The third Beta of Docear was released today (download here). Besides several bug fixes, the major changes are:
An automatic update-check which informs you when a new version of Docear was released. We also have a proper licence now you have to accept when starting Docear for the first time. Of course, the main licences still remains GPL2+ but we now have additional terms of service for using our online backup etc. We also implemented an optional function to transmit your mind maps to our servers so we can use them for our research (read here for more details). We would kindly ask you to activate this function because it allows us to perform our research on mind maps and the more and better research we do, the more likely we will get additional funding from the German Government to further develop Docear. As stated in our terms of use and data processing terms, we are bound to the very strict German data privacy law and try everything to protect your data. However, if you feel uncomfortable having your mind maps analyzed by us, please just deactivate the options that are shown on first start. You can then use Docear without any data being submitted to us. Finally, you can directly register a Docear account when starting Docear the first time. This account is required if you want to backup your files to our servers. We would highly recommend this since you never know what happens to your computer and you can also access your mind maps through our web interface if you are not at home. Read also here for more information about the backup and alternatives.
Here are all the changes:
New features include:
#381 “Show in reference manager”
#101 Automatic update check
#44 Enable IR on mind maps
#315 Licence for using Docear’s services
#342 More consistency in naming
#274 Function to create anonymous user
Feature enhancements include:
#353 PDF link not removed from node on removing reference
#360 “Flatten directory” setting available
#416 “Gender” may be provided on registration
#424 Adjusted Docear build script for Linux etc.
#458 No duplicate mind map id after copying mind map
Bugfixes include:
#457 SciPlore MindMapping converter did not work correctly
#413 Recent mind maps were not remembered
#404 Changes not saved after Renaming
#445 Jump to page did not work on Mac OS & Acrobat Reader
#357 Weird behavior of input validation for pdf application
#417 Remove Reference entry in context menu sometimes had wrong behaviour
#359 unfold incoming folder after canceling update
#412 Nullpointer exception after changing language and opening incoming mind map
#402 “Review Changes” on closing an unsaved mind map did not work
#405 keyboard shortcut to show and hide note panel
#395 drag&drop file from mindmap to workspace not working
#411 “Add-On” URL was incorrect
#375 Menu: Help>Documentation, Help>Documentation Map Online
#417 Remove Reference entry in context menu sometimes had wrong behaviour
#418 Link to user manual was incorrect
#415 Threading problems
#376 NullPointer on .AttributeView.setOptimalColumnWidths
Beta 2 brings many new features and even more bug fixes. The most important new feature probably is the online backup. You can register and Docear will create backups of your mind maps on our sever each time you save a mind map. That means, if you should have data loss or need an old version of your mind map you can log-in and easily restore your mind map.
New Features and Feature Enhancements:
#43 Online Backup of Mind Maps
#336 display “file is missing” icon after linked file has been removed
#311 restore after autosave when mind map was not saved
#361 position of “edit path” of the monitoring directory
#272 check for internet connection and whether webservice is online
#311 restore after autosave when mind map was not saved
#363 “Jump to page” feature for acrobat reader on Mac OS
#361 position of “edit path” of the monitoring directory
#350 restructure right mouse context menu
#345 “Open folder/file location” (enables you to open a workspace node’s folder with your file explorer)
#368 allow insert of node names with count (if you add multiple nodes with the same name to a workspace node)
#367 unified “new folder” dialog for workspace nodes
#366 workspace chooser dialog: example location
Bug fixes:
#386 monitoring does not work
#390 monitoring problem if started twice
#394 virtual folder naming system
#398 converter problem (splmm-> docear->docear)
#400 “Cancel” of closing software with unsaved mind map had wrong effect
#351 error on opening docear
#292 Attributes were sometimes shown though they should be hidden
#377 NullPointerException during monitoring action
#398 converter problem? (splmm-> docear->docear?)
