Bug when importing Word documents formatted with MindManager paragraph styles
Previously you could re-import a Word document which had been exported from MindManager and expect the results to look close to the originally exported map, with various topic attributes like priority and progress assigned to the appropriate topics. This was because the export process applied unique MindManager versions of the Word paragraph styles not only to topics and topic notes, but also to the exported topic attributes, which MindManager recognised on import.
Obviously this was useful for "roundtripping" documents, ie, exporting a map, making minor changes to the document and then re-importing it into Word, but the MM styles once exported to Word could also be used to format other documents. This was really helpful, for example for importing and making a map of a documents which incorporated lots of hyperlinks, for example a structured list of research references.
Sadly, this was broken in MM21 and the problem continues in MM22. The export process has been revamped to provide much greater control over the Word export process so you can now export documents using Word's inbuilt styles, but there is still an option to export a map using the MindManager styles, and you can still apply these to other documents in Word.
However, on import any items formatted with styles related to topic attributes are now all added to the map's central topic. This includes hyperlinks, so instead of these being distributed around the map attached to the relevant topics they now appear as a long and useless list on the central topic.
The only alternative is to format paragraphs containing hyperlinks in the default Word Normal style which means they end up in topic notes, but this largely defeats the purpose of setting up the map, particularly if you want to publish it and make these hyperlinks accessible to users just by clicking on the relevant topics.
Hopefully this is an unintentional rather than intentional change (I'd be very disappointed if it was the latter) and can be easily fixed. In the longer term however I'd like to see a Word equivalent of the Excel Data Mapper for importing files, as I suggested a couple of months ago, to giver greater control over the Word import process and to ensure that imported or re-imported topic attributes and hyperlinks are handled properly: https://community.mindmanager.com/topic/1462-develop-an-equivalent-to-the-excel-data-mapper-for-importing-word-files
The image below illustrates the problem. On the left is the original Word document which has three hyperlinked URLs, each under separate headings, formatted with the MM Hyperlink Word style. In the middle is the resulting map after the file was imported into MindManager 20, with these hyperlinks properly located with the relevant topics. On the right is the map after the file was imported into MindManager 22, in which all the hyperlinks have been incorrectly located under the central topic.
The image below illustrates the problem. On the left is the original Word document which has three hyperlinked URLs, each under separate headings, formatted with the MM Hyperlink Word style. In the middle is the resulting map after the file was imported into MindManager 20, with these hyperlinks properly located with the relevant topics. On the right is the map after the file was imported into MindManager 22, in which all the hyperlinks have been incorrectly located under the central topic.
Hi Alex,
To map links to corresponding level of topics you should add indent before the link. Indent for link line should be bigger than indent for related topic. It has been made for backward compatibility with new Word Export: items like links are exported to the document with indent relative to the parent topic and it's always bigger than for the topic. Indent can be different depending on topic level and it's set up by Word after the export. That's why it can't be predefined in MM Hyperlinks style.
You have to set indent for link line manually or save it in the style if indent of parent topic never changes.
Thanks,
Alex
Hi Alex,
To map links to corresponding level of topics you should add indent before the link. Indent for link line should be bigger than indent for related topic. It has been made for backward compatibility with new Word Export: items like links are exported to the document with indent relative to the parent topic and it's always bigger than for the topic. Indent can be different depending on topic level and it's set up by Word after the export. That's why it can't be predefined in MM Hyperlinks style.
You have to set indent for link line manually or save it in the style if indent of parent topic never changes.
Thanks,
Alex
Thanks for this Alex.
It's great that there is a simple workaround and that this very useful feature has been preserved.
I have done a bit of experimenting with this and it's interesting how it works. This is what I've discovered so far:
I'd certainly be interested to hear of other people's experiences with this.
Thanks for this Alex.
It's great that there is a simple workaround and that this very useful feature has been preserved.
I have done a bit of experimenting with this and it's interesting how it works. This is what I've discovered so far:
I'd certainly be interested to hear of other people's experiences with this.
Thank you!!!
Thank you!!!
I've documented how this process works with MindManager 21 and 22 here: https://sociamind.com/2023/01/31/mindmanager-gaps-and-tricks-4-how-to-include-hyperlinks-and-task-and-topic-information-when-importing-a-word-document-mm21-22-update/
I've documented how this process works with MindManager 21 and 22 here: https://sociamind.com/2023/01/31/mindmanager-gaps-and-tricks-4-how-to-include-hyperlinks-and-task-and-topic-information-when-importing-a-word-document-mm21-22-update/
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