MadCap Flare

Overview
The key concept behind MadCap Flare software is single-source publishing. This means writers can use their content more than one time in more than one media format. It is considered a form of content management. Flare allows people to create content once, and then use it for multiple outputs, like websites (XHMTL), PDF files, Word documents, EPUB files (electronic books), or CHM help content. CHM files are included in some software that is used on Microsoft Windows computers and they contain help documentation in a compressed HTML format.

Flare supports several different methods of reusing content which means a writer will only have to make a change in one place and everywhere that content is used it will be updated automatically. This saves time because authors will no longer need to make changes in multiple documents. Using MadCap Flare will increase efficiency, improve accuracy and consistency, simplify updating, streamline processes, shorten publication cycles, and reduce translation costs.

MadCap has created a powerful authoring program with ease of use in mind. Additionally, there are tutorial videos available on the MadCap website that allow technical writers to get up to speed quickly. Installing the software takes very little time, with a wizard that walks the user through the necessary steps. The system requirements for a basic installation are:


 * 4096 MB RAM (memory)
 * 1.4 GB of available hard drive space
 * Intel Pentium 4 CPU (processor)
 * Windows 7, 8, or 10
 * Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6
 * Windows 7, 8, or 10
 * Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6
 * Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6
 * Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6

Any writer not familiar with the technical specifications of their computer should contact their IT department to ensure the system requirements are met before attempting to install the software.

After installation, technical communicators claim they can quickly become comfortable with the most important features of the software. The layout is similar to Microsoft Word which flattens the learning curve.

History
MadCap Software, Inc. was founded by Anthony Oliver in 2005. Prior to founding the company, Oliver held a senior position at Macromedia managing the development of Help, eLearning, and multimedia products. [1],[2]

MadCap Software, Inc. is privately-owned and they provide services and sell computers, peripherals, and software, including their flagship product MadCap Flare. [1] The software can be purchased directly from MadCap, or from an authorized reseller such as ComponentSource. Prices vary based on the maintenance package selected and if the purchase is for MadCap Flare as a standalone product or as a part of the MadCap Authoring and Management System (AMS). Maintenance packages are Bronze, which allows for email support and access to their forums, and Platinum, which includes email, forum access, and unlimited telephone support. Licensing is subscription-based.[3],[4]

MadCap Flare can be used to produce: technical, medical, business, policy, marketing, or human resources content. Some of the items that can be created are: Help systems for software or the web, intranets and websites, policy and procedure manuals, user and training guides, eBooks, knowledge bases, and video tutorials. [9] In California, MadCap Flare has been integrated into an eLearning solution for eLearning Innovation, a company that provides eLearning to K-12, higher education, non-profits, corporations, and government entities. They use the built-in analytics to evaluate the success of their courses. [11]

In 2020, MadCap added support for:

Table 1: New 2020 Flare Features

In 2019, MadCap added four major features to Flare:

Table 2: New 2019 Flare Features

Earlier release information is available at https://www.componentsource.com/product/madcap-flare/releases

In 2010, Dayton and Hopper predicted that single-sourcing and content management would gain popularity due to products like MadCap Flare. [6] Nine years later, Global News Wire reports that over 20,000 companies in the U.S. are using MadCap Flare for their documentation. [5]

Between 2007 and 2009, the Society for Technical Communication launched a study on the Technical Communication Body of Knowledge. Coppola and Elliot state that, “Using a multimethod approach, academic and professional leaders used mapping, card sorting, affinity diagramming, and shareholder analysis to identify core knowledge areas for technical communication.” [7] The only tools that they included in their analysis were Adobe Creative Suite and MadCap Flare. Mapping, card sorting, affinity diagramming, and shareholder analysis are all methodologies used in user experience design.

In 2018, Lanier surveyed 203 members of the Society for Technical Communication. Writing software tools, content management systems, and XML were popular issues in trends about technology. For writing tools, MadCap Flare was at the top of the list with nine mentions. Adobe FrameMaker came in second place with only three mentions. In this particular study, Flare was the most widely used tool. [8]

Getting Started
When users first launch Flare, they will want to create a new project. They can start from scratch or import information from a variety of sources. The import process is usually pretty smooth, but some cleanup of the newly imported topics will be necessary. There are wizards for creating a new project without importing anything or with an import. Both are simple to follow and prompt the writer for the information that will be necessary to create the project.

Templates with some dummy content are also available if content developers want some extra help getting started. They will have to choose a primary target (output) during the wizard. It is possible to add multiple targets later on, but Flare needs a default target for use with some of the shortcuts in Flare on the Project ribbon (see Figure 1 Section 1.) Targets include HTML5, PDF, and CHM help files.

