Use the Map Templates Organizer

A Map Template is, basically, a map that contains some pre-defined content. Map templates can give you a jump-start on creating frequently-used maps and can provide consistency in content and structure.

MindManager comes with a set of Map Templates to help you create maps quickly. One special template, called New Blank Map, is used by default each time you create a new, blank map, or you can choose to begin a map with another template. See Create a new map for more information on creating a map from a template.

A subset of templates appears in the New Map dialog. To see the entire collection of templates, you use the Template Organizer.

What do you want to do?

 

Use the Organizer

You can view and manage your entire collection of Map Templates in the Template Organizer:

Collections and folders

The template list shows all the available collections and the templates they contain. To further organize your templates, you may create folders within the collections, and move templates between the folders.

To create a new folder:

  1. On the Template Organizer Map Templates tab, click the collection where you want to add the folder.

  2. Under Folder commands click New.

  3. Enter the name for the new folder.

  4. Under Folder commands, the Delete and Rename commands in this group apply to entire folders. If you delete a folder, all the templates it contains will also be deleted.

To reorganize templates:

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Modify an existing template from the Organizer

  1. On the Design tab, in the Templates group, click Template organizer to open the Template Organizer.

  2. On the Template Organizer Map Templates tab, click the template you want to modify. (The default template used for new maps is called New Blank Map.)

  3. If you want to modify a copy of the template and keep the original, under Template Commands, click Duplicate to create a copy, then select the copy you just created.
  1. Click Modify.

  2. Make changes to the Map Template as desired, using the normal map editing commands.

  3. Map Templates also contain their own theme settings for default formatting of topics and objects. When you use a Map Template as the basis for a new map, the theme of the new map comes from the template. You can modify these settings just as you would for any map.

  4. To change the template's description, click the File tab, click Info, and then click Properties. On the Summary tab, enter a description in the Comments field.

  5. To save the modified template, on the Quick Access Toolbar, click Save save_button.bmp

  6. See  Create and modify Map Templates for how to modify a Map Template that does not appear in the Organizer.

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Create and save a new Map Template in the Organizer

Save the template in the organizer

You can save a new template so that it automatically appears in the Organizer using commands there:

  1. On the Design tab, in the Templates group, click Template Organizer.

  2. On the Organizer's Map Templates tab click Add New Map Template, and then click From Current Map.

  3. The template is automatically saved using the current map name. If you want to change this, under Template Commands click Rename and enter a new name.

  4. To save a template in a different location, use the File tab's Save & Send, Change File Type command. If you use the Organizer to save the template it is automatically saved in the default template location and is also available again from the Organizer. Using the File tab commands lets you save the template file in a different location, but it does not add the template to the Organizer.

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Add a Map Template to the Organizer from a file (*.mmat)

You can add a template to the organizer from a template file (*.mmat). This may be a file that you have received from a colleague, or a standard template that's been designed for use on all corporate maps, or just for a particular project. Adding it to the organizer makes it easier to locate and use.

  1. On the Design tab, in the Templates group, click Map Templates.

  2. On the Organizer's Map Templates tab, in the list of templates, click the folder where you want to add the new template.

  3. Click Add New Map Template, and then click From Existing Template. Navigate to the template file in the dialog box, and then click Open.

  4. Once the template is added to the list, you can rename it by clicking Rename under Template Commands.

  5. You can use the Template Organizer to further manage your templates by grouping them into collections.

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See also:

Create a new map

Create and modify Map Templates