A walkthrough for Cacoo, with screenshots!

NB: These images are quite large, and you may have to click through to see some of them in full detail. If you do, make sure to open them in a new tab or browser window, so you don't lose your place!


First, you need to create your account, which does not require much further explanation.

Second, after logging in, go to your Diagrams list and select "create new diagram."


Something to keep in mind: I am in this example demonstrating a simple concept map that might or might not fulfill your own needs. It is meant to demonstrate mechanics more than provide an example of "best practices" for concept mapping. I encourage you to experiment with the software on your own.


A quick walkthrough now with this screenshot of the main interface. The tabs along the top of the screen allow you to turn the image, copy/cut/paste, set text or lines, import an image or take a screen shot, or toggle on the stencils, chat, and inspector tabs. There is also a zoom function and the self-explanatory function tabs in green. I will be turning off the chat window for future screenshots, since we don't have a lot of space.


Third, under "basic shapes" in the Stencil display, scroll down until you reach a hexagon. Select it and drag it to the center of the screen; adjust its size with the tabs on any of its eight sides and, if you like, click the green circle above it to turn it around. If you click away and then back, you'll notice that the object is considered by the software to be on a roughly square-shaped 'tile.'


Fourth, on the "inspector" tab, go to fill and note the various options for opacity and colors. Go select one of the shades of color you prefer and click it to fill the hexagon. (You can put in any color you like with the six-character color codes.)


Fifth, go up to the 'text' button - an A in a square on the upper toolbar - and click within the hexagon. Drag to outline a text space. Type whatever you like in it; in this case, "penguins". Click away for the inspector screen to reappear; here you can click on that space and alter things such as the font you used, the size of the text, its color, and other traditional text-editing options. You can also use the green circle to rotate the text.


Sixth, scroll back up in the "basic" tab in the stencil display and go up to find some simpler shapes. Spread four or five around - give yourself a little room to work with. Adjust their size as you like; you could also try zooming in with the tab near the top of the window, although that may be more important if you are creating truly large-scale concept maps or similar diagrams.


Go and sprinkle them with text as well; don't worry about high precision here.


A note you may see as you move objects around; when you have one object in some sort of line with another, an automatic dashed line will pop up and the object will 'stick' slightly. This can be very useful if you do want to place things in quite precise relation to one another.

Seventh, the line tool. Go up to this button, near the Text button; you will notice it has a drop down menu. You can pick any of the five options of line that you like; there is an option also to alter the appearance of created lines in the Inspector tab, but for now the default lines should be more than enough.


Now that you've picked a line tool, mouse over one of the shapes - you'll notice that it has some little circles for each object.


Click on one and drag a line towards another object, and you will find it too has circles; when you have dragged up to one of them and let go, the lines will automatically dock in a very neat and crisp manner according to the style you selected.


Like this!


Continue this until you've connected all the objects together. You can change line styles if you'd like, although generally you'd want to keep it consistent, to avoid giving false information.
You will note that you have to reselect the line tool each time.


Eighth, pick the text tool and place short connecting terms between the various concepts, near the lines you just drew. Remember that you can rotate and move text around, as well as adjusting its colors, etc. For instance, let's set all these connecting terms to italics after we type them in.


Ninth, secondary connections. Your example may not have many, but they can easily be built out, and are connected in the same way as the original lines. Let's use a different style, in this case "rounded corners" to distinguish these. It is worth noting that if you drag an object around, any lines connecting to it will automatically redraw; however, since text is tracked as a separate object, you'll have to move it, too.


Tenth, deleting. You can select individual items and delete them, or if you prefer you can click and drag a square shape and all of the objects within it will be selected, and can be deleted or otherwise modified; for instance if you had a particular "segment" that you wanted to copy and use in several disparate parts of a very complex flowchart. Only items that are more or less completely selected will be highlighted for mass modifying.


Finally, when you've gotten your diagram the way that you want it, you can save it or export it, or use the "share" option to invite someone else to come look at your diagram; for instance, if you're preparing a concept map and you have a co-instructor, you might invite them, either as members of Cacoo already or by sending them an inviting email. All of these tabs are in the upper right hand corner of the screen.