中文说明

Mapdown

One Markdown note, two views. Write in text, think in a mind map, and keep the two in sync.

Mapdown is an Obsidian plugin that opens your Markdown notes as editable mind maps. There is no separate file format: headings and lists are the map, and every edit in the map is saved back to the same .md file. It works on desktop, phones and tablets.

Why Mapdown

• Your notes stay Markdown. The map is just another view of the note. Links, search, sync and version history keep working.
• Text and map stay in sync. One click on the split button opens the note side by side: select a node and the Markdown jumps to its line; move the cursor in the text and the map follows.
• Maps inside your notes. Write ![[My map]], or right-click and choose Insert mind map…, and the map shows up in the note as a live, zoomable map. Embed a whole map or just one branch.
• Tasks in the map. - [ ] nodes get a checkbox, and parent nodes show progress like 2/5.
• Focus Mode. Press F and the map shows only the selected branch, with the rest faded away. Work through one idea at a time, then press F again to get the whole map back, right where you left it.
• Phones and tablets too. Touch gestures and a node toolbar let you build and edit maps without a keyboard.
• Built for Obsidian. Nodes render Markdown, images and [[wikilinks]], with hover previews.
• Fast with big maps. 1,000 nodes open in under 0.2 s; 5,000 stay smooth to pan and zoom.

Quick start

1. Install and enable Mapdown.
2. Click the Mapdown icon in the ribbon or run Create new mindmap. To use a note you already have, click the Mapdown button next to the reading/editing toggle in its header.
3. To see text and map together, click the split button in the map's header. The Markdown opens on the right with selection sync on; click again to close it.
4. To show a map inside another note, right-click in that note's editor and choose Insert mind map….

A minimal mind map note:

---
mindmap-plugin: basic
---

# Project plan

## Research
- Collect references
- Summarize findings

## Execution
- Draft outline
- Review milestones

When you open an ordinary note as a mind map, Mapdown asks first. You can convert the note, or save the map as a new note and leave the original untouched. Converting backs up the original text before the first save.

Features

• Keyboard-first editing: Tab, Enter, arrow keys and Space build and edit the tree (see Keys in the map).
• Drag and drop: the map shows where a node will land before you let go. Hold Ctrl to copy.
• Multiple selection: Cmd/Ctrl-click, Shift-click or drag a box. A bar above the selection makes tasks, bolds, highlights, folds, copies, cuts or deletes them in one undo step.
• Embedded maps: in reading view and Live Preview, ![[map]] shows a map; ![[map#Heading]] shows one branch and ![[map|300]] sets the height. Click it to pan and zoom, double-click a node to open the map there. Inside a node, an embedded map shows as a card that opens it.
• Tasks: click a checkbox, or press Mod + Enter, to tick a task. Parents count the tasks below them.
• Quotes and callouts in nodes look as they do in reading view.
• Math: inline $…$ and block $$…$$ formulas render in nodes, including blocks over several lines.
• Branch color styles: besides the edges, branch colors can also go on node borders, or tint the nodes with a light fill that fades toward the outer levels.
• Paste an outline: a multi-line list pasted into the map becomes a subtree.
• Images: paste, drag in, or run Insert image….
• Large maps: collapse to any level with Alt + 1…6, search inside collapsed branches, and jump around with the overview on maps over 300 nodes.
• XMind: import .xmind files (XMind 2020+, Zen and XMind 8) as new notes, and export maps back to .xmind.
• Export: PNG and JPEG at 1x, 2x or 4x, SVG, PDF, or a self-contained HTML page. On desktop, Mapdown asks where to save by default, and tells you when the export is done.

Keys in the map

These keys work only while the map has focus, so they never clash with your other hotkeys. Mod is Cmd on macOS and Ctrl elsewhere.

Every action is also a command, so you can find it in the command palette and assign your own hotkey. Mapdown sets no global hotkeys.

Settings

Changes apply to open maps right away, and every setting can be found with Obsidian's settings search.

Limitations

• Mapdown structures notes; it is not a diagram tool. There are no themes, frames or free-form drawing.
• XMind import and export are one-off conversions. Images, styles, summaries and relationships are not carried over.
• In exported PNG, JPEG, SVG and PDF files, formulas show as their source text. A PDF is one page holding a high-resolution image, so its text cannot be selected.
• On phones and tablets, exports are always saved next to the note.
• The interface is in English and Simplified Chinese.

Privacy

Mapdown has no accounts, ads or telemetry, and never reads files outside your vault. It goes online only when you export a map that shows images from the web: those images are downloaded so they can be embedded in the exported file.

Installation

Community plugins

Once Mapdown is listed in the Obsidian community plugin directory:

1. Open Settings → Community plugins.
2. Search for Mapdown.
3. Install and enable it.

BRAT

Add leftlive/mapdown in the BRAT plugin.

Manual

1. Download manifest.json, main.js and styles.css from the latest GitHub release.
2. Put them in .obsidian/plugins/mapdown inside your vault.
3. Reload Obsidian and enable Mapdown under Community plugins.

Requires Obsidian 1.5.7 or later.

Compatibility

• Mind maps saved by Enhancing Mindmap open in Mapdown unchanged: both use the mindmap-plugin: basic frontmatter.
• Mapdown was previously called MindMark. Maps made with MindMark open unchanged.
• Upgrading from Mapdown 0.3: your settings carry over. Save every open map before you upgrade, because unsaved recovery drafts from 0.3 are not read.

Development

npm ci
npm run build

The build produces main.js; release files are manifest.json, main.js and styles.css.

Acknowledgements

The idea of editing Markdown notes as mind maps in Obsidian was inspired by Enhancing Mindmap. Thanks to its author, Mark, for showing how well the two fit together.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.md.