#401 COSRuntimeException and ClassCastException
#393 “locking of the map xxx failed. Action Save As aborted” occurred occasionally
#351 error on opening docear
#292 Attributes were sometimes shown though they should be hidden
#360 flatten directory setting
#397 unknown nullpointer
#387 error when opening the incoming mind map
#240 docear blocks access to PDFs
#374 “Choose Workspace …” Dialog does not initialize properly
#329 move branch to new map creates freeplane map
#356 change of the language causes problems in preferences panel
#321 Canceling “Quit” did not work
#312 preferences were not available when no mind map was opened
#371 Firefox sample script fails with docear
#372 location of the literature repository in Incoming map
#333 JFileChooser dialogs do not have “create folder” option
#364 JabRef does not load if a certain plugin is installed
#365 Docear does not start (IOException after selecting a workspace folder)
Please download Beta 2 for free and remember to send us feedback.
From 6th to 10th of March 2012 we will be at the CeBIT in Hannover, Germany. CeBIT is the digital industry’s biggest and most international event and always worth a visit. We will be at Halle 9, Stand A 10 to present Docear. You are welcome to visit us and get to know the Docear team (or at least part of it).
Update: We just received an email from the CeBIT that there are some major problems with Halle 9. Therefore we will be in “Halle 26 Stand A 10″ instead of “Halle 9″
Today, on February 15th, 2012 we released the first public version of Docear. It’s a Beta version and still has some bugs and missing features but overall it will give you a thorough impression of what we consider an academic literature suite to be.
The main idea behind Docear is that you annotate everything you consider important in a PDF. That means, you highlight text, write comments, or create bookmarks in the PDF. To create bookmarks and comments, you can use almost any PDF reader (highlighting text is a bit more complicated). These PDF annotations are then imported by Docear to a mind map. In this mind map you can organize all your annotations into categories, create further nodes and add more text. With the integrated reference manager, bibliographic data can be added to each of the PDF annotations (and all other nodes in the mind map). Then, you can create a new mind map, drag e.g. a research paper, copy your annotations to the draft and if you need more information you just click on the PDF annotation and the PDF will open on the page the annotation was made. Watch this video to get a better idea of what Docear can do (watch it in full-screen mode). Read more First public version of Docear released (1.0 Beta 1)
We decided to make our internal test releases public. Every one or two weeks we will publish an experimental release of Docear in our forum. Those releases are not thoroughly tested but have the latest features. You can subscribe to the forum to be notified about new experimental releases (we won’t post them in the Blog or mention them in the newsletter). If you try an experimental release, your bug reports are highly welcome in our bug forum.
We created an introductory video for Docear. It aims at providing a brief overview of Docear’s capabilities and the basic workflow. Please let us know what you think could be improved. Personally, I believe it could be done much better in general but we don’t have the skills to do it . If you have experience with video editing, please don’t hesitate to make your own video. If someone is interested I would also gladly share the raw material.
Up to now we recommended using BibTeX4Word to cite your papers in Microsoft Word. However, the installation of BibTeX4Word is complex and usage is not that user friendly (the Word add-ons from Zotero and Mendeley are much more comfortable).
Originally, we planned to develop our own Docear4Word but we just don’t have the time because we want to focus on Docear itself. Therefore we wrote a detailed specification of what we want to have developed. If you think you could help us (for money or even free) or if you have ideas of what is missing in the specification, please let us know.
We are happy to announce that we can offer paid internships to German, British, and North American (USA & Canada) Bachelor students, in cooperation with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Some of the internships are in cooperation with our partner SciPlore or for our project Mr. DLib. However, all results will be used by Docear, too. These are the internships we are offering (all in the field of software development).
Docear Internships (preferably in Magdeburg, Germany)
The Alpha version of Docear is ready to be released and we are really proud of what we achieved the last six months. From the old “SciPlore MindMapping” is nothing left, except the basic idea. Have a look at the major changes and try the Alpha now (if you are a SciPlore MindMapping user – otherwise you have to wait a couple of weeks). Read more Private Alpha of “Docear – The Academic Literature Suite” begins
. If you have experience with video editing, please don’t hesitate to make your own video. If someone is interested I would also gladly share the raw material.
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