Main Interface
In the user interface, there are ribbon menus across the top of the screen (see Figure 1 Section 1) and the rest of the screen is divided up into four panes (see Figure 1 Section 2, Section 3, Section 4, and Section 5.) On the left are the Content Explorer and Project Organizer (see Figure 1 Section 2.) In the center is where people will do the majority of their work and where the Start Page launches by default (see Figure 1 Section 3), and on the right are several accordion menus with options like Styles, which are frequently used (see Figure 1 Section 4.) At the bottom of the screen is the Messages pane (see Figure 1 Section 5) where Flare will display any information that technical communicators need to know about whatever is going on at the moment.

The Start Page in the center has helpful shortcuts, like Recent Projects, Open, and New Project. (See Figure 1 Section 3.) There are also links to Templates and Help Content. It is there every time Flare is launched and it is very useful. For frequently used projects, hover over them in the Recent Projects section and then pin them to the menu, so they always appear at the top of the list. This is a nice feature.

The Content Explorer and the Project Organizer are located in the left pane (see Figure 1 Section 2), though writers will probably spend more time in the Content Explorer. They can click the accordion bars at the bottom of the screen to switch between them. These two folders will hold all of the necessary files that make up the project.

The Content Explorer holds all of the content files, called Topics, that are used in the project. In the Resources directory are Images, MasterPages, PageLayouts, StyleSheets, and TableStyles (see Figure 1 Section 2). The rest of the files in this section are Topic files. If the content developer saves all of their images in the Images directory, they can access them for output to a webpage or to a PDF file. The other folders are useful for holding content that will give the output a uniform look and feel. Double-click on any file in this section to open it in the center pane (see Figure 1 Section 3).

Master Pages are used for either web output or Word output. For websites, they allow people to add components to all of the topics. Search boxes, menus, breadcrumbs, or toolbars are some examples. For Word, they control things like page orientation and margins. Page Layouts are used for print output, such as PDF files, but they can also be used with Word. They control things like headers, footers, and page numbering. Style Sheets and Table Styles are used to format the content. Table Styles are for tables, and Style Sheets are for everything else.

The Project Organizer holds files that tell Flare how writers want their content to be presented and used. (To access this, click the Project Organizer accordion bar at the bottom of Figure 1 Section 2). The directories in this section are: Advanced, Conditional Text, Destinations, Exports, Glossaries, Imports, Reports, Skins, Targets, TOCs, and Variables. The three that are used most often are Targets, TOCs, and Conditional Text. The first two are required for each output. Conditional Text is used when there are multiple outputs.

Target files are used to produce output. There will be one for each type of Target that is needed. One for HTML5, one for PDF, etc. The good thing about Target files is that once they are set up, there is no need to open them again. All of the properties for that Target are located in the file. Just double-click the Target to open it in the center pane and edit the settings.

TOC files are used to build the Table of Contents for each Target. Add topics to these in the order that they should be displayed in each output. To do this, just highlight the topic in the Content Explorer (see Figure 1 Section 2) by clicking once with the mouse, then drag the topic into the open TOC in the center pane (see Figure 1 Section 3).

Conditional Text controls where the content appears in the outputs. There may be a quick reference guide and a user guide for a specific product. Use Conditional Text to select the content that should appear in the quick reference guide, then in the same topic select the content that should appear in both documents. Each output will have its own color that appears behind the text so it is clear where the content will end up. For an example of this, see Figure 1 Section 3. The apricot highlighted text is most likely for a PDF file and the lavender highlighted text is most likely for a website.

After double-clicking on a Topic in the Content Explorer (see Figure 1 Section 2), it will open in the center pane (see Figure 1 Section 3). This is the default view for Topics and is probably where most of the work will be done. It’s a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) environment and is similar to working in Microsoft Word. At the bottom of the center pane (see Figure 1 Section 3) there is the default tab, XML Editor, and a tab for Text Editor, which allows users to view and edit the source code manually. The Text Editor is definitely a feature that is for more experienced users who are familiar with HTML.

Throughout Flare writers can right-click on almost anything and get a context menu with frequently used options. This is really helpful to have alternative methods for performing various tasks. Flare has something called Structure Bars on the left side and above the content at the top of the page. Structure Bars correspond to CSS and HTML tags within the content. For example, if a writer clicks the H1 Structure Bar on the left, all of the text in Heading 1 would be highlighted. Technical communicators can drag and drop Structure Bars to move content around. They are one of the most powerful features of Flare. For an example of Structure Bars, look to the left of the content in Figure 1 Section 3.

