)
Is it possible to share a mindmap easily? Biggerplate would be good for
it? Or this is currently not being done by anyone?
Br
rying to finish an addon and already have
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I agree with you100%. Seeing a concept is infinitely better than talking about it. It's really a shame that we in the Freeplane user community can't easily use one of the premiere tools for idea and knowledge development!
What's the best way to share maps? I'm not sure what platforms are suitable, but ideally we could upload maps and associate keywords that might be helpful in searching the base (e.g., "Notetaking," "Data Entry", "Research," "Packing List," "Geneology," etc.) Otherwise we just end up with a pile of maps with no real way to find those most likely to help with our specific needs.
Perhaps the existing tools can be made to work (wiki page with links to each individual's cloud storage solution?)
Q!
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When I downloaded the files from dropbox the map opened with all the images displaying. We may have to appeal to Liam for counsel and specs on uploading maps + related resources in order to use Biggerplate properly.
The map did not work properly when I used dropbox online.
Did you use file > pack Go feature to collect the resources together?
The map is very impressive. I can see how attributes can be useful.
Have you used the Presentation branch of your map for giving presentations? If so, how did that work? I tried a little demo presentation using the branch and found I had to zoom in/out a bit and even resize the "Cris Rowan: Zone In" node with details showing (I made the node wider so I could zoom in better). But it wan't that big a deal to zoom.
Would you consider posting the script you mentioned? I'd especially like to see how to use dialog boxes.
Last edit: Ken Hill 2016-08-02
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At least you got it to work. I've never used file->pack and go. Didn't even know I could :-0 Old dogs have many tricks they don't know!
I have used the presentation portion. It wasn't a formal thing, just a group of folks that were curious about what I was researching--I just beamed it up on the wall with a LCD projector and used the format as a guide to make key points, similar to how Peter Carruthers structured his recent Youtube presentation. If I recall, I had to fiddle around with some of the nodes on the fly, or maybe didn't even show some of the detail. I didn't have access to cloned nodes in those long-ago days of two years ago (!) which would have been a great use case for clones (gathering up information developed in the body of the map without having to recopy or recreate) But it illustrates the point to those wondering about presentation capabilities--we often need to share knowledge bases with others. It doesn't have to be professional level quality, but just something that helps others understand what we're working with and how that knowledge may or may not fit with things they want to know about.
I'll be happy to post the script. I really only know one "song" in scripting and just use it over and over. The syntax is probably atrocious, many of the declarations may not even be needed, but it met this butcher's need. Hopefully my new "Groovy in Action" resource will help, but there are MANY new tricks required for this aging dog. :-) I'll post it under a second post in this thread once I find the right copy (I have hundreds of scripts and sometimes it takes a while to find the one I'm looking for..... HEY! I should use a mindmap to manage this!)
Q!
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Ken, here's the script I'm using for primative research, capturing basically only three elements. What I'm dreaming about would be much more extensive than this, of course, but this illustrates the power of having a script do population of data--consistency, repeatabilty, reliability.
Just to add it to the scripts dir and mapp a key to it. Then on a node with attributes press the key and the attributes will be displayed. Press again the key on the subnodes with <attributes> or any word between < and > to display a list of choice.
Press again the hotkey on the node with attributes to close.
Pressing the hotkey toggles open / close on any of the nodes than can be activated by the hotkey.
Best regards,
Alexandre
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I did a script to edit attributes the same way as editing nodes.
I have sent you a pull request on Github which helps to transform the script into an add-on but you haven't answered it. Add-ons are much easier to install than single scripts for users.
Volker
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Volker, this is why I mentioned Ditto. Somebody has already worked out the tool that functions as a system clipboard on steriods. Take a look. There are options to paste plain text, images, HTML, convert between various image formats (e.g., bitmaps to jpeg). I think there is date conversion as well. Although a built-in would be very nice, the more I thought about it, why not collaborate with people who've already worked out the necessary bits? Both communities find new users for their products.
