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Here we collect a list of asked questions and answers related to free mind mapping software FreeMind. Help if you can (see To edit this FAQ). If you're searching for an answer to your question, why don't you just press Ctrl + F in your browser?

Installation

To download Java Runtime Environment needed to run FreeMind.

To download JRE for Windows, go to Download on Sun, go to the section Download J2SE v 1.4. ... and now choose the column JRE, not SDK. The installation file of JRE has approximately 15 MB.

FreeMind cannot detect new version of Java. What can I do?

Let us assume that you have installed a new version of Java, and still, FreeMind complains about having old version of Java. This may occur especially if you installed SDK rather than JRE. SDK stands for standard development kit and contains much more than you need to run FreeMind; you only need runtime environment. It is important that the new version of java is in your path. To check it out on Microsoft Windows, run command ``cmd" using Windows-key + R, followed by ``java -version". You should get something like

java version "1.4.2_03"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2_03-b02)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.2_03-b02, mixed mode)

where the particular version number is not important as long as it is at least 1.4.0.

Additionally, it may be helpful to start freemind.bat and see what messages come.

NOTE: If you have an Oracle database product installed on your computer, check the Oracle Installer to see what version of Java was installed with the database. Versions of Oracle 8, 8i, and later install JRE 1.3.1 and modify the startup path for Windows to ensure the database can start using this JRE. This installation WILL cause FreeMind to report the older version of Java, even if you install the new version (the .ini file for Oracle points Windows to the JRE 1.3.1 directory, places that in memory, and causes the fault). You can deinstall Oracle to fix this conflict, or modify the .ini file to point Oracle to the newer JRE.

With what Java virtual machines does FreeMind actually work?

FreeMind works with the virual machines from Sun, from the version 1.4.0 and higher. Additionally, FreeMind has been reported to run on the JDK 1.4.2 from Blackdown. FreeMind also works on Linux with Sun Microsystems 64bit JDK version 1.5.0.

Using

To add a new concept

What you would probably call concept, we call a node. Press Insert to add one. Nodes do not contain concepts only, but also sentences, paragraphs or even short articles.

With an Apple keyboard you'll have to set a different key.

Is there no undo in FreeMind?

There is no undo so far. Help against data loss are offered by:

FreeMind's autosave-feature

You can install a clipboard manager, which will make all elements, which you cut from FreeMind, available in its history. A freeware example of a clipboard manager for MS Windows is Yankee Clipper.

=== How much memory do I need? === Keywords: RAM. Experience shows that 64 Mb is not sufficient, while 128 Mb is already ok, provided that you do not run another Java application. Correct me if I'm wrong. I am using FreeMind on Windows 95 + 128 Mb without any problems.

You have your link. Alternatively, drag'n drop holding right mouse button.

To remove a graphical link

Right-Click on the curved arrow of the graphical link
Choose "Remove Arrow Link" from the pop-up menu

(Left-clicking on a graphical link does nothing)

To add user icons to FreeMind

Currently, really adding user icons is not possible. BUT you can inline images in any node. Just something like this:

<html><img src="http://www.stumbleupon.com/pics/me.jpg">

in the a FreeMind node. This should also work with local files with "file:" instead of "http:".

To open links in only one browser window, rather than several.

To our knowledge this is not possible at the moment.

A possible Work Around: There is a way to do this if you use the Firefox browser instead of Internet Explorer, provided you install the Firefox extension called Single Window (available from here). Using this extension, every time you click on an external web link on a mind map, it will open the relevant page in a new tab in an existing Firefox window, rather than a new browser window. I have found this to be a much easier way to navigate the pages opened. I have only tried this with mm files opened from the file system at the moment (ie not served from a web server in the browser applet).

=== Is it difficult to provide FreeMind with Java Webstart?=== Well, it's not that easy. Joerg Mueller succeeded in doing just that and has sent his source code to Daniel Polansky, who did not succeed in getting it running; he did not consider that a high priority. What is important is that Microsoft Windows users have a convenient installer, and the users of the other operating systems are already used to not so convenient methods; the installation is pretty straightforward anyway.

To create PDF out of FreeMind's mind map

If you want to create pdf out of FreeMind's mind map, you've got several options. One of the options you have is to download [http://hkrott.iicm.edu/docs/seminar/sem2002_mindmaps.tar.gz XSLT transformations sheets] from Christoph Rissner, convert FreeMind's mind map to Mind Manager's mind map, then to DocBook, and create pdf from that DocBook. You can read more on that on [http://hkrott.iicm.edu/veranstaltungen/seminar/abgeschlossen.html Abgeschlossene Arbeiten] > Mind Maps.

Another option is to get a copy of Adobe Acrobat (full version not just reader). You can then print to a PDF using the Distiller or Writer options in your printer list. Make sure you check the "fit to one page" option under File>Page Setup. Also, make sure you set antialias to all under edit>preferences. This will make it look crisper. The only downside to this option is that it doesn't do the icons very well.

