Markmap - Mind mapping markdown files, or vice-versa

You can paste your markdown into their site to see a mind map.
Also available as an Obsidian plugin, VS Code, etc.

markmap.js.org

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Looks nice but it’s their site so I’d be careful.

I know iThoughts can import relatively simple Markdown. (I’d guess MindNode can, but I’m not too sure.) Likewise OmniFocus, I think.

Also, my own filterCSV can import simple Markdown - for completeness.

Yes, MindNode supported Markdown import and also export :slight_smile:

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Thank you @MarkusMS. How complex a Markdown document do you think MindNode can parse? I mean in terms of Markdown features, rather than length.

(I would admit filterCSV is very naive in this regard. So this is not a wicked question to the developer of a fine tool.)

The Obsidian plugin for Markmap is what I’ve always hoped Mindnode would someday become. No import/export, just a clean way of showing me what I’m already writing in the markdown documents I’m using anyway.

Gotta love the simplicity!

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This is not an easy question to answer. On the feature side we try our best to detect headers, lists, tasks, notes, text traits (bold, italic, strikethrough, links) and images. The difficult part is to translate the document into a tree. This is something where you might encounter unexpected behavior (like having too many main nodes).

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It’s lovely indeed, @ryanjamurphy, but the thing that makes it definitely not a replacement for apps such as MindNode is the lack of direct manipulation on the mind map. There’s no way to move nodes around and have it translated to the markdown file.

Since, at least for me, the mind map is largely used on the idea-baking process its ability for shuffling things around is paramount!

While MindNode can does a good job importing a markdown file, instead of importing/exporting, I would rather have it open in place and let me edit the raw markdown by dragging and dropping those nodes. That would be really useful!

Even if it doesn’t allow for all MindNode features due to the simplicity of the markdown file format, would MindNode consider implementing this @MarkusMS?

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Yeah, that’d be lovely!

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Thank you, Markus! Believe me, as the author of a would-be Markdown parser myself, I appreciate how tough this one is. And, in particular, what to do with what you’ve parsed.

(My filterCSV project on GitHub tries to import Markdown and export in eg a (CSV) format for iThoughts, with user-directed transformations along the way. It also generates OPML and Freemind XML, at least one of which I reckon MindNode can import. I ought to try that.)

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I agree that this would be a nice feature. We even considered this a few years ago, but it’s not a straight forward feature to implement. For example right now our exporter always uses 4 levels of ATX headers before switching to using lists. So if you prefer a different leveldepth, or if your document has a different mixture of headers and lists, the result might not please you as we “destroy” your formatting.

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In filterCSV I gave the user that level of customisation - because I wanted it myself. :slight_smile: (In case this helps.)

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