Mindmapping is all about ‘organising your thoughts’ - so cut, copy and paste are at the heart of iThoughts. The ‘built in’ iPhone cut, copy and paste mechanism is used and the toolbar is displayed (and hidden) automatically - typically when something is tapped. By using the ‘built in’ toolbar iThoughts can cut, copy and paste to, from and within iThoughts and other applications - such as Mail, SMS and Notes.

First off - see how information in the ‘notes’ app can be copied and pasted directly into iThoughts. Notice how multiple lines are translated into multiple topics.

Next up, see how a topic can be copied and pasted - using the crosshair to indicate where it will be placed.

Drag and Drop

Many of the cut/copy/paste operations can be achieved in a ‘drag drop’ kind of way. Under certain circumstances, this can be quicker than specific copy/paste actions.

Press and hold the topic that you wish to copy/move - after approximately 1 second, the link to the parent topic will be severed. At this point, it is possible to move the ‘freed’ topic around. If you move it near another topic it will highlight that topic. If you then release your finger, you will be offered similar options to those offered had you pasted it (i.e. copy, move, merge.)

Finally, see how the topics can be copied and pasted back into notes - this time indented.

Whilst we have used ‘notes’ in the examples above - cut, copy and paste works from almost any application that uses ‘standard’ text entry mechanisms (email, SMS and may 3rd party apps)

Paste and Merge

When pasting a topic with children (i.e. a branch)

you will be prompted with the option to the right:

If you select YES then only the children of the pasted branch will be pasted - the parent will be discarded. This provides a mechanism to copy and paste a group of sibling topics.

Releasing a topic when not near another (highlighted) topic will result in it being deleted (after confirmation.)