Planning a Project with ConceptDraw Office

The Plan Action Stage of a project details the ideas and then plans out the actions necessary for implementation. In addition, forecasts are developed of the expected results of a project for use by upper management and investors.

Precise organization and planning when creating draft project timelines and budget are critical components for future projects. At the Plan Action and Organize Project Stages, a project timeline is mapped out for task and resource (people, equipment, and materials) allocation.

Figure 1: Planning a Project with ConceptDraw PROJECT.

ConceptDraw Office contains the tools necessary to handle these two important stages:

• ConceptDraw PROJECT is well integrated with ConceptDraw MINDMAP, saving time when setting up a project and all the necessary supporting components.

• Plan project actions in detail. Simplifying job delegation and responsibilities using ConceptDraw's PROJECT Gantt chart.

Figure 2: Creating a Mind Map from Gantt Chart using ConceptDraw Office.

1. To modify schedules and project detail it is possible to create a mind map from selected tasks.

2. Open project files in ConceptDraw MINDMAP and make a single mind map of all your projects. It is convenient to keep all the related files to a project in one place. A single Knowledge Map, supporting multiple pages and hyperlinks, easily becomes the main information source for a project of any size.

Summary

ConceptDraw Office helps minimizes the amount of operations during the planning stage of a project and improves the everyday workflow of any project by utilizing visual methods to represent project information.

We Are Spelling Your Language

ConceptDraw MINDMAP has a language interface for English, French and German. But, did you know it can also spell check your content on your PC in English (multiple), French, German, Russian, and Spanish (multiple)?

For Mac users, the language options also include Italian, Portuguese, Svenska, Dansk, and Polish.

PC:

This feature is easily accessible from the Edit menu, under Preferences.

Figure 1: ConceptDraw Speller Checker Specification Screen (PC)

 

Figure 2: ConceptDraw Spanish Language Speller Checker in Action(PC)

Mac:

Language selections on the Macintosh can be found from the Edit menu, under Spelling.

 

 Figure 3: ConceptDraw Speller Checker Specification Screen (Mac)

Figure 4: ConceptDraw English Language Speller Checker in Action (Mac)

Project Reporting Using ConceptDraw MINDMAP and Microsoft PowerPoint

The ConceptDraw Office Suite has a very powerful built in project reporting tool that generates a variety of reports. Such reports range from visual scoreboards to mind maps reports that show the critical details.

Figure 1: Map template for Report Presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint.

For those of you looking for a way to quickly prepare a PowerPoint presentation for status meetings, you can easily prepare your content in a mind map format, and then export to your template of choice using ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

Figure 2: Sample of PowerPoint output using a ConceptDraw template.

Download a sample ConceptDraw MINDMAP template here:

http://www.mindmappedia.com/?id=160786010

Customize Your Maps with ConceptDraw PRO and ConceptDraw MINDMAP

Do you ever wish you could customize your mind maps more professionally?

Using ConceptDraw PRO (our powerful business graphics software) you can have complete control of how your mind map topics look.

Here is an example of a mind map that uses an image of a 1964 Mustang convertible as a topic type. Add a first level topic and up pops a Mustang! If only it were this easy for Ford to build automobiles.

Download the map here to see how it works.

Figure 1: Portion of a mind map showing a '64 Mustang as new topic type. Main topic and sub-topics have also been modified to show the range of change available.

Customize Topics

1. The first step is to select a picture or choose one of the 15,000 professionally drawn objects that come with ConceptDraw PRO.
   
   
2. Place the object or picture on to ConceptDraw’s canvas. Then drag and drop the object on to the topic you want to change, if you want to make a change to all topics at that level in your map drag the object to the 1 o’clock position.
   
   
3. When you drag the object from ConceptDraw PRO over to the topic that is in place, note the topic behavior in the topic. You will see a yellow rectangle that is divided into 3 boxes.
   
