Website Creation Rule #1: Think First

I have to admit: I've used mind mapping software for years. And yet, when I decided to create a website for my freelance writing business, the first thing I did was try to come up with a good home page headline.

Strong words are vital to a home page--any home page. But what makes a site work is the overall design and navigation, and the content you provide to visitors.

So the second thing I did was to open up a ConceptDraw MINDMAP and start figuring out what I wanted on my site. Here are the general areas I broke my site into:

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wasn't presenting myself the way I wanted to be seen by potential customers. The two main things I specialize in are developing strategies that help companies get noticed, and creating content--all kinds of content. Very often, the strategy involves content creation. But not always. So I keep them separate:

So now I have the basic skeleton of what I want my website to communicate. I'll post again soon (I'm not going to commit to tomorrow just in case...) on how to use MINDMAP to capture and organize in one place all the content and links you're going to need for your site.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7; imports and exports Mindjet MindManager files



ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7 has powerful import and export capabilities.
All ConceptDraw products are equally adept on Macintosh and PC computers.



Open your mind mapping options! ConceptDraw MINDMAP version 7 imports and exports Mindjet MindManager files. With ConceptDraw MINDMAP you have great flexibility in working with others. Plus ConceptDraw MINDMAP closely integrates with ConceptDraw PROJECT that allows you to professionally manage your resources, tasks, phases and milestones. Both ConceptDraw MINDMAP and ConceptDraw PROJECT are integrated with ConceptDraw PRO inside of ConceptDraw Office to build dynamic dashboards; and design and document any workflow or process.

CS Odessa’s INGYRE2 technology shares your data between applications, improving your productivity. In addition to Mindjet MindManager, ConceptDraw integrates closely with Microsoft Office.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7 is here



ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7 is the latest release from
CS Odessa, it supports Mac OS X  and MS Windows



ConceptDraw MINDMAP provides a fresh approach to computer-based mind mapping by providing single-click inputs and outputs. Mind mapping has now become an everyday tool that takes you from thought to action in minutes. ConceptDraw MINDMAP makes everything you do easier, from planning to managing; from meeting management to status reports; from brainstorming to presenting. The distance from A to B has just been dramatically shortened.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP provides enormous value through its comprehensive feature set as well as solutions for ConceptDraw MINDMAP that can be added through ConceptDraw Solution Park. CS Odessa provides a growing number of solutions in ConceptDraw Solution Park that will extend your product's value into the future. ConceptDraw MINDMAP integrates with ConceptDraw PROJECT and ConceptDraw PRO to extend your work capabilities from start to implementation stage in an instant. ConceptDraw MINDMAP has great import and export ability, including the ability to open and save MINDJET MindManager maps.

Using Maps Not Built With ConceptDraw MINDMAP

Importing into ConceptDraw MINDMAP

Occasionally you might have the need to open a mind map that was built in a software product other then ConceptDraw MINDMAP. With ConceptDraw MINDMAP you have the capability to import mind maps with different file formats. Many products have the ability to output to either text outline format or Outline Processor Markup Language (OPML). Both of these formats can be easily imported in to ConceptDraw MINDMAP for review and editing purposes:

If you use FreeMind, there is an easy export function that that can provide an OPML structured file which can then be imported into ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

• File -> Export -> Using XSLT...


• Choose XSL File -> browse to the directory where you installed FreeMind -> then to 'accessories' -> select 'mm2opml.xsl'


• Choose ExportFile -> browse to wherever you want and give a file name ending in .opml

If you use Mindjet MindManager, you can utilize the direct import function within ConceptDraw MINDMAP to import and edit mind maps from MindManager in ConceptDraw MINDMAP.