Quick Diagram Templates

Choose these for the shape, not the subject

Every other category here is organized around a task. This one is organized around form. These maps arrive with a layout and a color scheme and almost no content, which makes them the right pick when you already know what you want to say and only need somewhere to put it.

The practical difference between them is how they branch:

• Radial — one center, branches out in all directions. Best when no branch outranks another. The Cyan Wheel template is the clearest example.
• Hierarchical — top-down levels, for reporting lines and breakdowns. See the Organigram template.
• Sequential — numbered branches that carry an order, as in Numbered Branches, for steps and stages.

Pick the branching that matches your material and ignore the palette — colors are a two-click change once the map is open, but restructuring a map you built on the wrong shape costs real time. If you would rather start from a subject than a shape, the planning and organizing templates are the busiest set on the site.

If the shape you need is not a mind map at all, the diagram templates cover the other forms, and what is a mind map is the place to start if the distinction is new.