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When asking or editing a question, I find that sometimes I will create a mockup using the Balsamiq UI creator.

The problem is that sometimes I would like to create a slightly different version of the mockup. The easiest way would be to have a copy of that mockup and then edit it.

However, there doesn't seem to be a way to export the source of the mockup from the UI editor at all.

The I can do this at the moment, is to finish writing/editing the question, saving it, then download the BMML source, edit the question import the source and create the mockup (while hoping no one sees the question in the meantime).

Is there anyway to download the BMML source of a mockup while asking or editing a question?

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  • You can download BMML for published posts, see the link underneath. For unpublished ones this is made more difficult because of the licencing rules. But my curiosity got the better of me and I couldn't help but explore where the BMML is going. You have to save your mockup first, then open Chrome developer tools, click "Edit the above mockup" and then in the network tab find config?edit=... and in the response tab the BMML will appear. Strip some bits from top and bottom so you just have <mockup ...>...</mockup> and that portion is your BMML which can be imported into the editor in future.
    – Simon East
    Jul 27, 2020 at 10:30

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Once you've created the wireframe & added it to your question, there will be a link right under the image:

download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups

enter image description here

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  • I don't see this link when I edit or ask a question, only on the page after the question has been edited or posted.
    – F21
    Jul 5, 2012 at 5:44
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    Precisely. It's part of the licensing agreement. Otherwise, people would just open the editor & create free downloadable wireframes. This way they're downloadable only once made public.
    – dnbrv
    Jul 5, 2012 at 5:45
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I'm declining this for the reason dnbrv mentions in a comment:

Otherwise, people would just open the editor & create free downloadable wireframes. This way they're downloadable only once made public.

That's absolutely correct.

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I actually found a way to do it based on the instructions on the Balsamiq blog.

There is actually no need to download the BMML if I wanted to create variations of the wireframe in my question.

As per the blog:

  1. edit the original question/answer containing the mockup you want to improve

  2. copy the part between <!-- Begin mockup and End mockup -->

  3. go back to your answer in the text editor and paste the code you just copied

In the preview pane, we will now have a copy of the mockup, click edit mockup to edit it.

No need to mess with BMMLs anymore! The above also works when trying to use someone else's mockups in an answer and modifying them.

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