Steps 1 and 2 explored linking individual topics
to other topics; in the same map and also in other maps. This
is sufficient for tracking interdependency between groups of
activities. It is however, insufficient for tracking journal
activities undertaken with- in your multi- map structure. For
example, the task detail roll-up will tell you priority, dates etc,
but in the parent maps you'll have limited visibility of actions
taken towards completing your tasks, because up until now we have
only explored localised use of the Journal capability.
The powerful journal capture capability of
TPAssist can be extended into multi- maps. This is achieved
by linking the Central Topic of sub maps to the parent maps,
therefore allowing TPAssist to know where to add further journal
entries. This multi-map journal feature has two
modes:
A. Simple sub-map linkage
B. Tree Structure enabled sub-map linkage
We will now explore the capabilities of each of
these modes.
1) Return to the "My Summer Holiday" map, under
"The Office" sub topic, find the "Hand-over work activities to team
members" topic.
2) Click on the link icon (
) and drop into the linked
map.
Before
we create the map links, let's add a journal entry.
3) Right Click on "Invoices" topic and choose
"TPAssist Journal".
4) Choose "TASK" and enter "Prepared list of
invoices due next month". IN ADDITION, change the Flag to
RED. Then click OK.
Notice
now how the Journal tree has an entry for today.
If you
were to return the "My Summer Holiday" at this point you'd notice
no changes.
Let's
now create the link to the parent map.
5) Back in "Team Hand-Over activities" map,
select the Central Topic.
8) From the toolbar, choose the Hyperlink tool (
)
9) In the select link dialogue, choose "Existing
File or Web Page", then use the OPEN icon to find your "My Summer
Holiday" map (NB: You may need to change the "Files of Type" at the
bottom of this dialogue to see your maps). Click OK to create the
link.
This
should create a hyperlink to your parent map.
Now we
will create another journal entry on our invoices and hopeful see
the parent map's journal updated.
10) Right Click on "Invoices" topic and choose
"TPAssist Journal".
11) Choose "MEETING" and enter "Met with Kim and
discussed invoices due next month", ALSO in the Status Text enter
"Must e- mail list to Kim". Click Ok.
Now,
lets swap back to "My Summer Holiday" and review the
Journal.
12) Switch to "My Summer Holiday" map, expand the
Journal sub-topic, find the year, month and date applicable to day
and hover your mouse over the Notes icon.
You
will notice that a journal entry has been added to the notes.
The journal entry has the sub-map's central topic ('Team Hand-over
activities'), the sub-topic name ('Operations') and the topic
('Invoices'). This indicates that today an activity took
place on the 'Invoices' topic of your hand-over activities
map.
This
process has just demonstrated the "Simple sub-map linkage"
journal linkage mode.
In the
next few steps we will explore how you can expand the capability to
give your multi- maps context. This is known as the "Tree
Structure enabled sub- map linkage" mode.
Let's
start by reviewing the "Hand-Over work to team members"
activity. This topic is linked it to the sub map. Remember
how in the step 4 above, we changed the sub map and put a red flag
the "Invoices" topic. Let's manually refresh the
status.
13) In "My Summer Holiday" and choose the central
topic, in the export toolbar at the bottom of the window, choose
the TPAssist icon, then choose the "Tree Update" tab, Now choose
"All" in the scope, and click "Master Mode", then click OK.
The
"Hand-over work activities to team members" topic and parent topics
should now have a red flags.
14) Now drop back into the "Team Hand-Over
activities" sub map, by clicking on the link icon (
) on the "Hand- over work
activities to team members" topic.
15) In the "Team Hand-Over activities" map,
select the Central Topic.
16) From the toolbar, choose the Hyperlink tool (
)
17) How choose the "Select Topic..."
button.
18) Now expand the tree viewer and select
"Hand-over work activities to team members", then click OK.
You
have now linked the sub-map to a sub-topic with-in your parent
map.
Our
next task is to create a journal entry against one of the topics in
this map so we can see how the journal feature operates in "Tree
Structure enabled sub- map linkage" mode.
19) Right Click on "Invoices" topic and choose
"TPAssist Journal".
20) Choose "E-MAIL" and enter "Sent invoice list
to Kim". IN ADDITION, change the Flag to GREEN. Then
click OK.
Now
let's explore the parent map.
21) Switch to "My Summer Holiday" map, expand the
Journal sub-topic, find the year, month and date applicable to day
and hover your mouse over the Notes icon.
You
will notice that a journal entry has been added to the notes.
The journal entry has the parent map's context ("The Office"), then
the activity with-in the parent context ("Hand-over work ac...")
and finally, the details with-in the sub map, i.e.. the sub-topic
name ('Operations') and the topic ('Invoices').
In
addition to updating master journal's with full context, the
"Tree Structure enabled sub- map linkage" mode also updates
the topic notes for all parent topics as illustrated here for
"Hand-Over work activities to team members" and "The Office"
subtopic.
The
final aspect to the "Tree Structure enabled sub-map linkage"
mode is the automatic update of task status. Remember how in
the "Simple sub-map linkage" mode we had to manually
perform a "Master Mode" tree update in order to get the Red Flag
from the sub- map.
With
"Tree Structure enabled sub- map linkage" mode the Green
Flag has automatically been transferred and updated up the
tree.
1. MODULE 1: Getting Started
) (TIP: In
MindManager 7, the Hyperlink tool is on the Home Ribbon
Tab).
)
) to drop into the linked
map.
