Eliminate the clutter: hide (not filter) nodes, links,styles
Personal Brain 5.0 has added some great capabilities in the area of node layout (save expanded views, outline view etc.) bit it still feels 'cluttered'. I think that these simple changes would make the graphs more appealing.
Mouse wheel drag (with keyboard shortcut) to increase/decrease distance between nodes, e.g. child nodes and parent, horizontal, vertical, sibblings etc.
Ability to hide link and node types. I'm not implying a more advanced filtering, but simply keep everything, but if link or node are of this type - make them invisible, don't draw them.
Node layouts - especially in outline view, top down, expand nodes (left or right - set per node), radially (aka 'map growth direction in MindManager)
line styles - curve and rounded elbows (could really cleanup the outline views)
LukeP
shared this idea
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dyslucksia
commented
I agree too, see:
http://websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/thebrain/vpost?id=3190718 -
jostber
commented
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LukeP
commented
I strongly believe that the presentation / look of the software (nodes / links) and ability to customize things like that have a huge impact on a) usability and workflow b) folks shopping for new software... imagine someone looking at screenshots of mind manager and personal brain. PB, while it's much more advanced, looks 'worse' than FreeMind.
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LukeP
commented
Harlam, the 'hide nodes or links' (not filer, just simply don't draw them, keep the layout) sounds simple to implement, any hope of seeing it in 5.0?
What about the node layout and line/link styles? something that you're considering for the near future? -
LukeP
commented
Those are good tips, but don't address any of the feature enhancements I have listed above.
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Cornan
commented
Some things can be done today:
1) When a thought is created, clear out its "label"
2) When a type is created, clear out its "label"
(I have created icons for most of my thought types, which is more compact than flyovers jumping up all over the place)
3) For 5.0, go into each tag individually (I HOPE THEY MAKE THIS EASIER TO DO) and uncheck its display.