In the use case I described, what if for a selected node or nodes there was a dialog box that featured entry spaces for each of the basic FP containers (Node core, Node Details, Node URL, Node Notes, maybe even connector labels (!?)) and one for each of the attributes currently defined in the map? Ditto would allow you to easily drag and drop copied bits of information into the appropriate entry space on the dialog box. But even without something like Ditto, this approach would still work by shuttling between FP and the browser, cutting and pasting appropriate information where desired. "Submitting" the dialog would populate the selected data containers (creating them if they didn't already exist)
This sort of modular approach would allow each user to tailor the work flow however they like it. Attribute users wouldn't drive solutions for those folks that don't find them useful, the attributes I create wouldn't have to be anything like the number and type you would create. If I chose to populate URL as an attribute value and you prefer using the embedded URL container for the node or putting it details, it wouldn't make any difference to either of us. I would just leave those entry boxes empty on the dialog box where you would chose to populate them.
Anyway, just brainstorming.
Q!
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its oficially supported in Java (and Ruby and many other languages!)
is an exchange format, safe and easy to be used between 2 programs of possibly different languages to exchange data without data-conversions-nightmares
is an RemoteProcedureCall that is as easy to use as importing a lib and calling a Myclass#myMethod (see examples in its web). Client-server communication can happen with 127.0.0.1:12345 which is limited only to programs in same pc (without internet/lan)
Freeplane would create the grpc-server and associated protobuf file, and other programs could be clients by using that same protobuf file, and calling the grpc methods
Just a thought
Last edit: zipizap 2016-09-08
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Here is how I do my "capture and paste" to freeplane:
1- I have a tool called PicPick and I have a mapping (ctrl+f1) that copies the region of the screen to the clipboard, but also to a folder called c:\Screenshots
2- I always have that folder c:\Screenshots opened in my taskbar and I have an autohotkey hotkey (win+s) to show it on the screen
3- I click the newly created screenshot from that folder and hold the ctrl key and drag it to freeplane.
4- I use PicPick to edit these screenshot if needed.
Simple process and it works great, I use it all the time.
Best regards,
Alexandre
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Beautiful! I've been using an open source sourceforge program called Greenshot to do the same thing. I'll go look at PicPick and see how it compares.
Now, wouldn't it be nice to retain some metadata from that screen capture in your mindmap as well? Title, author, date, length, url, etc, keywords, hashtags, etc? These metadata pieces give you something to search for for that you can easily retrieve what you've found. Otherwise, in a very large map with potentially thousands of nodes, how to you go back and quickly find your screenshot?
Q!
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I got this response from Volker that it is possible to search for images added as nodes:
So you basically need to create a script filter (more easy that it sounds)
In the filter toolbar, select the 2nd drop down from the left to select from where to search from (Core, details or note; core text; etc etc) then at the bottom of the list there is "script filter", select it.
The in the search box write: node.externalObject.uri != null
Then only the images will be shown.
I suggest adding this in a composed filter as a .mmfilter file.
Best regards,
Alexandre
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In another post a user shared his use case involving a browser research add-on called "Zotero," which does exactly what I described I was looking for: It automatically captures metadata (much better than my little script), the url and a snapshot of the entire webpage (not just the part that is visible in the browser window, but the entireity of the page). It all gets saved in a special window in the browser with a simple click of a button. Entries are saved in a sortable list of subfolders.
I really like the tool for research. It's fast and easy and everything there in one package. I've been using Zotero everyday to capture information anytime I want to collect information off of the web for future reference. It's sort of like Pinterest for geeks. :0)
The only problem is all this wonderful data is stored outside of Freeplane... So what I've been doing is linking Freeplane back to the actual snapshot file stored in the database in Zotero... a click on Freeplane's link takes me to Zotero's entry that has all the information right there. I haven't been doing this for long enough to feel comfortable that Zotero's number system will be stable over time (so my links don't get lost or munged). So not sure how this will work in the big picture, but for now I'm just playing around with it.
I've been using PicPick at your suggestion and like it. Very intuititive.
Q!
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I tried Greenshot, but I liked PicPick better. It is free for personal use I think I'm not sure, but I bought the licence, it is worth its cheap price and all upgrades are free.
