I can't quite remember how expanded view in version 8 worked but over the years I've been hoping for it's return. So here is another voted for 'frozen views' which can be recalled, edited, resaved.

I would be looking to be able to manually position thoughts, select which thoughts are expanded and which collapsed, and be able to expand to distant thoughts, or choose thoughts that are entirely unrelated to be on display.

For presentations it would be useful to be able to add thoughts/links - without the brain repositioning/reconfiguring itself with each change.

I made a visual representation (see attachment) using TheBrain 8 and its expanded view feature to sum up my previous message.

The problem with that version of Expanded View is that you are still “trapped” in the hierarchical relationship scheme.

I know that it is better to have that version than none at all, and that it is easier to “expand the same hierarchical outline” like an elastic band than to create an all-new Expanded View feature that includes non-hierarchical relationships and maybe even shapes.

Just picture something like “shape-Tags” -triangle Tag, square Tag, call-out-Tag, etc.- added any time but only to be active in the Expanded View and that show all the Thoughts (that share a tag) around a shape, or show one Thought rounded by a shape (as Thought Types, only one shape tag could be applied at time). I have attached an image of what it looks like.

In a next version -because this mean a lot of programming I suppose- you could link Thoughts each other in a non-hierarchical way as long as they have a shape-Tag added, linking shape-Tag each other without interfering with the hierarchical order of the “Normal Plex”.

The Expanded View might need a different Plex since the Plex we currently use is meant to be only for hierarchical relationships and it should probably be left alone and not be modified.

It is not my intention to make things more complicated than they need to be. This visual representation I have attached is just for reference.

Edited the name and description of this to reflect the discussion.

Dear Gerardo,

I want to have a possibility of "frozen" views, which will be starting points for presentations with the brain.
So it is possible to start every time with the same view, starting the presentation. (And for chapter in this presentation).
With Expanded View this was possible. But if you give me such a feature, not called "Expanded View" this will be more than good enough for me.

I am not sure if bringing back the Expanded View is as useful as it used to be in TheBrian 8.0 (I am a fan of this feature).

What do I miss when I want that feature back? Flexibility and expansion. The first has to do with the limitation of the hierarchical thinking (“non-flexibility” of TheBrain) and the second with a limited field of view (except in MindMap mode).

Perhaps better solutions would be:

1) Locking Navegation (still to be implemented to see how it looks and works) for expanding Thoughts

2) Introducing some solution for linking thoughts in a non-hierarchical way (human brain works in both ways, hierarchical and non-hierarchical and TheBrain is a fantastic agile tool for the first mode, but it lacks some tool for the second).

If neither is implemented, I would vote to bringing back the Expanded View