Inspiration 9 Adds Mind Mapping

As a long time Inspiration user, I was really excited to see that the with the release of Inspiration 9 that you could now create traditional Buzan style mind maps. To get start creating a mind map in Inspiration 9 you simply select Map from the Starter screen. Once your mind map opens you have access to all the tools that you would have if your were creating a traditional graphic organizer in Inspiration. The mind maps in Inspiration 9 do have that organic Buzan style to them but there are lots of ways to use color to bring your map to life. To get started you simply enter your topic for the map into the central idea. By default four branches are populated for you and you are ready to begin to add ideas to flesh out your mind map. To create new branches you can use the familiar RapidFire tool or if you like you can simply click on the plus sign (+) to create another one. You can also quickly add graphics from the Inspiration Library to really spruce up your mind map. Remember if you don't see an image that you want you can always search for one by entering a keyword into the Search box in the Library window. As long as you are connected to the Internet you will be able to search the Inspiration Image Library to find just the right image you were looking for.

One of the benefits of using a mind map is the ease in which you can move ideas around in the map. This is particularly handy after doing a brainstorming session to figure out how the ideas should be organized and arranged. If you are in the mind mapping mode you can select ideas and drop and move them where you like. It is also possible to create relationship between ideas and visually show them with connecting lines. Building on the strong set of tools, Inspiration 9 continues to shine as a all around concept mapping tool and with the addition of a mind mapping mode you have more options to visually get your ideas across. For more information visit the Inspiration web site.