Frame vs. Flare for My Needs

[Reng, Dr. Winfried]

Hi,

In my company there are also discussions to choose
MadCap Flare as a common authoring tool.
I see different requirements among us. Some need
HTML or CHM, others only PDF.
The arguments from MadCap Flare users here are:
o Less bugs.
o Better conversion to CHM and HTML.
o Better support.
(I do not know if all these are also valid for FM 12 or upcoming FM 13!)

Can those who use or used Flare comment on these?
Are these arguments valid?

What other experiences do you have?
Which features do you miss?
I see that Flare does not allow text on top of graphics.
I could not find out whether you can enter simple tabs.
I have problems adjusting table column widths.
I have even problems to zoom in when I have the print layout selected.
Flare does not support separate DTDs.

Best regards

Winfried

From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Ryan
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2015 9:21 PM
To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: Frame vs. Flare for My Needs

Hi,

I could use the advice of some Frame veterans on whether a switch from Frame to Flare might be a delusion-inspired wrong turn for me, or possibly the right way to go.

My company's primary documentation output is PDF user/training/reference guides authored on FrameMaker 7. Not the current Frame version, I know, but sufficient with our good templates to produce solid, professional-looking documents we're proud of. Other current deliverables include context-sensitive HTML topics produced via Mif2go and a limited number of "Process Assistance" MS Word topics.  These latter are a sort of MS-Word help equivalent that our customers can download from our application, edit if necessary, and even upload back into our application for others if they want to. I create Process Assistance MS-Word topics by cutting from Frame and pasting into Word, followed by manual reformatting (ouch).

Our customers (utilities) have been requesting another MS Word output:  Editable MS Word versions of our 20-300 page PDF manuals so that they can edit them for their own purposes (such as internal training).  Unfortunately, we've been unable to find a workable Frame-to-Word conversion process to this end.  I can do manual reformatting to Word in our short Process Assistance topics, but to do it on entire manuals would give me a nervous breakdown.

So, with better MS-Word output generation as my primary goal, I've been considering a switch to Flare. Its capability to output in PDF, Word, and HTML seems as though it might ultimately streamline our processes. As I test Flare by my 30-day trial, though, I'm reminded of the many things FrameMaker does really well - things I might be losing if I made the switch:  For example, precise page layouts, complex graphics, robust tables. To its credit, Flare seems to offer output versatility, excellent documentation and support, and a lot of Marketing momentum.

Am I misguiding myself?  Barking up the wrong tree?

Thanks for any opinions or comments.

Kevin Ryan
Technical Writer
[cid:image001.jpg at 01C97FA7.A9E51B40]
Systems & Software, Inc.
426 Industrial Avenue
Suite 140
Williston, VT 05495
802.865.1170 phone
802.865.1171 fax


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