MadCap FLARE

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MadCap Flare

Best-in-Class Technical Writing Software

Maximize content reuse and streamline the creation of technical documentation and learning & development programs.

MadCap Flare – What’s New

Write once, publish anywhere.

Web

Print

Desktop

Mobile

LMS & LRS

Importing

Easy Content Import

Flare offers the industry’s easiest and most advanced import of legacy content, in the industry including support for a wide range of file types using an easy drag-and-drop workflow. Migrate your legacy content – such as Microsoft^® Word and Excel, Atlassian Confluence^®, Adobe^® RoboHelp^® and FrameMaker^®, DITA, Author-It^®, and more – using our patented WYSIWYG XML Editor to author content in a familiar visual user interface.

Plus, step-by-step import wizards offer advanced options to customize your import for added control to re-use your legacy content.

Microsoft® Word:
Flare allows you to import any number of MS Word files simultaneously using the drag and drop functionality. For added control, you can import files using the import wizard. The import wizard allows you to break technical content into smaller topics for maximum content reuse and to organize your Flare project quickly and easily. You can also choose to maintain a continuous connection using Easy Sync to automatically re-import Word files once a change has been made to the source file. This ensures any changes made to your Word documents will always be updated in Flare.

Microsoft® Excel:

Easily import Excel files including XLS, XLSX, or CSV files. No need to recreate your spreadsheets as these will be added and converted to tables in Flare. As with Microsoft® Word, you can link Excel files to Flare so that it recognizes when changes have been made to the source documents for a much more effective technical documentation process.

RoboHelp®:

As the original creators of RoboHelp®, nobody imports projects better than MadCap Software. Create a new project or topics by importing your legacy Adobe® RoboHelp® projects.

FrameMaker®:

Create a new project or topics by importing Adobe® FrameMaker® files. Import support for BOOK, FM and MIF files.

Confluence®:

Import Atlassian Confluence® content, including HTM and Resource files, from the cloud and self-managed servers.

DITA:

Create a new project or import it into an existing project by importing DITA files.

Markdown:

Easily import files written in Markdown, including CommonMark, a rationalized version of Markdown syntax.

Authoring

Advanced Content Authoring

MadCap Flare offers a completely customizable interface that makes it easy to create technical documentation, application programming interface or API documentation, software documentation, interactive eLearning courses, learning & development programs and much more.

Content Explorer

Project Organizer

Visual Editor with Structure Bars

Split View Editor with XML Code View

Dock Any Window Pane for Quick Access

Contains all content-related items in your project

Contains all project-related items in your project

Visual WYSIWYG XML Editor with patented Structure Bars

Synced split view of both the XML Editor and Text Editor

Window panes can be docked, floated or hidden

Create Interactive eLearning Courses and Quizzes with Multiple Choice or Multiple Response Questions – All from a Single Source.

Maximize content reuse, reduce costs and improve collaboration between technical authoring and learning & development teams.

Topic-based Authoring and the Building Blocks of Content Development

Content in MadCap Flare is organized differently than other applications like Microsoft^® Word. Instead your content is stored in topics and other files such as images and videos.

Topic-based authoring is what makes Flare so powerful.

By organizing content into reusable chunks (e.g. topics) content can be assembled and used to create deliverables for different audiences and users, such as:

Student and Instructor Guides
Getting Started and Quick Start Guides
Beginner and Advanced User Manuals
Policy and Procedure Manuals (based on city, region or country)
Employee Handbooks (Exempt and Non-Exempt, Full-Time and
Part-Time)
Administrative and Programmer Guides

Micro Content Authoring to Improve Search, Feed Chatbots

Micro content is what it sounds like–short, concise information that stands alone, maximizes and expands the reuse of content beyond topic-based authoring, and is easily consumable by machine learning and AI applications.

All micro content in Flare (new or existing) is tagged with unique XML extensions, making the content easily identifiable and ingested by machine ready and AI applications appropriately. Leverage micro content for use in your output and applications.

