Mind Mapping with MindMup

MindMup is a mind-mapping tool that can be accessed from VU Collaborate.

A mind map is a diagram of visually organised information. Mind maps show hierarchical relationships among pieces of the whole. Often a single concept/image is drawn in the centre of a page. Then branching out from the central concept, topics and subtopics are added. Images, words, symbols and colour are added to each idea to help organise ideas, and create associations with the central concept.

Examples of Mind Map

While mind maps can be drawn on paper, the major downside is that they can be very time-consuming. With Mind Mup, the creation process can be sped up, by using keyboard shortcuts, and adding node, lines and images rather than drawing them. The finished Mind Mup can then be easily converted to a PDF or PowerPoint document or shared online.

Signing into MindMup

1. Access Mind Mup

• From a unit space on the navbar, select Tools, then Mind Mapping Tool. From the pop-up window, select the link to the Login Page.
• Or access the MindMap Login page directly.

If Tools or Toolbox is not in the menu  Login to MindMap

2. Sign in

• Click Sign In, then Sign In with Microsoft.
• Log in using  
  • Student login: s<student number>@live.vu.edu.au (e.g. s0000000@live.vu.edu.au)
  • Staff login: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (e.g. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and password.

The MindMup Dashboard is where you can create new maps, and access previously created maps.

• To create a new map, select create new map from the menu bar.
  
• When viewing a map, select the MindMup logo to return to the dashboard.

Creating Your Mind Map

To create your mindmap, identify the items below:

• Create the Central Topic
• Brainstorm and create Sub-Topics
• Create relationships between topics and/or sub-topics

Create the Central Topic

The Central Topic is the main concept or idea to be explored. New Mind Maps start with a default Central Topic or Root Node.

1. To edit press the Space bar or double-click on the node and then enter a word or short description.

Brainstorm and create Sub-Topics

Now that you have your main topic (or root node), you can begin to insert your sub-topics (or child nodes). 

2. Select the root node then add a child node from (a) the menu bar, (b) node options, or (c) via a keyboard shortcut.

• (a) Menu bar - select Insert Child Node icon
• (b) Node options - right-click, then select Insert Child
• (c) Keyboard shortcut - select Tab key.

3. You've got your first child node in, now let's give it some siblings.

Select the root node then add a sibling node, from (a) the menu bar, (b) node options, or (c) via a keyboard shortcut

• (a) Menu bar - select the Insert Sibling Node button.
• (b) Node options - right-click, then select Insert Sibling. 
• (c) Keyboard Shortcut - press Enter key.

4. To Insert an Image into your mind map, select the Insert Child Image Node from the menubar.

5. After you have inserted an image into a node, double-click the image to add text to it.

6. To change the size or appearance of your image, from (a) the menu bar, (b) node options, or (c) via a keyboard shortcut

• (a) Menu bar - click on your image node and then click Adjust Node Image from the top menu bar.
• (b) Node options - right-click on the node and select Node Image.
• (c) Keyboard Shortcut - select I key.

7. Adjust your images

• Width and Height (1), ensuring the Keep Aspect Ratio is selected to prevent your image from becoming distorted.
• Position (2) in relation to the text around it.

Once you are happy with your changes, select Save (3).

8. You can also add an image to a node that has previously been created. Simply right-click the node you want to add an image to and select the Adjust Node Image button.

From the pop-up window, locate your image. Once added you will get the same insert window as above. 

9. To remove a node, select the node to be deleted, then

• (a) Menu bar - select Bin icon, or
• (b) Node options - right-click then select Remove Node.
• (b) Keyboard Shortcut - select Del/Delete key.

Create relationships between topics and/or sub-topics

After adding a topic (root node) and its sub-topics (or child nodes), you can create a relationship between:

• topic to topic
• subtopic to another sub-topic

by creating a link between nodes.

10. First step, identify where the node relationship should start and end.
For example, the relationship starts from (a) and ends with (b) in the screenshot below.

11. Select the node where the relationship should start (a).

12. Then connect to another node from (a) the menu bar, (b) node options, or (c) keyboard shortcut.

• (a) Menu bar - select Connect to another node from the top menu bar.
• (b) Node options - right-click on the node and select Connect to node.
• (c) Keyboard Shortcut - hold the Alt key and click on the nodes.

