Offline Mode

The MindMeister Offline Mode allows users to work on their mind maps even when they're offline, i.e. not connected to the Internet. All changes will be saved locally and synchronized back into your MindMeister account the next time you go online.

Please note: MindMeister uses Google Gears to store changes locally in Offline Mode. This technology is still in beta stage. While you should not lose any data, you might encounter some problems (e.g. freezes). In these cases please refer to the Troubleshooting chapter below.

Prerequisites

To use the offline mode the following items are required:

  • Premium Subscription or Trial Period
    You either need to be a Premium/Team subscriber or in your 30 day trial period to use the offline mode
  • Supported Browser
    You need to have Firefox 2.0 or higher, Internet Explorer 6, or Safari 3.1.1 or higher (on Tiger or Leopard) . For a detailed description see Google Gears.
  • Correct Google Gears Version
    Currently we require version 0.1.54.0 of Google Gears. It will be installed automatically once you activate offline support.
How to go offline

There are three steps to start working offline with MindMeister.

  • 1  Enable Offline Mode
  • 2  Install Google Gears
  • 3 Take maps offline

To use MindMeister offline you first need to enable the offline mode through the My Account page. Click the Enable Offline Mode button.

You will be prompted to install Google Gears (if you haven't yet done so). Click OK.

  • 1  Enable Offline Mode
  • 2  Install Google Gears
  • 3 Take maps offline

You will be redirected to the Google Gears installation page. Click the Install Google Gears (BETA) button and agree to the Terms of Service on the following page by clicking the Agree button.

Click Install in the following dialog box to confirm installation.

After successful installation please restart your web browser.

You now need to return to MindMeister and sign in. You will then be asked to allow http://www.mindmeister.com to use Google Gears. Please confirm by checking the checkbox and clicking Accept.

That's it, you're ready to start taking maps offline!


  • 1  Enable Offline Mode
  • 2  Install Google Gears
  • 3 Take maps offline

To work offline all your mind maps will need to be copied to your local computer. This is done automatically by sliding the green online/offline mode slider on the bottom right of the maps listing into the offline position.

Check all your maps which should be available offline.

A dialog will appear showing the sync progress. During the synchronizaton process you need to stay online.

After synchronization the dialog will close automatically. You are then in offline mode and can disconnect your computer from the internet.

You can leave the browser open or close it. When you want to access your offline maps simply go to http://www.mindmeister.com. You will then be connected to your local, offline version of MindMeister.

Working offline

You can edit existing mind maps as well as create new ones ones while you're offline. Other map management features (such as delete or share maps) are disabled in the offline mode.

In map view, you can use all map editing features except for:

  • Undo/Redo
  • Export
  • Print
  • History
  • Anything else that requires online resources (follow links, Wikipedia etc...)
Going back online

You need to explicitly switch MindMeister back to online mode when you are connected to the Internet again using the (now red) slider on the bottom right.

Type in your MindMeister password when prompted and click OK.

Conflict resolution

During synchronization conflicts can happen when the maps that you've edited offline have been modified by someone else online. In this case you will be asked to resolve them by choosing one of the options in the dialog below.

  • Discard changes
    The online map remains in the current state and your offline changes will be discarded.
  • Save as new map
    The online version remains untouched and your offline map will be saved as a new map on the server.
Troubleshooting

Google Gears technology is still in its early stages, therefore errors are bound to happen. Should you experience any issues, please use the guidelines below. In most cases we will also be automatically notified of the problems and will try our best to resolve them asap!

  • Synchronization dialog hangs
    If the sync dialog with the green progress bar remains unchanged for more than 3-5 minutes, most likely something has gone wrong. Just press SHIFT-F5 to reload the page and try to go offline again.
  • Javascript errors and other weird effects
    If you experience other strange effects when using the offline mode, you have two options:
    • If you're currently online, try disabling the offline mode on the My Account page.
    • If you're currently offline, you can try and delete the local store of Google Gears as described below.

Deleting the local Google Gears store

You will lose all offline changes since your last synchronization (from all applications using Google Gears, not only MindMeister!)

  1. Close your web browser
  2. Go to the folder

    \Users\[user name]\Library\Caches\Firefox\Profiles\[profile id]\Google Gears for Firefox\www.mindmeister.com

    and delete all its contents
  3. Restart your web browser