IdeaTree

I’m happy to announce the upcoming release of IdeaTree 8.0. It features new topic box shapes and selectable colors while retaining the same drag-and-drop interface, one-click entry, and both auto and manual layout.

Also, there’s a new feature which may have some bearing on your IdeaTree data.

As you know, IdeaTree has always provided an online editor so that when you cannot find a description of your idea on the web you can type in arbitrary text and format it into an instant website. This provides the ability to wax eloquent on any subject in an IdeaTree map without the size limitations of comments.

The new version of IdeaTree will provide the same service, but rather than using the IdeaTree editor it will link directly to your choice of web-based wikis or editors such as Google Sites, Wikispaces, Backpack, etc. If you have your own in-house system you can use that, too, as long as it is made visible to IdeaTree.

This means that the IdeaTree maps will look just as before, but original text that you create as part of a map will no longer be stored on the IdeaTree server and will instead be stored on whatever service you may be using. The visual aspects of the IdeaTree map remain on the IdeaTree server while the information to which it links, including the text data that you create, will be stored on your sites of choice, whether Google Sites, Google Docs, Backpack, Campfire, etc.

This allows IdeaTree to concentrate on what it does best – visual manipulation of links – while specialized services provide the rest, negotiating simultaneous editing of documents, security and large scale storage. Now you can keep your data in-house while outsourcing the visualization of that data to IdeaTree.

If you’ve already created data using the built-in IdeaTree editor or upload facility, you are “grandfathered in”, i.e. it will still be maintained on the IdeaTree server for you. Only newly created data will go onto the service of your choice.