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Mind Map Side Toolbar

💡 The mind map side toolbar lets you quickly browse or edit mind map cards, for example opening the mind map outline, copying cards, and so on.

View tools:

  1. Outline
  2. Card Grouping Board

Editing tools:

  1. Hand Tool
  2. Copy Tool
  3. Link Tool
  4. Handwriting Settings Tool
  5. Selection Tool

The mind map side toolbar contains 7 tools, which can be grouped into 2 categories by purpose The mind map side toolbar contains 7 tools, which can be grouped into 2 categories by purpose

1 Outline

Outline

  • The outline is a minimalist representation of the mind map: its compact layout makes it easy to browse and edit.
  • Tap the Outline button (shown in the icon above) to expand the Outline view. Just like using Mubu, you can quickly create and modify the mind map by editing the outline.

💡 For more on using the outline, see: Outline Editing and Indentation, Outline Display and Sorting, Outline Filtering and Search.

2 Card Grouping Board

Card Grouping Board

💡 For more on using the card grouping board, see: Zettelkasten-styled Card Box View, Card Grouping Board ②: Auto-generate a Mind Map from the Board to Build Your Personal Knowledge Collection

3 Hand Tool

Hand Tool - Mind Map

  • Used to select and move mind map cards
  • Long-press a blank area of the mind map to start a rectangular drag that frames cards, enabling multi-selection.
  • 🖼️ Image, where you can set quick options for mind map cards.
  • Quick Merge: when enabled, by default 🖼️ Image, 🖼️ Image.
  • New Card Title First: when enabled, 🖼️ Image

Double-tap to open the hand tool settings panel Double-tap to open the hand tool settings panel

Drag a card onto the left side of a target card to merge them Drag a card onto the left side of a target card to merge them

Drag onto the right side of a target card to make it a child card Drag onto the right side of a target card to make it a child card

Content entered when creating a new card becomes the card's title by default; if unchecked, it becomes the card's comment by default. Content entered when creating a new card becomes the card's title by default; if unchecked, it becomes the card's comment by default.

4 Copy Tool

Copy

🖼️ Image, where you set the quick options for dragging mind map cards

  • Drag to Copy as Reference: drag a card to quickly copy it as a reference
  • Drag to Copy as Clone: drag a card to quickly copy it as a clone
  • Drag to Cut: drag a card to quickly move it as a cut

The difference between clone and reference: a cloned node is a replica of a node card, while a referenced node is a mirror of a node. For example, if you clone card A to get card B, then editing card A will not sync to card B; but if you reference card A to get card B, card B will sync with card A's changes. See: Card Copying: Clone and Reference.

💡 The copy tool lets you handle card-copying tasks efficiently and automatically. Besides the copy tool, you can also use the Cut / Copy as Clone / Copy as Reference functions in the card pop-up menu. See: Cut, Copy, and Paste Cards

Double-tap to open the copy tool settings panel Double-tap to open the copy tool settings panel

Drag to Copy as Reference Drag to Copy as Reference

Drag to Copy as Clone Drag to Copy as Clone

Drag to Cut Drag to Cut

Link

🖼️ Image, where you set the quick options for creating links by dragging mind map cards

  • Drag for One-way Link: when enabled, 🖼️ Image
  • Drag for Two-way Link: when enabled, 🖼️ Image

Double-tap to open the link tool settings panel Double-tap to open the link tool settings panel

Animated demo: drag a card on the mind map to create a one-way link Animated demo: drag a card on the mind map to create a one-way link

Animated demo: drag a card on the mind map to create a two-way link Animated demo: drag a card on the mind map to create a two-way link

💡 For more on card links, see: Card Links ①| One-way and Two-way Links: Free Association Across Hierarchies, Card Links ②| Card Unique ID and URL: Linking Across Mind Maps and Study Sets

6 Handwriting Settings Tool

Mind Map Handwriting Tool

🖼️ Image, where you set the mind map handwriting layer, handwriting binding, mind map focus, and more.

  • New Sketch Layer: creates a new mind map handwriting layer. See MindMap Handwriting Layers: Manage Your Annotations in Layers.
  • Bind Handwriting to the selected card: select a card first, and then when you write, the handwriting is automatically bound to that card (later, when you move the card, the handwriting moves along with it)
  • Auto Switch the selected card when writing on the card: when you write on a card, the current card is selected by default and the handwriting is bound to it.
  • Double Tap the Card to Enter the Focus: see Mind Map Focus.
  • MindMap Gesture: use the handwriting tool to draw a curve between cards to create a link between mind map cards. See for details.

Double-tap to open the MindMap Handwriting Settings panel Double-tap to open the MindMap Handwriting Settings panel

7 Selection Tool

When you need to select multiple non-adjacent cards, the selection tool is more convenient than the hand tool: click each target card in turn, or long-press a blank area to start a rectangular drag that frames the target cards.

💡 The difference between the hand tool and the selection tool (finger/mouse) when selecting cards:

  • Selection tool: suitable for all kinds of scenarios, and especially useful when the target cards are scattered and need to be selected one by one.
  • Hand tool (finger/mouse): quick and easy—long-press a blank area and then frame the target cards; best when the target cards are packed closely together.

Use the selection tool to select all the yellow cards one by one Use the selection tool to select all the yellow cards one by one

Use a rectangular drag to quickly select all cards in an area Use a rectangular drag to quickly select all cards in an area