As for the metadata for screenshots I add them manually if needed. I press F2 on the node where the screenshot is added and I type text there or I add a note. If the url is needed I just drag-n-drop it from the browser to the node (so it becomes a child node of the screenshot) or I copy it and add it as a link to the screenshot node. I think there is a creation date node in the map, but if I need to have the date on the map itself visually I type "DD" and this triggers an autohotkey script that inserts the date anywhere, something like:
::DD::
FormatTime, CurrentDate,, yyyy-MM-dd
SendInput %CurrentDate%
return
Maybe it's not the best way of adding metadata but I'm not sure there is a way to do that fully automatically, I mean how to extract the text from the screenshots, or which keywords to retain from a webpage "screenshotted"?
Personnally I never really search for screenshots, they are added as visual aids to the text in the tree structure, so usually to search for the text in the trees is enough. I know that programs like OneNote do index text in the screenshots, so it is possible to actually search the screenshots. I don't know if it collects other related metadata.
I think it could be useful for example to add the URL as a link to a node for text copy-pasted from a browser. The clipboard manager I use does that, it is called AceText. You might find it useful also at least for the cliphistory.
To add the length (size) of the screenshot could be possible.
One other possibility would be to have a mapping that automatically adds attributes to screenshot nodes, maybe from a form with default values like date etc.
By the way thanks for your Freeplane videos, I think I've watched them all.
Best regards,
Alexandre
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I don't have a lot to add other than this seems like a good idea. Products like OneNote, Evernote, etc. have this.
The Workflowy Clipper add-on for Chrome in concert with Workflowy works quite well for clipping text into Workflowy. It takes the title of the website, the url, and any text you select on the page (which gets placed in the notes field). You can designate one node of your WF outline as your inbox and all clips go there first.
WF exports text, rft, and opml. So this might prove a decent work around for certain kinds of clipping needs while a Freeplane centered solution is being sorted out. WF makes it easy to arrange clips into hierarchical outlines, etc., which could then be imported into FP (perhaps). Although I can't remember whether Freeplane handles the notes field of OPML in a way that would be useful for this task.
WF clipper might also serve as partial inspiration for a FP solution. Seems like Volker is on the right track of creating add-ons for the browser and then figuring out what to do from there.
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One of my primary uses for Freeplane is the combination of research and organization of information. Doesn't matter if it is for a potential publication that I'm going to write or the development of a list of camping equipment. The process is always the same: Gather data, sort it into some sort of reasonable pattern that will move those details into a pattern of knowledge (converting it to information), all the while, analysing what has been collected for fit and determining where there are still gaps that require additional research. At the end of it all, I often will need to document my conclusions with what looks like a simple bibliography.
I know that DOCEAR does much of this, but I've always been confused about the fork there. Many of the tools are arcane to anybody outside academic research. It represents a steep learning curve for the person that is interested in researching options for a new motorbike. The complexity keeps people from using it for any data gathering short of a doctoral thesis. And, it's a separate platform, evolving at different pace than the larger body of Freeplane development.
Much (if not all) of modern research is done digitally. Given that reality, it seems to me that there is a natural use case associated with gathering and storing data quickly, similar to the way we capture information for a bibliographic exercise in the academic world but without the complexity associated with Docear. Certainly I can cut data from a web page and paste it into a node container relatively simply. But I'm finding that I often want to capture more about the information than just the "target" pieces. Obviously a Title, perhaps a description, the URL, the date of the material, the date captured, type of material (webpage, video, picture, article, review, etc) as well as any notes I might want to include, keywords, etc. etc etc.). Typically I store this sort of data in a combination of standard node containers and associated attributes for later search and retrieval.
But capturing individual bits of information and shoving them into one or more potentially large number of attributes is unwieldy. It's hard to remember which attributes I've established already ("Publication date" vs. "Date" vs. "Published Date," etc.) Also it's tedious: cut in browser, navigate back over to FP, open appropriate node, create attribute, paste, go back over to web for more information on the same topic.
I'm interested in expert opinion about how difficult it would be to incorporate some sort of universal data gathering tools into regular implementations of Freeplane.
