MadCap Flare

[Jon Harvey]

Hi Callie,


My team has been using Flare with FM 7.2 for some time now. One thing I
like about Flare is that it is very easy to use after you tell Flare
which FM files to use, how to map styles from FM to online help, and
what you want your help to look like. I can switch from CHM to WebHelp
at basically the click of a mouse. Also, publishing files is very easy.

However, Flare does have some issues that we still haven't figured out
how to solve (and neither has MadCap, we've contacted them). We've had a
few images mysteriously fail to appear in CHM files without knowing why.
We've also had a few instances where conditional text would appear in
the online help when it shouldn't. These instances have been rare but
they do happen.

Overall, I won't rave about Flare because it does have some issues; but,
I will say that it is pretty good for what we use it for.

 
Jon Harvey
Manager, Desktop Documentation
CambridgeSoft Corporation
100 CambridgePark Drive
Cambridge, MA 02140
(617) 588-9354
-----Original Message-----
From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com
[mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Callie
Bertsche
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 11:43 AM
To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: MadCap Flare

Hi Framers, 
Due to frustration using ePublisher Pro and the coding learning curve of
Mif2Go, we are seriously considering switching help generation software
to MadCap Flare. I know I've generated chatter about this before, so I'm
sorry if this feels repetitive; but can I get any more input from anyone
who uses Flare with FrameMaker (7.2) to generate extensive
single-sourced material? More words of caution or advice? I've evaluated
the software to a fair extent and it seems capable; I'm really excited
that it can generate help from the command line. But because it's a
younger product, I would really value any more input from others who
have taken the plunge.
 
I generate thousands of pages into about 22 manuals and 3 online help
bundles. Currently ePP 9.1, Frame 7.2, WebWorks help output. My primary
concern in upgrading to the newer ePP was the glitch where it randomly
skips filename markers in the output, leaving me without random pages
that I need (I've heard that they've fixed it, but I've also heard that
it didn't work for at least one user), as well as the glee that
producing help from the command line would give me.
 
Cheers,
Callie
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