How to export a mind map to Word as plain document?

torgrim shared this question 2 years ago
Answered

Did this change in MM21?

Why can't I no more export my mind maps as plain Word documents, without any bullet points and fluff?

  1. Central topic = Title style in Word
  2. Main topics = Heading 1 style
  3. Subtopic (level 1) = Heading 2 style
  4. Subtopic (level 2) = Heading 3 style
  5. Notes and rest = Normal (Body paragraph) style

With NO intendations and bullet points(!!!) (I want it to look like a normal document)

"Make Word export great again!"

Replies (6)

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The new export facility is a bit more complex than in previous versions, but it actually gives you more control. It also has the advantage that the exported document uses the actual Word styles in the Word template you select, not a MindManager version of these styles.

However, you have to pay attention as you work through the Word export dialogue. The first thing is to chose Custom Export, then select the various options you want as you go through Export Settings; if you don't want the "fluff' you can choose the "Don't include" option under most of the Content categories.

Then, under Document Formatting, you need to make some key choices. In my experience the best way to control numbering is to select Template numbering and then in the subsequent Template & Style dialogue select the Custom Word template you want to use. Under Style Mapping you need to check that the styles match the topic levels as per the list you provided in your question.

It's important to pay attention here as sometimes (for some strange reason) the sequence of Word Heading styles doesn't match the Topic Level sequence, and this can change even during successive exports. It's also important to check that Normal is selected as the style for Notes and anything else you want to appear in the exported document as normal text.

This should eliminate the bullet points issue - I haven't had any problem with this. However, I agree that indenting is a problem, as in my exports the normal paragraph text is always indented even when the Normal style in the template isn't. I have found a simple if strange solution, which is to use Word's Replace facility to find paragraphs formatted with the Normal Style - and replace the formatting with the Normal Style.

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Thanks Alex, that's really helpful!

I have been doing exactly as you say, but no matter what I do I end up with the indentations. Lot of work to fix/make the document look normal, and then I can't edit the source mind map anymore (since so much work to do all the work again in the Word document when re-exporting).

I have used a workaround editing the multi-list in Word, but quite time consuming...

Your "find-and-replace style in Word" method is much quicker. Only takes about a minute to reformat the whole document/remove the errors from the export. Thanks! :)

For others wondering what the heck we are talking about:

1. Do the export (with no numbering and Word Normal.dotm template) from MindMananger (MM: File > Export > Word)

2. In the exported Word document click Word [Home]: Replace

3. Click in the Find What field > Format > Style = Normal

4. Click in the Replace With field > Format > Style = Normal

5. Click the "Replace all" button


Do the same for Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.

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It’s strange but the only indentation issue I have is with comments and anything else formatted in the normal style.

I’m not at my computer just now so I can’t check this, but in your steps you say selected no numbering. I was wondering if you tried Template numbering? That’s what I use and I don’t seem to have a problem with headings indenting.

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I have chosen "Document formatting" = "Don't include numbering". If I choose "Word numbering" or "Map numbering" (and Word's Normal.dotm template), I get all sorts of indentations and numbering in addition (that I have to get rid off).

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Hi,

which version are you working with?

21.0 or 21.1 - there was an update update the word export

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I am using the latest 21.1. The Word export failed in 21.0 and it stills fails in 21.1. Fail is a strong word... it works, but you end up with all these irritating defects (missing style mapping, indentations, bullet points, etc.) in the final Word document, and you have to use a lot of time to get rid of them/reformat your document.

Sorry, I'm becoming a grumpy, old man, but in this case it's safe to say "Everything was better in the past!" :)

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Hi Torgrim, I truly feel with you.

Word export is one of my most used features. All our quality management documents, every meeting protocol and even our scientific articles are written with MindManager and exported to Word.

If I use my standard Word template for the export, it fails in the way you described.

If I export my maps using the MindManager standard Word template it looks better.

I exported a new mindmap, no content, to create a standard Word template from this export. I used this empty Word file to create my own Word template with header, footer an page numbers, saved it as .dotx

Than it works much better. Hope this will help you do 🤞

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Thanks for the tip Andreas! I will try that out.


However, we use a few different Word templates (meeting-, plan-, guide-, manual, book, etc.), and it was so nice in the past to just export to Word, switch to chosen Word template, and all the styles/headings mapped and changed accordingly.

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So as I 🙄

We had many discussions during the beta about this export and it's still not solved for my needs.

I had to adapt all my export templates.

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