

If you are easily distracted you can choose a full-screen version with just your text writer. Each folder also has a ‘corkboard’ page with cards on which you can set some keywords or write a simple outline. The main screen has all your subdirectories on the left panel and a writing sheet on the right. Basic text writing screen in Scrivener, with on the left a pane with all files in the project Additionally, you can add ‘research’ which can be a variety of things, such as figures and tables. For your thesis, it is easy enough to create multiple chapters within one document or split those up even further in sections like introduction and results. It allows you to create a project with multiple files in it.
#Review of scapple software#
It is software designed for book and scriptwriters but is useful for any type of writer. I quickly ran into praising reviews for Scrivener, the software package developed by Literature and Latte.

Realizing that this was utterly unproductive, on one of these days I started Googling in search of something better. Software that helps you improve your writing This froze me and blocked me from writing and, instead, I would resort to eating chocolate. One look at the content of my external drive would make me start hyperventilating and panicking. Chapters and manuscripts, pieces of both, and corrected and commented versions with titles like version26Final2.doc and version26Final2RealFinal_withcomments.doc. However, its cost (free) and powerful functionality mean that it is worth a try.At some point during writing my PhD dissertation, I had about 500 different Word documents dedicated to it. It doesn’t have the most aesthetically appealing interface, and the way its menus are set up can be confusing to many. Final verdictįreeMind is open source, cross-platform mind mapping software that allows you to brainstorm in a nonlinear fashion. Draw.io also has a UI that looks fairly dated, but we found that it was nevertheless more intuitive to use than FreeMind. You have the option of saving your work locally onto your machine, Google Drive (opens in new tab), or Microsoft OneDrive (opens in new tab). The subscription will also get you access to the MindMeister customer service team if you have any questions or concerns.įinally, Draw.io is a free, web-based mind mapping software product.
#Review of scapple free#
Although MindMeister offers a free plan, you will need to purchase a subscription if you want to access all of its features.

Meanwhile, MindMeister (opens in new tab) is a web-based mind mapping software that features a modern, easy to use UI. Though Freeplan offers some support for FreeMind files, the files created by the two apps are not 100% mutually compatible when it comes to file formats.įreeplan builds on FreeMind, adding features like different cloud shapes, a grid system, better menus and UI, and better support for add-ons that extend and customize the features and functionality of the tool. The competitionįreeMind is not the only mind mapping tool on the market, so here are some alternatives we think are noteworthy.įreeplan is a mind mapping tool that was created using FreeMind files as the starting point. However, FreeMind is open source software, so there is no guarantee that your feature request will be implemented. If you think there are features missing from the product, you can also log a feature request. However, once we figured out where different features lived, we felt that it was definitely usable for mind mapping, especially since the product is free. Its user interface (UI) screams early 2000s, and we found it somewhat difficult to find the features we needed in the various menus. One of the first things you will likely notice is that FreeMind appears a bit dated. The software stores its maps in XML format, so if you decide to move to another product, you may be able to export the maps it creates and then import them into the tool of your choice (assuming it supports XML imports). However, if you prefer to create an image file, FreeMind also supports PNG, JPEG, and SVD. And if you want to refer to outside files, you can add HTML links, as well as links to files living on your local machine.įreeMind allows you to export your work into HTML, XHTML, PDF, and OpenDocument formats. Other design features include folding branches, icons on individual nodes, and clouds around branches. FreeMind also allows you to make batch edits by copying and pasting groups of items (without loss of formatting). You can choose to have your nodes and branches shifted around automatically, but you can also rearrange items manually if desired. FreeMind’s MindMaps are created using notes that are joined by branches.
