LTT Canvas shows Obsidian Canvas boards and XMind mind maps on WordPress pages, and lets Administrators and Editors create and edit maps in the WordPress admin. There is no settings page: display options live on each map.
On this page
Requirements
- WordPress 6.0 or newer, PHP 7.4 or newer.
- The PHP Zip extension, only for importing
.zipand.xmindfiles. - Imports are limited by the server upload size shown on the Import page.
- Administrators and Editors can create and edit maps.
- Current Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari; phones and tablets for viewing.
Install, update, remove
- Plugins → Add Plugin → Upload Plugin, choose
ltt-canvas-0.3.1.zip, Install Now, Activate Plugin. - The admin menu now has LTT Canvas with All maps, Add map and Import.
Update: upload the new zip the same way and click Replace current with uploaded. Maps, drafts, versions, notes, linked files and display settings are kept.
Remove: deactivating or deleting keeps your maps. To erase them, add define( 'LTTC_DELETE_DATA', true ); to wp-config.php before deleting. Media Library files and posts created from cards are never deleted.
Quick start
- LTT Canvas → Add map. The editor starts with a central topic.
- Press Tab to add a child card and Enter to add a sibling. Type to fill in the text.
- Click Publish.
- Add the Canvas map block to a page and pick the map, or paste the shortcode from the map screen.
Import from Obsidian and XMind
| File | What happens |
|---|---|
.canvas | One Obsidian board. Images and notes it references are not inside the file; link them afterwards in “Files used in the map” |
.zip | An Obsidian folder or a whole vault. Every board becomes a map; images, videos, audio and PDFs go to the Media Library; referenced notes are stored with the map |
.xmind | XMind 8 and newer. Every sheet becomes a separate map; images go to the Media Library |
- LTT Canvas → Import.
- Click Choose files and select one or more files.
- Choose whether new maps are Published or Drafts, then click Import.
- You return to All maps with one message per map. Files that were referenced but missing are listed and show a placeholder.
To link a missing file, open the map, find it in Files used in the map, click Choose from Media Library, then Update. To replace an existing map with a new export, use the Import from Obsidian or XMind box on the map screen; the previous board goes to Versions.
What comes over from XMind
- Topics and branches, with branch colours in XMind order.
- Notes, labels, links, images, relationships (dashed arrows), floating topics and summaries.
- Markers such as priorities, progress and flags, shown as emoji.
- Not imported: boundaries, themes, custom styles, equations and attachments.
- XMind does not save positions, so the plugin lays the map out again. Move cards where you want them; positions are kept.
The map editor
| Toolbar button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Add card | New text card (also: double-click empty space) |
| Add image or file | Pick from the Media Library |
| Add link or video | A URL; YouTube, Vimeo and Rutube play inside the card |
| Group selected cards | Frame the selection with a name |
| Auto layout | Tab, Enter and edits keep the tree tidy like XMind; turn off for a free canvas |
| Undo / Redo | Up to 100 steps |
| Colour circles | No colour, 6 presets or any colour |
| Note | Markdown note on the selected card |
| Turn into a post | Create a post or page from a text card |
| Arrange branch like a mind map | Tidy everything under the selected card once |
- Drag a card to move it (10 px grid; hold Alt for free movement). Shift+click or Shift+drag selects several.
- Hover a card to see four side dots; drag a dot to another card to connect, or to empty space to create a connected card.
- Click a line to select it; double-click it to edit the label. Arrows can be none, one or both.
- Cards made with Tab and Enter fit their text. Resize with the corner square; a resized card keeps its size.
- Card text is Markdown: headings, lists, tables, task lists, ==highlight==, #tags and callouts like
> [!tip].
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Tab | New child card |
| Enter | New sibling card; while editing: finish |
| Type a letter / F2 / Space | Edit the card (a letter replaces the text, F2 and Space keep it) |
| Shift+Enter | New line while editing |
| Esc | Finish editing, close panels, clear selection |
| Arrow keys | Move between cards |
| Delete / Backspace | Delete the selection |
| Ctrl/Cmd+Z, Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Z | Undo, redo |
| Ctrl/Cmd+C, X, V, D | Copy, cut, paste, duplicate (works across maps) |
| Ctrl/Cmd+G | Group the selection |
| Ctrl/Cmd+S | Save the draft now |
| Alt+N | Note of the selected card |
| + / – / 0 | Zoom in, zoom out, show the whole map |
| F | Full screen (when no card is selected) |
Press ? in the toolbar for the full list.