There are also colored objects, icons, and brackets located in the text of the content that indicates an index, a bookmark, bold or italic formatting, or the use of variables or conditional text. They are called Markers and they can be turned off in the interface, but most writers find them to be helpful. The default settings in Flare for the user interface is designed to be as helpful and intuitive as possible. For an example of Markers, see the lavender highlighted text in Figure 1 Section 3. They are the blue brackets surrounding the word History.

At the top of the center pane is a local toolbar with some very handy shortcuts (Figure 1 Section 3). The first shortcut is to preview the topic that is being worked on and it provides the preview without having to build the entire project. This is helpful to see what the topic will really look like. Also on this toolbar are a series of insert shortcuts that allow writers to insert hyperlinks, cross-references, images, snippets, and variables.

The cross-references are nice because they display as a hyperlink in HTML5 (website) output, but they are displayed with the name of a topic and the page number for PDF files. Snippets are reusable content that are stored as Snippet files and they can be inserted whenever the exact same text needs to be used. These are especially useful for warnings, tips, and notes that may be the same for different topics. Variables are good for things like titles, serial numbers, copyright dates, and product names. Variables can be different based on the topic.

The Home ribbon at the top of the window holds the most frequently used formatting shortcuts and other commands (see Figure 1 Section 1). It includes sections for the Clipboard, Font, Paragraph, Styles, Snippet, Attributes, Find and Replace, and Properties. It’s very similar to the Home ribbon in Microsoft Word. The Font and Paragraph sections apply inline formatting to the text in the topic, so it’s best to avoid using them. The exception to this is bulleted and numbered lists. It’s better to apply Styles using CSS to change the appearance of the text.

Note: In each of the ribbon sections below, the screen captures came from Figure 1 Section 1 with the focus on the corresponding ribbon. In Figure 1 Section 1, the focus was on the Home ribbon. The tab with the focus is a lighter shade of grey with black text on the label. Notice that all of the tabs are visible in each screen capture, but those without the focus have dark grey text on the label and a medium grey background. Each ribbon is discussed in the order that it appears on the screen, from left to right.

Insert Ribbon
The Insert ribbon holds shortcuts to all of the things that can be inserted into the topic. The most frequently used shortcuts are for inserting images, tables, hyperlinks, cross-references, bookmarks, snippets, and variables.

View Ribbon
The View ribbon allows writers to see various components in Flare and allows them to control the interface. It offers alternative methods for accessing the content. Note: MadCap Central is a cloud-based source control platform that is available from MadCap for an additional fee. It is good for collaboration, translation, and analytics.

Project Ribbon
The Project ribbon has shortcuts to create a new project or import a project, as well as various shortcuts allowing technical communicators to build and publish their projects. Note: There are section labels are along the bottom of the ribbon in grey text. They identify the functionality of the shortcuts in that particular section. The Build section has useful shortcuts for Build Primary, View Primary, and Publish Primary. Additionally, in the Primary Files section, it is possible to launch any of the five main Primary File types. The Save section allows for exporting the project, zipping (compressing) a copy of the project, and saving the project as a template. Particularly helpful is the Locate in TOC and Locate in Explorer shortcuts. These get a lot of use, especially in larger projects.

Analysis Ribbon
The Analysis ribbon is amazing. It will provide individual lists or a summary of everything that could possibly be wrong with the project. It will display warnings and errors, as well as things like broken links. This is a valuable tool that should definitely be used to find potential problems before publishing the project.

Review Ribbon
The Review ribbon has tools for review, including Track Changes. This is nice for collaboration or if the content must be approved by other people.

Tools Ribbon
The Tools ribbon has miscellaneous shortcuts on it, and this ribbon does not get very much use. There is a Dictionary, Spell Check, and a Thesaurus just to name a few. The default setting in Flare is to have Spell Check on while typing, so this ribbon may not get much use.

Table Ribbon
There is a shortcut for inserting a table on the Insert ribbon, as well as on the Table ribbon. This ribbon holds all of the shortcuts for manipulating tables. It also feels a lot like Microsoft Word.

Window Ribbon
On the Window ribbon, people can save and load the interface layout and there is a time-saving shortcut to “Close All Documents” which will get a lot of use if there are multiple topics open for editing all at once.

Help Ribbon
The Help ribbon is pretty standard, but it is an excellent place to look up features and learn how to use them. It is also possible to Report a Bug to MadCap if there is something in the software that isn't working properly or that could be improved.

Conclusion
MadCap Flare's topic-based single-source publishing simplifies content reuse and makes publication or delivery of documentation streamlined. To customize content for different audiences or outputs, use snippets, and conditional text. Search features, glossaries, and micro-content allow people to quickly find the information that they need. [10] Overall, MadCap Flare is a great program. It is powerful, versatile, and innovative. Flare saves time by allowing communicators to reuse content and publish to different targets, such as HTML5 for websites, PDF, and CHM for help files.