There are mainly three types of storage options for your mindmaps created with MindMaze. Their features are different from
1. Public storage in our own server. When you save a mindmap as MindMaze type, it is stored in our own server. Maps saved via our server are read-only and are public. Thus anyone who has the URL can read the mindmap by going to that URL. However, we provide random URLs and it is very hard to guess. But if you are particular about the privacy of your maps and only want to share with people you choose, we suggest using Google Drive as storage option which is explained below.
This storage is useful if you want to share something to the entire world anonymously. Users can view your maps without any registration or ID. Only these maps can be embedded into another webpage or blog with the Embed tool found at 'File'->'Share Map'->'Embed this map'. As the URL won't change for this storage, you get URL shortener service from google via 'File'->'Share Map' menu.
Note that once you save a map in our storage it is saved under a new URL. If you do some modifications to it and later save it even if under the same browser session, it is saved under a different URL.
We take backups of mindmaps stored in our server once in a month. Once you save a map in our own server, it will be there forever.
2. Google Drive. (read Working with Google Drive for more information) Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service provided by Google which enables user cloud storage, file sharing and collaborative editing. This option is useful if you want your maps as private. You can share these maps with your via Google Drive. These maps are stored under same URL even after modification. If you save a map and later do some modifications and again saves it, it rewrites the original file.
Note that files are loaded and saved directly by your browser to Google Drive and it is never passing through our server. It is preferred storage for private maps.
Google Drive provides a synchronisation mechanism where it automatically back up your mindmaps to your local disk (or company file share if you are working in a team environment and if you have one).
3. Browser Storage. All modern browsers provide this option. It is saved directly in your hard disk under browser storage. This is browser dependent storage. That is, if you save your work in a browser, you cannot open the same in another browser. Yet, browser storage also provides an URL, but you have to use it in the same browser where you initially saved your work. The maps are also persistent, that is, even if you close the browser session or shut down off your computer, the maps are still there. Even then, if you intentionally delete browser data - all stored data of your browser (including your stored mindmaps) will be lost.
4. Github storage. Additionally, you can store your files in Github if you have a Github account. This is provided as an extension. To activate, this storage option, select Extensions and tick 'Github'. From now, on Github is shown as a storage option along with other options. If you want to turn off this feature, click 'Extensions' and then untick 'Github'.
The feature of Github which distinguishes it from other storage options is that, you can store different versions of your mindmap. If you have worked with shared source code or SVN or DIFF tool, you know how important this feature is. Should you want to revert to an old version, it can be easily done from Github interface. This is useful if you are working as a team and working with shared mindmaps. With each version, you can store a message which identifies what is done to the mindmap. Hence different users of the project can modify the mindmap adding a custom message of their own. But you can access any version saved by any user in the team easily from Github interface.
For instance, if you store a mindmap in Google Drive and share it with another user, whenever any modifications are done to the map, it rewrites the original file. There is no way to access previous copy unless you took a backup. This is the distinguishing feature of Github storage. (much like SVN)
5. Additionally you can export your mindmap as different files. Go to File->Export Map-> and it shows different options. Once you choose an option, it is downloaded as file. This way, you can copy the exported file to any other storage device like a portable disk and can import the same file at a different location using 'File'->'Open/Import'->'From a local drive'. Export as 'MindMaze' map so that you can copy this file to your portable disk and can easily import it later.
Selecting a storage for your map
The top-right corner of the Mindmaze app shows 'Save' button whenever a map is saved.
The icon that is shown after the 'Save' button represents the current storage. If you click the 'Save' button, it stores directly to the storage option represented by the icon shown. If you click the icon, it shows a drop-down list of available storage options.
Storage capabilities and constraints
Different storage systems have different features. A comparison among Public storage, Google Drive and Browser Storage is outlined below.
| Public storage | Google Drive | Browser Storage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free up to 5GB, Google will charge you for more | Free |
| Access | Anonymous | Requires a Google ID and user authorisation to access Google Drive, even if the map is marked public on Google | Tied to browser profile |
| Privacy | Everything is public, data passes through our servers | You control privacy settings on Google drive. Data never goes through our servers | Only the same browser profile can access it |
| File size | Up to 5MB | Up to 10GB, depending on your account limits at Google | Depending on your browser and free space on the disk |
| Backups | Once in a month. | You can backup automatically using Google Drive sync applications | Depends on you - if there is a backup running on your local machine, it can back up the maps along with the other browser profile items |
| Map URLs | Tied to a map version. Every time you save, a new URL is generated | Tied to a map. Created the first time you save a map. Further changes are saved to the same file, even by other users, so the URL remains the same. | Tied to a map - similar to Google Drive, changes override the previous content |
| Data retention | Lifetime. Our guarantee. | You decide, depending on Google Drive capabilities | You decide |
| Storage license | Because storage is public and anonymous, all user generated content is licensed under CC1.0 Universal | You decide | You decide |