Looking for software that organizes ideas, thoughts, notes, etc. in a relational, graphical way

March 13, 2004 11:37 AM

I am looking for a piece of software that organizes ideas, thoughts, notes, etc. in a relational, graphical sort of way. And for the life of me I can't remember, or think of, what that kind of program is called. (It's Saturday, and creative thinking has turned to mush, thanks to Looney Tunes!)
posted by grefo to Technology (11 answers total)

What platform? On OS X, I use NovaMind, which has been very helpful with a couple projects.
posted by anathema at 11:45 AM on March 13, 2004

You probably use Windows, and if so ignore this advice, but I really like OmniGraffle Professional. It can do a whole lot of things and is very customizable. One of the customizations is for mind mapping. A mind map is a way of charting the act of free-association.
posted by substrate at 11:48 AM on March 13, 2004

Response by poster: Windows or linux, for a platform
posted by grefo at 11:49 AM on March 13, 2004

The Brain is great for what you're describing.
posted by gd779 at 12:15 PM on March 13, 2004

Here's a nice free one, written in Java.
posted by grumblebee at 12:24 PM on March 13, 2004

Don't know the specific software you mean, but sgt. serenity's link from yesterday leads to lots of software for mindmapping, which I think is what you're after.
posted by punilux at 12:27 PM on March 13, 2004

I've really been enjoying CmapTools, developed by the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, at the University of West Florida. It's free, and you can create navigable websites composed of mind maps.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:39 PM on March 13, 2004

inspiration.com is fantastic software.
posted by dobbs at 8:37 PM on March 13, 2004

For Mac OS X there's Tinderbox.
posted by jbrjake at 10:46 AM on March 14, 2004

MindManager
posted by quam at 6:55 PM on March 14, 2004

I like Visual Mind. It's super-fast for entering and rearranging items, ideas, topics, etc. I've used it for everything from to-do lists to brainstorming information architecture to working out database schemas.
posted by Tubes at 9:12 PM on March 14, 2004