Skip to content

Improving Mind Map Documentation with Collapsible / Notebook-style UX Example #1165

@satadeep3927

Description

@satadeep3927

Summary

The current mind map tutorial in React Flow is helpful as an introduction, but it feels quite minimal and does not reflect more advanced or production-style UX patterns (e.g., collapsible nodes, hierarchical abstraction).

I’d like to propose enhancing the documentation by adding an advanced mind map example that includes collapsible nodes and a more structured, notebook-style interaction model.


Problem

The existing tutorial:

  • Demonstrates basic node/edge usage well
  • But lacks:
    • Collapsible node patterns
    • Hierarchical abstraction
    • Real-world UX patterns for large graphs

For more complex use cases (knowledge graphs, note systems, mind maps), it becomes hard to scale the current approach.


Proposed Improvement

Add a new example or documentation section, for example:

“Advanced Mind Maps”

Including:

  • Collapsible nodes (expand/collapse children)
  • Clear parent-child hierarchy
  • State management for node visibility
  • Optional animations for better UX

Example Concept

A mind map where:

  • Nodes can be expanded/collapsed
  • Collapsed nodes hide their children
  • The structure behaves more like a notebook or knowledge tree

This is similar to how modern tools (e.g., Notebook-style knowledge maps) present hierarchical information.


Why this would help

  • Improves real-world usability of React Flow
  • Helps developers build scalable mind map / knowledge graph UIs
  • Provides a reusable pattern instead of only low-level primitives

Contribution

I’ve already implemented a working version of this idea with:

  • Collapsible nodes
  • Structured hierarchy
  • Cleaner UX for larger graphs

I’d be happy to:

  • Adapt it to React Flow standards
  • Add it as an example
  • Improve documentation around it

Questions

  • Would maintainers be open to adding an advanced mind map example?
  • Should this live under:
    • "examples/"
    • or as an extension of the current tutorial?

Happy to align with preferred structure before opening a PR.


Additional Context

Implementation reference (WIP):
https://github.com/satadeep3927/aime-mindmap/blob/main/src/components/mind-map.tsx

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    No labels
    No labels

    Type

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions