Chinese and French Localization
This updates adds two new localizations to MindNode Pro. Anakin Zheng provided a Chinese and Olivier Metter a French localization of MindNode Pro. Thank you!

Improved Visual File Links Handling
I considerably improved the handling of visual file links. They are no longer stored and handled as absolute file links by the application, but as aliases. This means that in most cases moving or renaming a linked file won’t break the link.
In addition, MindNode will now also try to restore links relative to the MindNode document. This means if you move a MindNode document to an other Mac and keep the linked files relative to the document, MindNode will be able to restore those links.
Besides those background changes, there are also two related user facing enhancements:

• There is now a menu item and context menu item to show the linked file in Finder.
• When the application is unable to open a linked file, it will now present a dialog that will allow to fix the broken link

Full Release Notes (MindNode Pro)

• Major improved handling of visual file links. They are no longer stored and handled as absolute file links, but as aliases. This means that in most cases moving or renaming a linked file won’t break the link.
• When transferring documents between Macs, MindNode will now also try to resolve links relative to the mindnode document.
• Added the ability to fix a broken visual file link manually.
• New menu item and context menu item to show linked files in Finder.
• New menu item for adding text links.
• Added French and Chinese localization.
• Added a preference to remap the Space-key to the old canvas dragging behavior.
• Text insertion pointer adapts to background color.
• Shift-clicking no longer creates a new connection. They are only created when also moving the mouse position.
• Text links are no longer lost during reconnecting.
• Text attributes are no longer inherited from new supernodes during reconnecting.
• Resolved an issue related to smart layout and left aligned nodes.
• New node are now created clockwise around the main node.
• No longer leave edit mode when drag and dropping text or colors.
• The filename is now shown beside the title of the mind map in the sharing window.
• Small images are no longer scaled up when importing them into a document.
• Unfold a node when inserting a new subnode.
• Correctly imports rich text content of FreeMind 0.9.0 documents.
• MindNode will no longer prevent ejecting of discs if a visual file link points to them.
• Fixes several memory leaks.
• Fixed a flickering issue when deleting text.
• Correctly scroll view when entering text.
• It’s now easier to grab resizing and moving handlers.

Release Notes

• Enables fast app switching on iOS4.
• Enables opening of MindNodeTouch, FreeMind & OPML documents on iOS3.2+. (Support for opening MindNode documents created on the desktop will follow in a future update).
• Resolves an issue related to restoring the last open document.
• New or imported documents are now added at the top of the document list.
• Fixes an issue related to mailing a png representations of the mind map.
• Added support for retaining document attributes (e.g. author, comments,…) for documents imported from the desktop.

I’m very sorry for any delays this might cause.

(*) We will travel to British Columbia and Alberta (Canada).

Edit: I disabled comments until I’m back from my vacation.

Edit #2: I’m back from my vacation and I reenabled comments.

Fullscreen mode
One issue I would like to specially focus on is fullscreen mode when using it on a secondary display. I was finally able to debug this issue and while working on it I also realized that using fullscreen mode on a secondary display requires a different handling of fullscreen mode.

When using fullscreen mode on a secondary display, MindNode Pro will now no longer hide the dock and main menu and it will stay in fullscreen mode when loosing focus. Those changes will enable blowing up MindNode Pro on a secondary display while working on other stuff on the main screen.

Pricing
In early September – when I released MindNode Pro 1.4 - I announced that I’ll increase the price of MindNode Pro to US $24.99 in three months when I release the next major version. Sadly it took me a lot longer to get this release done, and starting today MindNode Pro will be priced at US $24.95.

MindNode Pro 1.5.1 Release Notes

• Fixes a bug that prevented the creation of a new cross connection when only one node was selected.
• Resolves an issue that prevented removing of links.
• Correctly enables and disables inspector link controls.
• All cross connection are now drawn correctly during PDF and PNG export.
• New implementation of fullscreen support when using full screen mode on an external monitor (this only effects fullscreen mode when run on a second monitor):
  • The full screen window is now positioned correctly on the second monitor.
  • Dock and main menu no longer hide.
  • The fullscreen mode no longer exits when focusing on an other application.
• Correctly apply padding during PDF and PNG export.
• Correctly resize the image when a linked file updates.
• Fixes visual file link image generation on 10.5.
• Added keyboard shortcuts for superscript and subscript.
• Fixes several typos in the german localization.
• Resolves several memory leaks.

Download MindNode Pro

Release Notes

Image Nodes
MindNode Pro now supports images in nodes. Simply drag and drop them from Finder or the media browser to add them to existing nodes.

Visual File Links
Besides images, MindNode Pro now also supports a new way to create file links. Links are visualized using the icon preview used in Finder and it’s possible to activate a QuickLook preview from within the application (10.6-only). MindNode Pro will also detect changes and update the used preview image.

Upgraded Toolbar
New toolbar items for creating cross connections, folding, fullscreen mode, sharing and media browser.

Redesigned Inspector
Several parts of the inspector were updated in this release:

• Node width constraining is now a lot simpler and easier to use.
• Text attributes are now on a new tab and alignment controls now also work when not in edit mode.
• Text link creation was decreased in complexity.

Document wide spellchecking
Spell checking is now available for the entire document and not only when editing a node title.

Other Enhancements

• MindNode is now using a zip based file format. This will greatly improve integration of MindNode documents with 3rd party applications/services.
• Autoscroll canvas when creating cross connection
• New preference to enable Smart Layout for new documents.
• New Preference to toggle inheriting node attributes during reconnecting. Inheriting is now also on by default.
• Shortcuts for quickly accessing Inspector tabs.
• Enhanced style of node creation well and folding tool.
• The text view when editing text is now always on top of other nodes and draws an appropriate background.
• Resizing knob drawing cleaned up.
• The dragged node is now drawn transparent to allow easier reconnecting of larger nodes.
• Fade in and out effect during folding and unfolding.
• Cross Connection creation via the main menu now also works when having more than two nodes selected.
• Several undo grouping issues resolved.
• Resolves a spinning wheel issue when using iPhone sharing
• Solves several german localization errors.
• During reconnecting, new nodes are now placed below existing nodes when Smart Layout is enabled.
• Minor UI changes in iPhone sharing window.
• Resolves an issue with asian characters during OPML and FreeMind export.
• The main menu bar no longer blinks when navigation the map with the arrow keys.
• Select the target of a cross connection when double clicking on the knob.
• Corrects a sorting issue when using OPML export.
• …

MindNode (touch) Support
Images and file attachments are currently not supported by MindNode (touch). This will be resolved in a future MindNode (touch) update.

Download MindNode (free)

Release Notes:

Node with constraining
MindNode now supports the same node width constraining abilities as MindNode Pro.

Document wide spellchecking
Spell checking is now available for the entire document and not only when editing a node title.

Other Enhancements

• MindNode is now using a zip based file format. This will greatly improve integration of MindNode documents with 3rd party applications/services.
• Shortcuts for quickly accessing Inspector tabs.
• Enhanced style of node creation well.
• The text view when editing text is now always on top of other nodes and draws an appropriate background.
• The dragged node is now drawn transparent to allow easier positioning of larger nodes.
• Several undo grouping issues resolved.
• Solves several german localization errors.
• Resolves an issue with asian characters during OPML and FreeMind export.
• The main menu bar no longer blinks when navigation the map with the arrow keys.
• Corrects a sorting issue when using OPML export.
• …

Update: I had to rerelease MindNode 1.5 as I made the mistake of not including 10.5 support in the released build. Redownloading the application will solve the issue. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience this has caused!

Updated File Format
Files created and saved with MindNode Pro 1.5 won’t open in previous versions. I needed to updated the file format to support newer feature and to improve the overall compatibility with third party applications and services. Starting with 1.5 .mindnode-files are no longer file bundles (folder which look like single files in Finder, but are in fact folders), but zip-archives. This change will probably break your workflow if you depend on the QuickLook image included in the bundle.

One important other reason for this update was to allow me to improve iPhone sharing in the near future.

Drag the canvas with the mouse
In previous versions it was possible to drag the canvas with the mouse when holding the space key. This functionality conflicted with the QuickLook integration and I decided to drop it from MindNode Pro. Newer input methods – multi touch trackpads and mice with scrolling capabilities – pretty much replaced this way of navigating.

Node width constraining
I always disliked the way node width constraining was presented in the inspector. Without reading the documentation it was hardly understandable and too complex considering the simplistic approach of MindNode.
For 1.5 we redesigned constraining from the group up and in favour of keeping it simple we removed the ability to have unconstrained nodes. MindNode 1.5 will automatically convert your documents to the new style when opening them.
As no constraining was the only option in the free MindNode version, I’m enabling node width constraining to users of the free version starting with 1.5.

File and Mail Links
I’m also changing the way file links and mail links are handled. File links are replaced by the new visual file links system and mail links are removed completely. However you are still able to create them manually by entering the correct formatted URL in the link field of the text inspector tab.

MindNode Pro 1.5 and MindNode 1.5 will be released in the next few days.

To celebrate I’ll sell MindNode Pro (Mac only) at a 50% discount until tomorrow (April 23rd) 2pm GMT.

I’ll also give away 15 US AppStore coupon codes of MindNode (touch). The first five are attached to this email. The other 10 will be posted on the Facebook fan page (Become a Fan) and the MindNode Twitter account. (Follow on Twitter).

MindNode (touch) US AppStore Coupon Codes:
FHKAWMF6NXR3
KP4JMPHX6KER
AENRFFTKH3N6
FAP4MY6YYMRL
M6X7HLYP476T

(Please let me know if you won)

Update: The promotion has ended. Congratulations to everybody who won a free license.

Change Log:
- The node well will now respond instantaneous to user input. This change also means that it’s no longer possible to start dragging the canvas over the node well.
- Sometimes dragging a node too quickly caused the drag operation to end. This problem is resolved in this version.
- Fixes a drawing artifact when creating new nodes.

As the iPad won’t be available in Austria until later in the year, I’m sadly unable to test the application on the real device. I would be very thankful if somebody could have a close look at the app and provide me with feedback (support@mindnode.com or ping me on iChat).

Besides iPad support, this version also resolves several drawing issues.

Complete change log:
- Support for running as a native iPad application.
- Easier editing of mind map title.
- Fixes drawing bugs after rewiring or detaching node.
- Fixes drawing bugs after editing a node.
- Disabled the Edit Button in the mind map overview screen when no mind maps are available.
- Increased the web server upload cap to 1MB.

If you like MindNode, I invite you to become a Fan on Facebook or follow MindNode on Twitter.