ActivityOwner.Com – Getting Things Done with MindManager

Creating a detailed post on installing and configuring MindManager and ResultsManager has been on my someday/maybe project list for awhile. After seeing Kyle’s very useful “Top 10 Mapping shortcuts” , I thought perhaps banging out a bulleted list sooner rather than later would be useful (and get it off my list as well). The list below is just based on my personal experience and preferences. Here goes…

1. Get up to date
   The current versions of Mindmanager and ResultsManager are 6.2.399 and 2.7.7 respectively. This combination is more stable and robust than some recent versions of MindManager. Upgrade if you are using earlier versions. You can check the versions from the “Help” “About MindManager” and “About ResultsManager” menus.

   [Note: There are now also pre-release versions of GyroQ 1.9.3 and ResultsManager 2.7.8a available. The 1.9.3 pre-release for GyroQ has several fixes, including the ability to handle large packed text files and the elimination of a rich-text bug that can trip up GyroQ when importing clipboard text. The 2.7.8a ResultsManager release allows the sendchanges now command to work in GyroQ. ]

2. Always show full menus
   The ResultsManager shortcut keys (e.g. alt-e-y) won’t work correctly unless you configure MindManager under “Tools”, “Customize”, “Options”, and check the box to “always show full menus”.

3. Tell the system who you are
   You have to set your identity in two places. First for MindManager under “Tools”, “Options”, “User Information” and then for ResultsManager under “Tools”, “ResultsManager Options”, “Dashboard Options”, “me”.

   Setting your name in MindManager is important in a multi-user environment as this will tell users who to call when they try to open a document left open on your desktop. It also sets the name that shows up in the footer of a printed map. Setting your name in ResultsManager tells the system who you are and what tasks/projects you own.

   For large multi-user installations, Gyronix recommends using first and last name, but first name is fine for home use and last name (with first initial when needed) works fine in a corporate environment. Using full names still leaves nickname variability to deal with.

4. Be a Power User
   Although it is intended to provide some beginner hand-holding, I’m not sure a typical user necessarily needs the “ResultsMerlin” application. While ResultsManager is just a set of macros running within MindManager, ResultsMerlin is a separate application that requires admin rights in a corporate environment to install and can add .net complications. I think it is OK to just uncheck the box for it during installation. I’d be curious if new users have found it helpful.

   Go ahead and switch to “Power User” mode right away under “Tools”, “Change ResultsManager Mode”. You have a few more options that come up when editing activities, but you may as well start getting the feel of what the software can do.

5. Turn off auto-recovery
   The last few versions of MindManager will sometimes spontaneously crash several minutes after using ResultsManager or GyroQ. I traced this to the time MindManager was trying saving auto-recovery information. If you turn off auto-recovery (“Tools”, “Options”, “Save”, uncheck “Save AutoRecover”), then these crashes go away. You will still have occasional crashes, so you need to get in the habit of hitting Control-S or Alt-F-L (Thanks Kyle) often. It seems to be less of a problem with 6.2.399, but I’m hesitant to venture back.

6. Disable Outlook Synchronization Support (unless you need it)
   If you disable Outlook linking, you gain the ability to set a start date without a due date and vice versa. Outlook linking requires either neither or both to be set (Tools, ResultsManager Options, Support MM/Outlook synchronization).

7. Reduce interaction during dashboard generation
   If you like to regenerate your dashboards overnight or walk away while they are refreshing, set up ResultsManager to ignore missing maps (Tools, ResultsManager Options, Dashboard Options) and to use fewer confirmation messages (Tools, ResultsManager Options). Just make sure to clean up broken links routinely using the Multimap checker (Tools, Macro, Macros, ResultsManager MultiMap Checker).

8. Exclude notes from dashboards
   They can slow down dashboard generation (Tools, ResultsManager Options, Dashboard Options, Exclude Topic Notes).

9. Tell MindManager not to fix hyper-links
   If you at some point get prompted by MindManager that “Map location has changed, update hyperlinks”, say no (and no for good). In my experience the cure is often worst than the disease and you end up with broken links.

10. Watch out for interactions with other add-ins
    Things change over time, but in the past, the use of some Mindjet labs add-ins (e.g. map explorer) have led to instability with ResultsManager.

11. Use filenames as your map tabs
    If you often have several maps open at once, you can keep your workbooks tabs manageable by keeping your filenames short and using filenames as your tab labels instead of central topic text (Tools, Options, View, Workbook Tabs).

12. Take a break
    MindManager gets “tired” after extended usage of ResultsManager or GyroQ. Just save your files, quit the application, and launch it again, and things perk up.

Have some tips to add? Comment below.