On Windows, another possibility might be the open source printer driver PDFCreator, which lets you print directly to a PDF file from most applications (using Ghostscript as its backend).

To convert mind maps between FreeMind and MindManager

Click here: Import and export to other applications

Who's the development team of FreeMind?

Daniel Polansky: the director of FreeMind is Daniel Polansky, i.e. me. The label ``director" is not quite appropriate, ``parliament" would be better. I test new versions, give advice, sometimes act in the name of FreeMind, forbid versions to be released because of insufficient quality, and approve them when they're ready. Also, I set up mantinels for new directions.

The main actor on the scene is Christian Foltin. We use the label ``code master" to denote his role, and also ``manager". He does most of the work and decides on which code changes are acceptable what concerns the coding quality. He takes care of mergers. Also, he coordinates the developers.

To have brainstorm-like mode similar to one found in MindManager.

Did you notice you can hit Enter and Shift-Enter to create sibling nodes? It is not exactly the behavior of brainstorm mode of MindManager, but still close to it.

On what operating systems have people actually succeeded in running FreeMind?

Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP (SP1 & SP2), Windows 2003 Server, Linux (Mandrake 9.2 and 10, RedHat Pro WS 3, Fedora Core 2, SuSE 8.2 (using the RPM for 9.0), SuSE 9.0,SuSE 9.1, Debian sarge, Debian sid, Slackware 9.1, Gentoo), Mac OS X (10.3), FreeBSD(5.2.1), OS/2. Keywords: platforms.

Is there a PDA-Version, e.g. for Palm or Pocket PC??

Not that we know of. So far, no one has reported a success at running FreeMind on Palm or Pocket PC. See also FreeMind and PDA.

How large maps can I edit with FreeMind?

Theoretically, there are no built-in limits. Practially, the maximum reported size is 3 MB; after exporting to HTML and pasting to Microsoft Word, the very same content had 3.8 MB. For a better practical estimation, experimental test are needed as the maximum given so far is only a lower bound on practial limits.

How can I keep FreeMind from opening the last file from the last session?

One way is to disable the changing of the file "auto.properties" (which is in the same folder as user.properties). Be aware that the menu "Edit -> Preferences" will not change anything any more than!
To do that go to the file auto.properties and delete everything behind "onStartIfNotSpecified=" in that line. Now set the file "auto.properties" to read-only.

To change the fill color on bubbles.

There's an icon for it at the main toolbar. Additionally, you can find it in the popup menu at Node > Style > Cloud color.

To remove a cloud.

Press Ctrl+Shift+B to toggle clouds.

To search in FreeMind

Keywords: find. Press Ctrl + F. For finding next occurrence, press Ctrl + G. Searching is restricted to the descendants of the node selected when pressing Ctrl + F. The search is a breadth-first search, first finding occurrences in the nodes closer to the starting node.

===To move nodes around.=== To move them up and down, user ctrl + up and down arrows. To move them wherever you want, use drag'n drop with mouse. Keywords: move around, reorganize.

What does antialias mean in FreeMind preferences?

To antialias means to make fonts or curves look smooth by drawing additional pixels with in-between color. See also wikipedia on antialiasing.

By default, FreeMind antialiases edges only. FreeMind can also antialias text, but with the current state of the technology, it does not look good enough. At least, new Java RE 1.5.0 has better antialiasing of text than Java RE 1.4.x. Also, it is possible to set the whole application to antialiasing, including the menus and editing box; by using the command line option -Dswing.aatext=true of Java 1.5.0. Unfortunately, this is not available if you're using FreeMind.exe to launch FreeMind.

Customizing FreeMind

To set expert settings

Most of expert settings are stored in the user.properties file.

To use another browser

If you want to use another browser, edit the user.properties file and change the following property according to your operation system:

default_browser_command_windows_nt 
default_browser_command_windows_9x 
default_browser_command_mac 
default_browser_command_other_os

You have to write something like

default_browser_command_windows_nt = C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe "{0}"

...

To change language

Edit your user.properties in that you replace the line with

#language = en

With the line

language = de

Don't forget to remove the # character. Restart FreeMind and you have changed the language to German. See also the list of available languages.

To set a different key for new child node on Mac computers

In a manner similar to changing the language, replace

#keystroke_add_child = INSERT

with

keystroke_add_child = control shift ENTER

in the file user.properties. Pay attention that you write the key code ENTER in capital letters.

Mind maps on web pages with FreeMind's applet

To get FreeMind's applet working.

See the guide. If you'd like to view a mind map published by someone else and have problems, check out in the Internet Explorer if in Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Java > ``Use Java2" is enabled. Of course, you'll need to have Sun Java installed.

To present your mind map on the web

Use FreeMind's browser applet. The following document (thanks to Bob) explains what to do to have a complete testing environment for your applet. The most common problem to see a freemind browser applet is that you have to use Java >= 1.4 in your browser. Check this using the "About plugins" section of your browser (or a similar place).

