ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

I just received this communication from Gideon King about the upcoming release of NovaMind 4 Pro for Windows. Taking a look at the screenshots you can see that a lot of work has gone into the interface and making the program even easier to use. Take a look at this link to see some of the screenshots. You can see that NovaMind 4 Pro takes advantage of the Ribbon User Interface which puts all of the features just a simple click away.

We are pleased to announce that NovaMind 4 Pro for Windows is now in Beta testing. We are working through the remaining issues as quickly as we can. There have been some unforeseen technical issues along the way, but these have almost all been resolved (just one significant issue remaining), and the remainder of the work is bug fixes and putting the finishing touches to some parts of the functionality. The actual path from here to release depends to a large extent on the number of issues we encounter as we go through the testing and tidy up process, so we are hoping for a smooth path from here.

I have taken this opportunity to create screenshots of all the different tabs in the new ribbon bar, and write brief descriptions of the functionality. As you will see, it has changed dramatically since NovaMind 3, and our usability studies show that it is far easier to learn, navigate, and use. I have updated the pre-release information page to show the new features. Here is a link to the information page with the screenshots on it:

Gideon King had emailed me information in his NovaMind Newsletter to share with me all the exciting new features that will be in the release of NovaMind 4 Pro for Windows. You can see from the list below that the new feature set is considerable. Gideon is also looking for users who are interested in doing beta testing for NovaMind 4 Pro. It is a great opportunity to work with the application before it is released and get a chance to provide the company with valuable feedback.

Below are some of the new features of NovaMind 4 - the hyperlinks will open images showing you the items:

• Create new documents from templates
• A template chooser, showing you the templates available and with the ability to select themes and see instantly how it will change your selected Mind Map template, and then creation of your Mind Map using that template and theme.
• New ribbon bar with commands grouped into Home, Insert, Design, View and Format options, meaning that there is much less switching between tabs - most operations can be accomplished from the home tab.
• New text handling system so that the text commands can be used on branches even when you are not editing the text, and even handle multiple branch selections from the same interface.
• Instant preview of line weight, line style, fonts, and corner settings so you can see what it is going to look like before you apply it.
• Layout settings panel showing you a preview of how your Mind Map will look when you apply the selected branch spacing to the Mind Map
• Selection of themes, with instant preview of the theme applied when you mouse over a theme.
• Selection of map styles , again with instant preview when you mouse over the style.
• A special formatting floating panel which allows you to set the graphical attributes of the branch or graphic all from one place.
• Background settings floating panel with all the background settings in one place.
• Graphic style selector with instant preview of the style as applied to selected branches.
• New tabs for multiple Mind Maps, with preview of the Mind Maps as you move your mouse over the tabs, menu based selection of Mind Maps for documents with many Mind Maps, and the ability to scroll through the tabs, drag them into a different order, and drag them onto other documents to copy the Mind Map to the other document.
• Document View where you can work with the map settings of multiple documents at the same time.
• A new sidebar. The sidebar has multiple tabs, the first holding the graphic library with adornments and graphics available to be selected and dragged on to your Mind Map. The second tab is for branch notes, where you can type your notes - you can also drag graphics from the graphics library on to the notes tab to add them to your notes. The third tab is the outline view which allows you to work with your Mind Map outline directly.

Gideon King, the developer of NovaMind Mind Mapping application has released a wonderful resource for educators who are using mind mapping in the classroom. The book is visually very appealing and the content will certainly help teachers to think about how they can use mind mapping effectively in the classroom across the curriculum. A Teacher's Guide to Mind Mapping is generously packed with beautifully printed mind maps in full color and clearly shows the power of this tool for students. As someone who is a specialist in working with students with disabilities, I have been a real advocate of the power of these tools with students with a range of learning disabilities. Mr. King in his book talks about the advantages of mind mapping and how it can facilitate memory, comprehension, and learning in the classroom. Mr. King illustrates the many ways that mind mapping can be used across the curriculum and the power of using visuals to address the needs of students with varying learning styles. If you are new to mind mapping or need some new ideas of how to use mind mapping technique and strategies then you will want to pick up a copy of Teacher's Guide to Mind Mapping.