Use case would work something like this: User would capture data while at a web page in a series of "cuts" into a system clipboard similar to the way the utility Ditto works. As these cuts are made (either in turn or at the conclusion of the capture session, whichever is easier to implement), FP would offer the user a choice of where to paste the cut information (node, associated URL, details, notes or existing/new attribute) similar to the way filter chooser currently works. The user selects one of the choices (or creates a new one, if needed) and Freeplane "pastes" the data into the appropriate container, creating any necessary new attributes if not already there.
Ideally, image capture and paste would be supported as well.
Super ideally, the user would also be able to capture an image of the webpage for offline or historical use (in case the webpage "goes away" or morphs over time).
What makes me nervous is that the "cut" portion of the use case happens outside FP. I'm not sure there is any technical way to hook it into the operating system so that browser captures are carried over into the FP domain. Perhaps a quick alternative would be to create a chooser dialog in FP that would work in conjunction with something like Ditto: Capture lots of individual bits of information in serial fashion via Ditto and then go over and call a dialog from within Freeplane that would offer the capability to quickly paste these cuts into appropriate data containers. As I think about this, that might be a fairly simple implementation. Plus it would allow Freeplane to market itself with the Ditto community as a natural add-on to the valuable clipboard capabilities developed and already in use.
Bottom Line: Aa I think about the sorts of program enhancements that would universally attract new users, this is the sort of thing that would have high appeal, because EVERYBODY needs it. Pinterest is addressing that universal need; I think FP would find a huge potential for something a bit more robust.
Thoughts?
Q!
@Quinbus
I agree. I have almost daily needs to bring material into Freeplane. I find myself parked in a browser or another desktop app. I want to bring a lot of stuff into a FP map, from my current parking spot, but I don't like constantly going back-and-forth... between FP and the other app.
I use the same workaround you do -- a clipboard manager (I use Keynote NF and NoteTab Pro). But I've wished many times I could start clipping and let FP use whatever node I designate as the starting poing for clipboard storage. If I clip hierarchal material I envision FP putting the info into siblings and child nodes as appropriate to the material. It would be nice to have options for "each clip = new sibling" or "each clip = new child" etc. (In Keynote NF, I can specify that all clips go into one text node or that each clip becomes a child of the tree node I'm on when I turn on clipping.)
Now, I only go back to the 3rd party clipboard manager after my clipping session in the source app. I'll cut the material from there and paste it into the FP map. Usually the material needs a bit of manipulation in FP. If I could skip the 3rd party clipboard manager, I'd still have some manipulation to do but it would all be in FP.
I don't generally use attributes - I probably should re-evaluate that. Maybe Alexandre's script to surface attributes into nodes and back again could serve as a starting point for that part of your proposal.
https://sourceforge.net/p/freeplane/discussion/758437/thread/54fc70d6/?limit=25#29a4/4692
For starters, I'd be satisfied if I could use FP as a clipboard manager in a very fundamental way. Hopefully, the bells and whistles (e.g., attribute insertion) could be added. That would save me lots of time. Especially if I could jump back to FP, turn off capture, navigate or create a different node, and turn capture back on. This is probably a pretty dumbed-down version of what you envision.
I agree such functionality as you propose would be alluring to a lot of people who already use mindmaps. I recently downloaded and ran trial versions of several premiere mindmap apps. I didn't go very deeply, but I don't remember any of them touting such a feature.
Ken, Ditto features drag and drop off the captured list of clipboard copies. If I copied a list that is heirarchical (like a tabbed indent or HTML "list") Freeplane automatically pastes that in as parent-child-child. It's pretty easy to drag and drop those back to siblings if that's not what is needed.
Q!
@Quinbus, Thanks for the tip. I'll give Ditto a try.
Ken,
(NB:I included a link, but it doesn't work. I'm working on how to post a map, along with it's associated data/image files. When I get that worked out, I'll post the link here) This was a map I created several years ago when people were first beginning to talk about the impacts of longterm human exposure to Electro Magnetic Force (EMF). I started collecting articles as a way of satisfying my own questions about the potential problems and then to decide what lifestyle changes were (and were not) practicable/possible. I'm never quite certain if dropbox works all the time, so let me know if the image links and such don't work.
