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NOTE: VisualRoot will not be maintained after 3/1/2013. This project is now open source and I'd be more than glad to share the source code with any interested party. If you ARE interested in the VisualRoot source, please email me at vpalmer.tx@gmail.com
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Home   What is visual root? Mind map intro Contact us   The Feedback Root    

What the hell is visual root?

In simple terms, visual root is a place to create online, collaborative mind-maps using video, images, and text.

Practically, the goal is for one person to start with an idea, or topic, and for other people to be able expand and improvise on that idea using different forms of media.

You could also view the site as an image-board of sorts, where there's an initial post or thread, and image and video (and text) responses to that thread ... and the entire thread has a mind-map like structure.


The Basics

The central format used in visual root is the "mind map". Here's an example ...

We use the term "mind map" losely here, since strictly, as envisioned by the popularly-accepted creator of the mind map Tony Buzan, a mind map is a diagram. Maps in visual root are slightly different since they are fundamentally interactive and contain several types of media:

1) Maps are entirely user created
 Users create all nodes in a visual root map by posting "responses" (videos, images, or text) to other nodes in the map.

 

2) You can move stuff
You can move every node in a map, even if you didn't create it.

 

3) You (and everyone else on the web) vote nodes larger or smaller
The sizes of all nodes in a visual root map are determined by users voting on individual nodes with the and buttons which appear when you mouse-hover over items. The more votes a node receive, the larger it is

 

4) All maps are 'live' and accessible with just a browser
All visual root maps are viewable by anyone with a web browser. When you view a map, you are automatically connected to everyone else viewing that map. If you make a change, everyone else instantly sees it. Also, you can chat and interact with other people in real time viewing the same map.

 

 

How to create mind maps in visual root

People start maps in visual root by creating a "root node". This will become the center of the mind map, and is generally a broad and hopefully inspiring topic ...

This would be an example of a decent root node for a mind map here. You can add nodes (images, videos, or text) to this root (or any other node) using the Reply Tools which are located in the top left corner of every node when you hover over it with the mouse:

Now say someone decides to post the following reply nodes ...

... and you get the idea ... on it goes ...

.. ad infinitum ...

... and, maps can actually get pretty big (and imo pretty cool looking) after awhile ...

 
 
Other stuff you'll probably figure out


  • Use the tool (visible after you hover over a node) to move nodes around

  • Mouse-wheel scroll to zoom in and out (sorry alternative platforms, help is on the way!)

  • Use the and buttons to upvote and downvote posts (which make them larger and smaller respectively)

 

Share Map Clippings

The last thing you can do here is share portions of a map with other people via Facebook. Let's say you just posted some awesome nodes to a map on visual root and now want to delight your Facebook friends with this news:

To share a clip of a map start by hovering over the node that's at the end of what you want to share

And ... click the share icon.

This will bring up the share dialog to generate a single JPEG image that summarizes all the nodes from the root to the node you're hovered over. You can exclude certain intermediate nodes if they really don't add anything to what you want to share.

 

When you're happy with the image that will be shared, just click "Share on Facebook":

 

When people click the link, they'll go to a page to see the larger version of the summary image, and an option to go to the visual root mind map display to see the nodes you shared: