Using Mermaid for Mindmaps in Microsoft Loop

Perhaps a bit late to the party but I just read that you can add mermaidjs to loop components. An awesome feature that took me a bit longer to get working then expected. So a few remarks. I have been playing with Loop for a while and still struggle a bit as to when to use OneNote and when to use Loop. I have been stuck to OneNote but for code snippets and brainstorming Loop is an awesome rendition.

Loop on your Ipad

So loop does support code blocks, great if you are working with code, and it does support mermaid. Now since mermaid supports mindmaps I figured I wanted to try that, OneNote is serious lacking mind map capabilities, and sometimes it helps to visualize a list of things and their relations.

Now for some odd reason the mermaid option was not visible in the Loop Ipad Client, or the webversion for me. I guess it is still rolling out. But you trick to render for you by simply using ```mermaid, by doing so you open a code block that is automatically set for mermaid. Once that is done you can use it, however it still did not show up in the dropdown for me, so changing to something else and your diagram is no longer working…

Mermaid and Mindmaps

Now that we have a code block with mermaid you can use all goodies you might already know of. Usually I use it for short diagrams like flowcharts or state diagrams, but it does also support mindmaps. For me a great way to visualize a list of things and quickly brainstorm ideas or create a the first outline for a project. Let’s say you I wanted to improve my blog, I could spend a few minutes brainstorming the tech, design and content improvements I want to make. Now before making it a concrete plan I can visualize it in a mindmap:

mindmap
  root((blog))
    Tech
       Improve SEO
       Auto generate webp
       Update Hugo

    Design
      Refresh UI
      Create event template

    Content
      Loop and Mermaid

The result would be something that looks as follows, a visual more appealing way to look at a list of things:

Now it is not perfect, but it finally is a way to create mind maps in MIcrosoft 365 without 3th party installations. It uses existing tech, no installation or configuration needed. The only downside is that you cannot draw on the mindmap, but writing a markdown style list to create your mind map is good enough for me. And it does work on phones, Ipads and the webversion. So a great way to quickly visualize your ideas 💡.