Notes and post cards
Notes. Select a card and press Alt+N. Type Markdown in the panel; it saves with the map. The card shows a small note icon, and visitors click it to read the card and its note.
Turn a card into a post. Select a text card, click Turn into a post, check the title, choose Post or Page and Save as draft or Publish now. The card becomes a post card that always shows the current version of the post. Use the whole post / excerpt toggle for a short card. Visitors never see unpublished, private or password-protected posts.
Publishing and versions
- Every change is saved as a draft 1.5 seconds later. Visitors keep seeing the published map until you click Update.
- The Versions box keeps the last 10 published versions. Open one to load it into the editor, then Update to publish it.
- If saving fails, the editor retries every 5 seconds. One person edits a map at a time, like a post.
- Download any map as a
.canvasfile from the map sidebar or the map list; it opens in Obsidian.
Show a map on your site
- Block: Canvas map (search “canvas”, “mind map”, “xmind” or “obsidian”). Pick the map, height and colours. Wide and full alignment work.
- Shortcode:
or, with optionalheight="70vh"andtheme="dark"(auto, light, dark). - Map page: every published map has its own page at
/map/slug/, with the excerpt above the map.
| Display setting | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 600px | 600, 600px, 70vh, 40em, 30rem or 100% |
| Colors | Follow the visitor’s system | Or always light, always dark |
| Dotted background | On | Dot grid behind the cards |
| Zoom and full screen buttons | On | +, -, Fit to screen, Full screen, zoom % |
Scripts load only on pages that show a map, and nothing comes from outside CDNs. Publishing a map clears the LiteSpeed Cache of every page that shows it; other cache plugins can use the lttc_map_published action. Each map carries a hidden text version of its cards for search engines and screen readers. Change the map font with the CSS variable --lttc-font.
What visitors can do
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Drag | Move the map |
| Ctrl/Cmd + wheel, pinch | Zoom from 4% to 400% |
| Wheel without Ctrl | Scrolls the page, with a hint how to zoom |
| Double-click | Zoom into a card or in; Shift+double-click zooms out |
| Full screen | Wheel moves the map; on iPhone the map covers the window |
| Phone | One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move and zoom; in full screen one finger moves the map |
| Note icon, Read button | Open a card with its note or its full text |
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | What to do |
|---|---|
| “File not available” on a card | Link the file in Files used in the map and click Update, or import a .zip of the folder with its images |
| “… was not uploaded. It may be larger than the server allows.” | Zip only the folder you need, or ask your host to raise upload_max_filesize and post_max_size |
| “… contains no .canvas or .xmind files.” | Zip the folder that contains the .canvas file |
| “The XMind file cannot be opened” / “The zip file cannot be opened” | The PHP Zip extension is missing or the file is damaged |
| Visitors do not see my changes | Click Update; changes are a draft until then. Clear other page caches by hand |
| Typing replaced the card text | Typing a letter replaces it, like XMind. Press Ctrl/Cmd+Z, or use F2 or Space to keep the text |
| Cards moved when I pressed Tab | Auto layout is on. Turn it off for a free canvas |
| The wheel scrolls the page | Use Ctrl/Cmd + wheel, or open full screen |
| The map is empty on the site | The map is not published, has no published board yet, or the shortcode ID is wrong |
| A post card shows only the title | The post is unpublished, private or has a password |
FAQ
Can I import my Obsidian canvas with its images?
Yes. Zip the folder with the .canvas file and its images, or the whole vault, and import the .zip.
Where do I find the map ID?
In the Shortcode column of LTT Canvas → All maps, or in the Show on your site box of the map.
Can I export a map back to Obsidian?
Yes: Download .canvas in the map sidebar or the map list. Images are referenced by their paths.
How do I stop cards moving when I press Tab?
Turn off Auto layout in the toolbar.
Can a card become a blog post?
Yes: select a text card, click Turn into a post, choose Post or Page and draft or publish. The card always shows the current post.
I made a mistake. Can I go back?
Use Ctrl/Cmd+Z, or open an earlier version in the Versions box and click Update.
Can the map be dark?
Yes: Colors → Always dark, the block Colors setting, or theme=”dark” in the shortcode.
Does it slow down other pages?
No. Its scripts load only where a map is shown.
What happens to my maps if I delete the plugin?
They are kept unless LTTC_DELETE_DATA is defined in wp-config.php.
Which languages are included?
English and Russian.
Still need help?
Write to info@lesst3.com or use the Support page. Include your WordPress and PHP versions and what you see on the screen; a screenshot helps.