   
4. Drop the image on to one of the boxes and the image will then be part of the topic.
   
   
5. The location of the image is determined by the box that you place the image in.
   
   
6. Drift the cursor a bit to the right or left and there will appear a blue box.
   
   
7. Drop the image in the blue box and it becomes the topic.

Figure 2: Drag a ConceptDraw PEO object to your mind map. Once you see the blue rectangle place the object for a new topic type.

Figure 3: ConceptDraw MINDMAP changes to the margins increase the size of the topic.

Build a Theme

1. Click on the topic you have changed.
   
   
2. From the Format menu, select Map Theme then Apply to Current Level
   
   
3.  Once you have completed all of your modifications, go to the Format menu, and select  Map Theme then Save Theme. This new theme can then be applied to any map you build in the future.
   
   
4. You can modify the topic size, spacing tab, and margins. The topic will increase in size.

Now you can build unique and custom maps with ease!

Add a New Project to Your Multi-Project Document

Often times, project managers must organize, manage resources, assign tasks, and generate reports for multiple projects.

With ConceptDraw PROJECT, it is easy for anyone to manage multiple projects within one easy-to-use document.

1.    To add a new project to your multi project workspace, select Project View.

2.    Click Enter or double-click your mouse.  Enter the new project name.

It is so easy to add additional projects to ConceptDraw PROJECT.  Not only have you added a new project, you now have the ability to manage all of your projects’ resources in a single resource view.

Format Notes in ConceptDraw MINDMAP

In ConceptDraw MINDMAP you can easily add and edit notes to topics using content from Microsoft Excel and Word.

Add Microsoft Excel Tables to MINDMAP Notes

You can add tables, created in Microsoft Excel, to ConceptDraw MINDMAP Notes.

1. Copy the selected text from MS Excel.

2. Paste the selected text in the Notes field in ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

3. The table format is preserved in the Notes field.


Add Bulleted Lists from Microsoft Word to MINDMAP Notes

You can add a bulleted list, created in Microsoft Word, to ConceptDraw MINDMAP Notes.

1. Copy the bulleted list from your Word document.

2. Paste the bulleted list, in the note section of any topic within your mind map.

3. The bullet formats will be preserved in the Notes field.

Everything You Need to Know About ConceptDraw and Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Support

Due to the popularity of Snow Leopard from the first day of its launch, the ConceptDraw Customer Support team, has continued to receive questions on the suitability of ConceptDraw products with Snow Leopard.

All of our latest products are compatible with Snow Leopard. The latest versions of ConceptDraw Office, ConceptDraw MINDMAP, ConceptDraw PROJECT and ConceptDraw PRO all run very smoothly with Snow Leopard.

However, if you are currently using the following products and versions, you will need to update to the latest version to become compatible with Snow Leopard.

The product versions that require updates are:

• CD MINDMAP version 5 or earlier
• CD PROJECT version 4 or earlier 
• ConceptDraw 7 or earlier 
  

If you have our latest products you can update to the newest version and gain Snow Leopard support.

If you decided to update to Snow Leopard, CS Odessa suggests that you update each of your ConceptDraw products to the latest version.

The latest versions of are as follows:

• ConceptDraw PRO 8.0.7.3 (or greater)
• ConceptDraw MINDMAP 6.2.8 (or greater)
• ConceptDraw PROJECT 5.1.2 (or greater)

Once your ConceptDraw software is up to date, you can then update your Mac OS X.

To update your Mac OS X:

1. Insert the update disk, and then follow the on screen directions. 
2. You will need your Admin Password to complete the upgrade. This may take up to an hour to complete, so make sure to set aside ample time to do this. 
3. After you have successfully upgraded to the latest version, check for available upgrades and run the install a second time.
4. The second upgrade only takes about 15 minutes. 
5. Once you have completed your Mac OS X upgrade, you are then able to run your ConceptDraw applications. 
6. If you need to upgrade your ConceptDraw product from an earlier version, please call our sales team for upgrade information by telephone 1.877.441.1150  (ext 3), 1.408.441.1150   (ext 3).