But regardless of what you think about the dangers of EMF, this is an example of how I do research. The node title comes right off the specific page, the URL the same (each represents a separate "copy" to Ditto). There are usually a couple of attributes associated with each node with a link. Once captured in Ditto, I go back over the FP and drag and drop the copied values into the appropriate dialog boxes in a little script that takes care of stuffing everything in the right place. The date captured attribute is always defaulted in my little script to today's date. The type of resource is a little pull down groovy menu with several options (webpage, video, article, hardcopy, drivecopy on drive, etc).
The advantage of using attributes for this is that it keeps the detail out of sight--most of the time I don't care about things like what type of media or when it was captured. But when I do, it's easy enough to filter on those specifics.
I can think of lots more data buckets that might be helpful if it were more intuitive/user friendly, but managing the four or five is already tedious enough.
Q!
Last edit: Quinbus 2016-08-02
Not sure what I'm doing. Here's a link to a public dropbox folder that contains the mindmap file AND the associated image files. Hope this works. If not, I need some lessons on how to share mindmaps publicly.
That's what Biggerplate will do if FP gets included, right?
Q!
Quinbus and Ken
I too use freeplane for during "research&exploration" sessions, just like
you described, with extensive shortcut-kung-fu to switch into freeplane and
paste in html, images, make highlights, correlate info, etc
I've seen Qs map and learned a lot from observing how details, atributes
are used. It would be very usefull to us all to share "how" we use mindmaps
to organize knowledge, and also show the "knowledge gathering" process
(just like Q explained it). From there we could then identify common needs
and strategic points of improvement easy to implement.
I personally for now already have my hands full, trying to finish an addon,
but would like to help in the discussion.
For a start, I think that if we could share a mindmap, to write
proposals and register priorities and decisions, it would be of great help.
Share in the sense of download current version, upload new version (much
like GIT)
Is it possible to share a mindmap easily? Biggerplate would be good for
it? Or this is currently not being done by anyone?
Br
rying to finish an addon and already have
zipizap,
I agree with you100%. Seeing a concept is infinitely better than talking about it. It's really a shame that we in the Freeplane user community can't easily use one of the premiere tools for idea and knowledge development!
What's the best way to share maps? I'm not sure what platforms are suitable, but ideally we could upload maps and associate keywords that might be helpful in searching the base (e.g., "Notetaking," "Data Entry", "Research," "Packing List," "Geneology," etc.) Otherwise we just end up with a pile of maps with no real way to find those most likely to help with our specific needs.
Perhaps the existing tools can be made to work (wiki page with links to each individual's cloud storage solution?)
Q!
Q!
When I downloaded the files from dropbox the map opened with all the images displaying. We may have to appeal to Liam for counsel and specs on uploading maps + related resources in order to use Biggerplate properly.
The map did not work properly when I used dropbox online.
Did you use file > pack Go feature to collect the resources together?
The map is very impressive. I can see how attributes can be useful.
Have you used the Presentation branch of your map for giving presentations? If so, how did that work? I tried a little demo presentation using the branch and found I had to zoom in/out a bit and even resize the "Cris Rowan: Zone In" node with details showing (I made the node wider so I could zoom in better). But it wan't that big a deal to zoom.
Would you consider posting the script you mentioned? I'd especially like to see how to use dialog boxes.
Last edit: Ken Hill 2016-08-02
Ken,
At least you got it to work. I've never used file->pack and go. Didn't even know I could :-0 Old dogs have many tricks they don't know!
I have used the presentation portion. It wasn't a formal thing, just a group of folks that were curious about what I was researching--I just beamed it up on the wall with a LCD projector and used the format as a guide to make key points, similar to how Peter Carruthers structured his recent Youtube presentation. If I recall, I had to fiddle around with some of the nodes on the fly, or maybe didn't even show some of the detail. I didn't have access to cloned nodes in those long-ago days of two years ago (!) which would have been a great use case for clones (gathering up information developed in the body of the map without having to recopy or recreate) But it illustrates the point to those wondering about presentation capabilities--we often need to share knowledge bases with others. It doesn't have to be professional level quality, but just something that helps others understand what we're working with and how that knowledge may or may not fit with things they want to know about.