To view the toolbar automatically after the applet starts

It is necessary to edit the html starter of the applet and change the corresponding property. That is, set toolbarVisible=true. More precisely, add a tag

<PARAM NAME="toolbarVisible" VALUE="true">

to freemindbrowser.html or whatever name you have changed the file to.

Is there a list of names and values and functions of all params for the applet?

No. Theoretically, all parameters found in user.properties can be used as parameters of the applet.

Bugs (and workarounds) in FreeMind

FreeMind behaves strange or crashes. What can I do?

First try reinstalling both Java (mostly the latest version is best) and Freemind. Often this solves problems. One of the problems solved in this way was:

My computer crashes, or more precisely locks, when I click on a link in FreeMind, using J2RE 1.4.2_03 on Windows 98. Reinstalling helped. In retrospect, I think what broke it was that I renamed the J2RE directory to something easier to write in the bat file path statement. Broke it.

When I drag files into the FreeMind window, FreeMind just works very long or I get a mind map of the file system

This is a bug which is a least present on FreeMind 7.2 beta and lower on Windows. I only know of a wordaround for this: Go to the user.properties and delete ",freemind.modes.filemode.FileMode". This disables the file mode of FreeMind.

Changing the key bindings in user.properties does not work

It seems that capitalization IS important in the keybindings. I wrote "enter" and it didn't work. I changed it to "ENTER" and it worked! (FreeMind 7.2 beta)

Using: HTML-related things

What HTML tags does FreeMind support?

FreeMind supports basic HTML in its nodes. For HTML to take effect, a node must start with "<html>". What HTML is supported depends on the Java virtual machine. Among others, users have reported the following uses:

<html><p style="background-color:yellow">the node text</p>

To embed, or more precisely link, images into FreeMind.

You can link imagines into FreeMind using context menu of a node, accesed using right click (on MAC OS X Panther use Control click). Or type the following:

<html><img src="image.jpg"></html>

where image.jpg is the reference to an image.

To put the contents of a Microsoft Word document into FreeMind.

First paste the Word document into Microsoft FrontPage.
Delete the images afterwards as FreeMind does not support them.
Remove the <head> ... </head> in the source text view in FrontPage.
But leave the <html>! The node needs to start with that.
Replace <body> with <body width=600> or similar width specification.
Finally, paste the HTML text as a long node into FreeMind.

To have tables in FreeMind

If you have Microsoft Frontpage available, it is convenient to create and edit HTML content there and paste it to and from FreeMind. Beware that the html code has to start with <html>. This way, you can conveniently create tables using the drawing tools of Frontpage. You can create formatted text this way as well; in that case, beware to set <body width=600> or similar. However, FreeMind does not interpret all HTML; especially, it does not interpret inline CSS styling so you have to use hard formatting instead.

If you want the table borders to have a nice two dimensional look rather than bevelled, start the HTML as follows.

<html>
<head>
<style> td  { border-style: solid } table { border-style: solid } </style>
</head>

FreeMind on Microsoft Windows

How do I install a test version of FreeMind?

Just unzip the package to the folder "C:\Program Files\FreeMind". That completes the "installation". You can start it by running freemind.exe (or freemind.bat if the exe does not exist). You can find test versions here.

FreeMind does not seem to be affected by the things I edit in the user.properties. Why?

See user.properties.

To create a screenshot of FreeMind and paste it into Microsoft Word or Microsoft Powerpoint

To take a screenshot of your whole windows screen into clipboard, press Ctrl + Print Screen. To take a screenshot of the active window only into clipboard, press Alt + Print Screen. Select your Word or Powerpoint document and press Ctrl + V. On German keyboard, the key PrintScreen has the label "Druck". However, such a screenshot also contains FreeMind's window frame, not just the map contents. In Microsoft Word and Microsoft Powerpoint, this can be solved by cropping the screenshot; the cropping tool can be found in Picture toolbar.

To export a map to Microsoft Powerpoint.

There's no elegant way to export a map to Powerpoint. The only way to do it is to take a screenshot, and paste it into Powerpoint.

FreeMind on Linux

Go to the specific page FreeMind on Linux.

Other things

To spell FreeMind correctly.

"FreeMind", with a capital M.

To suggest new enhancements of FreeMind

Keywords: additional features, additional functions. At FreeMind's project page, you can [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=7118&atid=357118 submit Requests for Enhancements (RFEs)].

This FAQ

I have a question not listed here, what should I do?

Post new questions either to some of our forums or to the discussion page of this page. Or specifically, ask your question in FreeMind's Help forum. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that you will get help, still, many users get it.

To edit this FAQ

Edit this page like any other wiki page (click edit or press alt-E). When adding a question to the talk page, imitate the format of already existing questions.

Where can I practice editing pages on this Wiki?

Click on this link and just hit the edit button on the lower right: Sandbox

Questions not yet answered

Post new questions either to some of our forums or to the discussion page of this page.