Tutorial

This walkthrough shows how to use the app and explains features you'll find while exploring the mind map on the home page.

Quick orientation

• The canvas has a single core keyword in the center. All other keywords branch from it (directly or indirectly).
• A selected keyword is highlighted. When a keyword is selected, new keywords are created as its children.
• Most editing happens directly on the canvas: add, edit, drag, delete, style.

Creating keywords

• Click any empty spot on the canvas while a keyword is selected to create a new child keyword for the selected word.
• Double-click a keyword to select it and open inline editing for its text. Press Enter to submit the edit.
• Empty keywords are automatically removed when editing is cancelled or submitted empty.

Selecting, navigating and dragging

• Single click selects a keyword.
• Double click focuses inline editing for a specific keyword.
• Drag a keyword to reposition it on the canvas.

Branches and map-level actions

• You can create a new map from a branch — useful for splitting ideas into separate maps.
• Delete an entire branch from the branch controls.

Styling (Map / Branch / Keyword)

Styles follow a cascading model

• App-level styles (available in UI settings) provide defaults for new maps or not set mind map settings.
• Map-level styles (set in the Mind Map Settings) provide defaults for branches and keywords. Map-level styles override App-level styles.
• Branch-level styles override map defaults for a whole branch.
• Keyword-level styles override both branch and map styles for a single keyword.

Available visual shortcut options:

• Borders around keywords — enable / disable with Show Borders Around Nodes. If disabled in editor, all previously set borders will be removed.

• Keyword background — enable / disable with Show Keywords Background (when disabled keywords inherit the map background color). If disabled in editor, all previously set keywords background will be removed.

• Lines vs. curves — choose Use Lines Instead of Curves to change connector style.

• Size-level dependency — when enabled, keyword font sizes and stroke widths are adjusted per keyword level (the app computes sizes automatically).

  NOTE: I'm working on user customization of the feature, so stay tuned!.

Colors and themes

• Change mind map background color and keyword colors in the UI Settings page.
• Colors can be set at
  • Map / Branch / Keyword level
  • for text, border, background and line.

Storage and syncing

When signed in, creating, updating, deleting a map persists changes to RTDB and the app keeps local state in sync so your UI updates immediately.

Export and print

• The app supports print-friendly proportions (A4-like) when exporting or printing.
• You can export the map as PDF or PNG file.

Useful workflows

• Create a map from a branch: select a branch root and use the branch menu to create a separate map containing that branch.
• Copy a branch: duplicate a branch into the same or another map to reuse structures.
• Auto-name collision handling: when saving a map, the app will avoid overwriting another map with the same slug unless you explicitly agree to rename.

Advanced editor controls

• Palette & styles modal: open the settings modal to apply colours for branches and keywords.
• The settings panel also exposes the options described above (borders, keyword backgrounds, lines / curves, size dependency).

Tips and troubleshooting

• If a visual option seems not to apply immediately, check whether you edited a branch or keyword-level style that overrides map defaults.

Happy mapping!