I'll be happy to post the script. I really only know one "song" in scripting and just use it over and over. The syntax is probably atrocious, many of the declarations may not even be needed, but it met this butcher's need. Hopefully my new "Groovy in Action" resource will help, but there are MANY new tricks required for this aging dog. :-) I'll post it under a second post in this thread once I find the right copy (I have hundreds of scripts and sometimes it takes a while to find the one I'm looking for..... HEY! I should use a mindmap to manage this!)
Q!
Ken, here's the script I'm using for primative research, capturing basically only three elements. What I'm dreaming about would be much more extensive than this, of course, but this illustrates the power of having a script do population of data--consistency, repeatabilty, reliability.
Q!
Hi Quinbus,
I did a script to edit attributes the same way as editing nodes. Once they are edited they are "put back in the node".
https://github.com/viaa/FreeplaneAddOns/blob/master/EditAttributesAsNodes/EditAttributesAsNodes.groovy
Just to add it to the scripts dir and mapp a key to it. Then on a node with attributes press the key and the attributes will be displayed. Press again the key on the subnodes with <attributes> or any word between < and > to display a list of choice.
Press again the hotkey on the node with attributes to close.
Pressing the hotkey toggles open / close on any of the nodes than can be activated by the hotkey.
Best regards,
Alexandre
Alexandre,
I have sent you a pull request on Github which helps to transform the script into an add-on but you haven't answered it. Add-ons are much easier to install than single scripts for users.
Volker
Same for me!
But it's a real challenge to find a workflow that suits more than one of us. Maybe we could break that down into two parts:
Would love to see that happen.
Volker
Last edit: Volker Börchers 2016-08-02
Once we had some exchange format (maybe it exists already?) there could be other plugins for other programs in addition to web browsers.
Volker, this is why I mentioned Ditto. Somebody has already worked out the tool that functions as a system clipboard on steriods. Take a look. There are options to paste plain text, images, HTML, convert between various image formats (e.g., bitmaps to jpeg). I think there is date conversion as well. Although a built-in would be very nice, the more I thought about it, why not collaborate with people who've already worked out the necessary bits? Both communities find new users for their products.
In the use case I described, what if for a selected node or nodes there was a dialog box that featured entry spaces for each of the basic FP containers (Node core, Node Details, Node URL, Node Notes, maybe even connector labels (!?)) and one for each of the attributes currently defined in the map? Ditto would allow you to easily drag and drop copied bits of information into the appropriate entry space on the dialog box. But even without something like Ditto, this approach would still work by shuttling between FP and the browser, cutting and pasting appropriate information where desired. "Submitting" the dialog would populate the selected data containers (creating them if they didn't already exist)
This sort of modular approach would allow each user to tailor the work flow however they like it. Attribute users wouldn't drive solutions for those folks that don't find them useful, the attributes I create wouldn't have to be anything like the number and type you would create. If I chose to populate URL as an attribute value and you prefer using the embedded URL container for the node or putting it details, it wouldn't make any difference to either of us. I would just leave those entry boxes empty on the dialog box where you would chose to populate them.
Anyway, just brainstorming.
Q!
The new gprc from google could be a good fit:
Freeplane would create the grpc-server and associated protobuf file, and other programs could be clients by using that same protobuf file, and calling the grpc methods
Just a thought
Last edit: zipizap 2016-09-08
Hi Quinbus,
Here is how I do my "capture and paste" to freeplane:
1- I have a tool called PicPick and I have a mapping (ctrl+f1) that copies the region of the screen to the clipboard, but also to a folder called c:\Screenshots
2- I always have that folder c:\Screenshots opened in my taskbar and I have an autohotkey hotkey (win+s) to show it on the screen
3- I click the newly created screenshot from that folder and hold the ctrl key and drag it to freeplane.
4- I use PicPick to edit these screenshot if needed.
Simple process and it works great, I use it all the time.
Best regards,
Alexandre
Beautiful! I've been using an open source sourceforge program called Greenshot to do the same thing. I'll go look at PicPick and see how it compares.
Now, wouldn't it be nice to retain some metadata from that screen capture in your mindmap as well? Title, author, date, length, url, etc, keywords, hashtags, etc? These metadata pieces give you something to search for for that you can easily retrieve what you've found. Otherwise, in a very large map with potentially thousands of nodes, how to you go back and quickly find your screenshot?