13. Select the node where the relationship should end (b).

Here is an example of a node relationship:

Adding Notes to the nodes

1. To add or edit a note, select from (a) the menu bar, (b) node options, or (c) via a keyboard shortcut.

• (a) Menu bar - select Edit Text Notes  button from the menu bar
• (b) Node options - right-click on the node and select Edit Notes.
• (c) Keyboard Shortcut - select N key. 

2. This will open a sidebar on the right side of your screen (a). Type your note there.

3. To close the note sidebar (a) from the menu bar, or (b) via a keyboard shortcut.

• (a) Menu bar - From View, select Sidebar followed by Close Sidebar  
• (b) Keyboard shortcut - select Esc key.

Adding Files to the nodes

1. To attach a file to a node, (a) from the menu bar, (b) node options, or (c) via a keyboard shortcut.

• (a) Menu bar - select Insert, then File Attachment. 
• (b) Node options - right-click on the node and select Attach File.
• (c) Keyboard shortcut - press A on your keyboard.

Other useful menu buttons:

   Undo/Redo.

   Left/Centre/Right alignment of text.

   Increase/Decrease node font size.

   Zoom in/out or center mind map

Here is an example of a mind map that demonstrated VU Net Zero Key Principles (2021):

Customising your Mind Map

Customise Connection Line Styles

1. To change the style of the line, click on the line.
From here, you can modify the line style including add/remove the arrow, line colours, label, and thickness.

2. Select each option to apply changes.

Customise Individual Node Styles

1. To change the node style, click on the desired node and select Node style.

2. Within Edit Node Style screen, you can select to modify any style from the dropdown options.
including colours, text size, font, border, and corners.

3. Select OK to apply the changes.

Applying Map Theme

1. To apply a theme to your mind map, from the View tab, hover over Map theme.

2. Select the theme that you would like to apply.

Note: for organisational charts or family trees, you can use:

• Top-down Standard or Top-down Simple
• Bottom-up or Bottom-up Simple

Customise your Mind Map and use an Image as Background

MindMup allows you to fully customise the look and feel of your map including background colours, texts and node styles.

1. From the View tab, select Customise Theme.

2. Then, choose the desired customisation options from the sidebar.

3. To use an external image as your map background, select Canvas under the Colors section.

4. At the bottom of the Color Picker pop-up box, select Use Image. 

5. Upload the desired image as your map background.

As the background will be in tile format, it is recommended to use images that can be repeated seamlessly both horizontally and vertically.

Downloading and Sharing Mind Maps

• Download
• Publish
• Share
  
  

Download

To download your Mindmap, From File tab, select Download As. Then, choose the desired file extension from the list. 

• Image (SVG, JPG, PNG) - download an image of your mind map
• PDF - download an image of your mind map displayed within a PDF document
• Outline - download as a text document, and tick Included Text Notes,  to include notes.

Publish

1. To publish your mindmap, from File (1), select Publish (2)

2. Review and make necessary edits to the title, description, and URL slug (1) then click Publish (2).

3. Once the mind map is published, you can share it on social networking sites (1), send a link (2), or embed (3) it into your website or blog.

Share

1. To share access to a mindmap. From File, select Share.

2. Enter your teacher's email address (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to grant share access.
Click the dropdown and change the access to 'View Only' or 'View and Edit' as needed.

3. Then select 'Allow Access.' 

Note: Always use This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. like in the screenshot above to share your mindmap with your teachers. You can enter up to 10 emails, separate with spaces or commas.

Submitting your Mindmap as an Assessment in VU Collaborate

There are three different ways to submit your mindmap as an assessment in VU Collaborate.

Download and submit PDF Document (Mind Map) and/or Word Document (Outline)

To submit the mind map as a PDF and/or Outline

• Download as an image or PDF, and/or
• Download as an outline and tick include text notes to include annotated notes 

Publish and submit the URL link

Students can also publish mindmaps, then submit the URL link or embed the mindmap in the HTML editor in the dropbox folder in VU Collaborate.

• Note: Publish maps can be viewed by anyone AND
  the URL slug should be updated to include the student number (to keep URLs unique).
• Also submitting a PDF and outline (if notes are used) is recommended.

Share and submit the URL link 

To submit a URL link to the mindmap, students will need to first share it with the teacher's email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). 

• Note: mindmaps can only be viewed by people who have been granted share access.
• Also submitting a PDF and outline (if notes are used) is recommended.

To learn about how to download your mindmap, or to get a link to your mindmap or embed code, refer to the downloading and sharing mindmaps section on this guide.