Nested & Merged Nodes Create Nested Nodes     Remove from Parent     Detach Children     Merge Nodes   From an open Cmap: You can provide more detail about a subject by putting Cmap items inside of a nested node. Nested nodes are useful when you want to add extra information, with quick accessibility, to an expandable concept. To create a nested node, begin by right-clicking a selection of Cmap items you want to include in the node. (You can select all Cmap items by pressing Ctrl+a) Left-click Nested Node, then left-click Create from the sub-menu. Now, a newly-created nested node surrounds, or nests, the Cmap items you have selected. The nested node initially appears in its expanded mode with a set of arrows on the right. You can collapse a nested node to hide the information it contains. One method of collapsing a nested node is to right-click a clear portion of the node, then left-click Expand from the Nested Node sub-menu to release the checkmark. (You can return to expanded mode by applying the checkmark to the Expand sub-menu item. Also, another way to expand or collapse a nested node is to left-click the set of arrows on the right of the node.) A nested node enters label mode once it is collapsed. In label mode, the nested node may be labeled just as a normal concept would. Cmap items located inside nested nodes may be arranged just the same as if the items were located in their own Cmap. To reveal other Cmap items that may be covered up by an expanded nested node, return the node to its label mode. (To add existing Cmap items to a nested node, hold shift while dragging the selection of items into the node.) After returning any expanded nested nodes to label mode, you can clearly view the main ideas of a Cmap. From an open Cmap: You can remove one or more child Cmap items from a nested node. To detach a selection of child Cmap items from its nested node parent, right-click the selection, then left-click Remove from Parent from the Nested Node sub-menu. Now the parent nested node is only attached to those child Cmap items that were not chosen for removal. From an open Cmap: You can automatically remove all child Cmap items from their parent nested node. To detach all child Cmap items from their parent, right-click a clear portion of the node, then left-click Detach Children from the Nested Node sub-menu. Now all contents in the nested node will be removed, and the nested node's label appears in a separate concept. From an open Cmap: You can combine the contents of multiple nested nodes. To combine the contents of multiple nested nodes into one nested node, right-click a selection of nested nodes, then left-click Merge Nodes... From the "Merging Options" window : You can decide in what way you want to merge Cmap items from selected nested nodes. Concepts and Linking Phrases are examples of Cmap items that may be merged. In the illustration below, only concepts are able to merge into a new nested node. Linking phrases were not inside the original selection of nested nodes to be merged, so they appear grayed out. Selecting the Only merge if node labels match option restricts merging of nested nodes to only those nodes that have the same label. Left-click to fill or clear the checkboxes, then left-click Ok to merge selected nested nodes. Now when viewing the Cmap, the Cmap items from the selected nested nodes have merged into one nested node. The way that nested nodes merge depends on the initial contents and labels of the nested nodes selected, and on how options are set from the "Merging Options" window.