Q!
Hi Quinbus,
I got this response from Volker that it is possible to search for images added as nodes:
So you basically need to create a script filter (more easy that it sounds)
In the filter toolbar, select the 2nd drop down from the left to select from where to search from (Core, details or note; core text; etc etc) then at the bottom of the list there is "script filter", select it.
The in the search box write: node.externalObject.uri != null
Then only the images will be shown.
I suggest adding this in a composed filter as a .mmfilter file.
Best regards,
Alexandre
Alexandre,
Thanks for the tip. I'm going to try it.
In another post a user shared his use case involving a browser research add-on called "Zotero," which does exactly what I described I was looking for: It automatically captures metadata (much better than my little script), the url and a snapshot of the entire webpage (not just the part that is visible in the browser window, but the entireity of the page). It all gets saved in a special window in the browser with a simple click of a button. Entries are saved in a sortable list of subfolders.
I really like the tool for research. It's fast and easy and everything there in one package. I've been using Zotero everyday to capture information anytime I want to collect information off of the web for future reference. It's sort of like Pinterest for geeks. :0)
The only problem is all this wonderful data is stored outside of Freeplane... So what I've been doing is linking Freeplane back to the actual snapshot file stored in the database in Zotero... a click on Freeplane's link takes me to Zotero's entry that has all the information right there. I haven't been doing this for long enough to feel comfortable that Zotero's number system will be stable over time (so my links don't get lost or munged). So not sure how this will work in the big picture, but for now I'm just playing around with it.
I've been using PicPick at your suggestion and like it. Very intuititive.
Q!
I just uploaded a little YouTube video demonstrating the basic idea of using Freeplane as an information manager to Zotero's research data.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y9GAn5KF4E&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
Q!
Hi Quinbus,
I tried Greenshot, but I liked PicPick better. It is free for personal use I think I'm not sure, but I bought the licence, it is worth its cheap price and all upgrades are free.
As for the metadata for screenshots I add them manually if needed. I press F2 on the node where the screenshot is added and I type text there or I add a note. If the url is needed I just drag-n-drop it from the browser to the node (so it becomes a child node of the screenshot) or I copy it and add it as a link to the screenshot node. I think there is a creation date node in the map, but if I need to have the date on the map itself visually I type "DD" and this triggers an autohotkey script that inserts the date anywhere, something like:
::DD::
FormatTime, CurrentDate,, yyyy-MM-dd
SendInput %CurrentDate%
return
Maybe it's not the best way of adding metadata but I'm not sure there is a way to do that fully automatically, I mean how to extract the text from the screenshots, or which keywords to retain from a webpage "screenshotted"?
Personnally I never really search for screenshots, they are added as visual aids to the text in the tree structure, so usually to search for the text in the trees is enough. I know that programs like OneNote do index text in the screenshots, so it is possible to actually search the screenshots. I don't know if it collects other related metadata.
I think it could be useful for example to add the URL as a link to a node for text copy-pasted from a browser. The clipboard manager I use does that, it is called AceText. You might find it useful also at least for the cliphistory.
To add the length (size) of the screenshot could be possible.
One other possibility would be to have a mapping that automatically adds attributes to screenshot nodes, maybe from a form with default values like date etc.
By the way thanks for your Freeplane videos, I think I've watched them all.
Best regards,
Alexandre
I don't have a lot to add other than this seems like a good idea. Products like OneNote, Evernote, etc. have this.
The Workflowy Clipper add-on for Chrome in concert with Workflowy works quite well for clipping text into Workflowy. It takes the title of the website, the url, and any text you select on the page (which gets placed in the notes field). You can designate one node of your WF outline as your inbox and all clips go there first.
WF exports text, rft, and opml. So this might prove a decent work around for certain kinds of clipping needs while a Freeplane centered solution is being sorted out. WF makes it easy to arrange clips into hierarchical outlines, etc., which could then be imported into FP (perhaps). Although I can't remember whether Freeplane handles the notes field of OPML in a way that would be useful for this task.
WF clipper might also serve as partial inspiration for a FP solution. Seems like Volker is on the right track of creating add-ons for the browser and then figuring out what to do from there.