gizmobench

Mind Map Maker

The map is an outline you type, so the fastest way to build one is the keyboard: Tab puts an idea inside the node you are on, Enter puts one beside it, Shift+Tab moves one out a level, and Alt with the arrow keys reorders a branch. Drag a node onto another to move it, or use the move list on its row, which does the same job without a mouse. A move that would put a node inside its own branch is refused by name and the map is left exactly as it was, because a mind map that contains itself has no depth to draw. Switch the stage to Map to see the drawing, zoom it and drag it around, then save it as SVG, as JSON that opens back here, or as a plain text outline. It holds up to 500 nodes with up to 120 characters a label, asks for no account, and nothing you type is uploaded.

7 nodes3 levels

Tab childEnter besideShift + Tab outAlt + arrows reorderEsc leaves the outline

7 nodes across 3 levels. Selected: Launch plan.

Nodes
7 of 500
Depth
3 levels
Selected
Launch plan
Export
  • Tabon a node
    adds a child of "Launch plan"
  • Enteron a node
    adds a node beside "Launch plan"
  • Shift + Tabon a node
    The centre of the map is the top level, so there is nowhere further out for it to go.
  • Drag onto a node inside itwould make a loop
    refused: The centre of the map cannot sit under another node. Drag a branch onto the centre instead, or rename the centre.
The map is a tree, so a node can never become its own ancestor and a move that would make a loop is refused rather than drawn. Everything is kept in this browser, and the JSON it saves is the file it reads back.

Type the outline, or open one

One idea on each line, indented for every level inside. Tabs, two spaces and four spaces all nest the way they look, and a pasted tree with box drawing in front of it reads back as the same map. Building a map from the box replaces the one on the stage.

Up to 500 nodes, 120 characters a label.

Every edit happens in this tab. Download writes the SVG, the JSON or the plain text tree onto your own device, Copy puts the same text on the clipboard, and a JSON file opens back here with every label, every fold and the order of every branch as it was. A node you drag onto something inside its own branch is refused and the map is left alone, because a mind map that contains itself has no depth to draw. The map is kept in this browser, so the next visit opens where you left off.

Common questions

How do I make a mind map without signing up?
Start typing on the map that is already on the stage. The centre and its branches are ordinary text fields: type in one, press Tab to add an idea inside it, press Enter to add one beside it, and press Shift+Tab to move an idea back out a level. There is no account, no sign-up box and no export credit: the drawing, the SVG and the JSON are all made in this tab. Every control also has a button on its row, so a phone with no keyboard can build the same map: plus in, plus beside, a move list and a delete button sit at the end of each line.
Which keys does the editor use?
Tab adds a child of the node the cursor is in. Enter adds a node directly after it under the same parent, not at the end of the branch. Shift+Tab moves the node out one level, taking everything inside it along. Alt with the up or down arrow moves a node among the nodes it shares a parent with, and the arrow keys on their own move the cursor between rows. Backspace or Delete on a row whose label is empty deletes that node and its branch, except at the centre, which the map hangs from and which is refused. Escape leaves the outline, so Tab goes back to walking the page.
Why is a branch refused when I drag it inside itself?
Because the result would not be a mind map. Every node hangs from exactly one other node, so if a node were moved inside its own branch, that branch would have no top and no depth, and nothing could draw it or count it. The page checks the target against everything inside the node before it moves anything: if the target is in there, the move is refused, the message names both nodes, and the map is left exactly as it was. The move list on each row goes further and does not offer a node inside the branch as a choice at all.
Can I export the mind map as SVG?
Yes. Set Export to SVG in the readout, then press Download for the file or Copy for the same text on the clipboard. The SVG is one standalone document: the same boxes, connectors and colours the Map view shows, with no script in it, no linked image and no font file fetched from anywhere. It names a system sans stack rather than embedding type, so an editor without those fonts substitutes its own and the boxes stay where they are. Export also writes JSON, which opens back here, and a plain text tree drawn with the same box characters the stage shows.
Does the JSON file open back as the same map?
Yes, and that is what it is for. The file carries every node's id, label, parent and folded state plus the counter the page mints new ids from, so opening it gives you the same branches in the same order, with the same branches still folded. A file this page cannot rebuild exactly is refused with the reason, for example two nodes sharing an id, a node naming a parent the file does not contain, or nodes that form a loop. It never opens half a map and hopes.
How big can one map get?
Up to 500 nodes, up to 12 levels below the centre, and up to 120 characters in a label. Ask for more than any of those and the page says which limit you reached and what to do instead, rather than trimming your text or dropping a branch quietly. The limits are about staying readable: past them the drawing is wider than a page and the outline stops being something a person can scan.
Will the map still be here when I come back?
Yes. The map and your choice of view are kept in this browser's own storage on this device, so the next visit opens where you left off, and nothing is uploaded on the way. If storage is blocked, in a private window for example, the page still works for the whole session and simply opens on the starter map next time. Start over at the top of the page forgets the saved map, and Download JSON first if you want to keep it.
Can I paste an outline I already wrote?
Paste it into the box under the map and press Build the map. One idea per line, indented for each level in: tabs, two spaces and four spaces all nest the way they look, and bullets like a leading dash are stripped. A tree copied out of this page, box characters and all, reads back as the same map. One thing to know: the text tree is what the stage shows, so a folded branch is not in it. Press Put this map in the box instead and every node is written out, folded ones included.
How does the Map view work?
It draws the same nodes the outline lists, left to right, with each parent centred on its children. Drag the background to pan, and use Zoom in, Zoom out and Fit to size it. Clicking a box selects that node, and the editing happens in the Outline view, which is where the keys and the buttons live. Box widths are estimated from the number of characters in a label, and a label too wide for the widest box is drawn shortened with an ellipsis, so it cannot run across the box beside it on screen or in the exported SVG. The whole label is still there: in the outline, in the JSON file, and in the title of the box, which an SVG viewer shows when you hover it.

The map is a tree, so a node can never become its own ancestor and a move that would make a loop is refused rather than drawn. Everything is kept in this browser, and the JSON it saves is the file it reads back.