MindMup no longer has access to files created before 2019 on Google Drive.
- Why you cannot load old files directly in MindMup?
- Is it possible to recover the data?
- Why was the data not automatically converted?
- Why were you not contacted about this?
- How to avoid such problems in the future?
- More information
Why you cannot load old files directly in MindMup
The contents of your old files are no longer accessible to MindMup. In September 2019, Google completely removed the API used to manage files in the old collaborative format (Google called this Realtime), for third-party applications such as MindMup.
The deprecation was announced by Google in late 2017. Until July 2018, MindMup primarily used that format for storing maps to Google Drive, in order to provide collaborative map editing. We have since changed the way maps are stored on Google Drive, but we have no access to old maps. Google has not provided any suitable replacement for accessing the files in the old format.
Is it possible to recover the data
On 13 February 2020, we were notified by Google representatives that the data was “purged” from their system, and “unfortunately unrecoverable as the storage service that previously stored the data has been turned down”. They also notified us that users should no longer contact Google support about recovering old files.
MindMup can not assist you with getting the data from Google Drive. Please do not register for a commercial MindMup support subscription only to recover old Google Drive data, we will not be able to help.
Why was the data not automatically converted?
MindMup has no access to your files on Google Drive without your direct involvement (only your browser sessions can access your files). Because of that, we could not automatically convert the old files for you.
Why were you not contacted about this?
In accordance with the UK and European Union privacy regulations, MindMup does not record personal information about people who access the application without an account. If you were using MindMup for Google Drive without a commercial support subscription, we did not have a way of getting in touch to warn you about this directly. However, during the migration period, we prompted users opening affected maps to convert the contents with on-screen warnings, even those without a commercial support account.
How to avoid such problems in the future?
To get full support from MindMup with your files, make sure to save data to MindMup Cloud storage instead of a third-party system, such as Google Drive. Saving to MindMup cloud also enables you to collaborate concurrently with other users, providing functionality very similar to how old collaborative maps on Google Drive used to work, before that capability was removed by Google. For more information, see our documentation page on Using MindMup Cloud Storage.
If you still wish to use Google Drive, but want us to contact you about any potential data migration or support issues in the future, then make sure you have an active MindMup Gold account, which includes e-mail support. We do not store data about users who save to Google Drive without a MindMup Gold account, so we do not have a way of contacting such users in the future about potential problems with the storage. For more information, see our information page on MindMup Gold accounts.