Virtual and Augmented Reality Applications

Use Pre-built Project Templates to Create Professional Print, Online and Mobile Content in Minutes

With dozens of pre-installed project templates–and a growing library of new modern responsive top navigation templates–you can publish gorgeous web and print-based outputs in minutes. Create stunning, professionally designed print brochures and books, interactive eLearning courses, online Help systems, knowledge bases, self-service support sites, eBooks, user manuals, and more without the need for any additional CSS development or creative resources.

Single-source Images and Videos with Capture and Mimic

Maximize content reuse by applying the same rules used for text to movies, callouts and images to your projects. By adding variables to callouts and images, there’s no need to recapture or reinsert images into your documentation when text or version changes are a requirement.

MadCap Capture

Screen Capture and Image Editing

MadCap Capture offers advanced screen capturing and image editing features to make it easy to incorporate images into your content. Easily re-crop and re-capture images, add captions, single source images using custom mediums from your Flare projects, batch replace image libraries, store common image settings in profiles and much more.

MadCap Mimic

Interactive Demos, Videos, Tutorials and Software Simulations

MadCap Mimic is an easy-to-use technical documentation software simulation and multimedia tool that lets you create fully interactive movies, eLearning videos, simulations, presentations and tutorials or user guides of a software product or system.

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT CONTRIBUTION & REVIEW

Streamlined Team Collaboration, Including Contribution and Review in the Cloud

With a streamlined approach to team collaboration, Flare provides workflows designed to make your content development smooth and efficient.

Cloud-Based Contribution and Review with MadCap Central

Allow anyone in your organization to contribute and review Flare content using MadCap Central’s cloud-based editor. Subject matter experts, authors and other non-Flare users can easily create and review content using an integrated cloud-based workflow.

Benefits of this review workflow include:

Cloud-based Editor

Subject matter experts do not need to download and install any software product. The contribution and review workflow is simple, completely integrated and takes place in the cloud.

Concurrent Multi-User Authoring and Review

Multiple SMEs, authors and non-Flare users can contribute, make changes and add comments to the same topic or snippet simultaneously.

Easy-to-Use Interface

The lightweight editor offers a streamlined interface, and SMEs only see options and features that are relevant to the contribution and review process.

Team Collaboration

Collaborate with SMEs, technical writers, and other authors by viewing and working with the same Flare content and projects concurrently.

Desktop-Based Contribution and Review with MadCap Contributor

If a cloud-based review workflow is not ideal for your organization, you can take advantage of Flare’s built-in topic review and contribution features (for Flare authors) and MadCap Contributor (for subject matter experts and professional technical writing staff).

Benefits of this review workflow include:

Send Reviews

You can email review package files containing topics and/or snippets to other individuals for their feedback and/or changes. Alternatively, you can use SharePoint integration or the external resources feature to store the review package files.

Receive Reviews

Using Flare, you can review documents sent to you by other Flare authors via email or other methods.

Contributions

Subject matter experts, authors and other non-Flare users can use MadCap Contributor to create and review content.

Translation

Multi-language Authoring, Translation and Publishing, Including Bi-directional Support

Deliver good documentation to your global users with Flare, with support for multi-language authoring, translation and publishing. Flare supports Unicode language characters, double-byte Asian languages and Eastern European languages, as well as bi-directional language authoring and publishing including Hebrew, Arabic and Persian.

Advanced single-sourcing features make translation more seamless in Flare, with easy access to content, snippets, variables and more. Integration with MadCap Lingo provides unparalleled support for the translation and localization process.

Multilingual web and print publishing from a single project

The multilingual publishing feature allows for multiple languages to be published in a single output for both print and online content.

Controlled Language/Simplified Technical English support

Through integration with Acrolinx and Etteplan | Tedopres HyperSTE, Flare allows authors to use a standardized vocabulary and style to improve consistency, eliminate ambiguity and reduce complexity. Ensure compliance with corporate terminology and style guide rules using an advanced interactive checker and quality measurement features.

Fully-integrated translation workflow with MadCap Lingo

Seamless transfer of content between Flare and MadCap Lingo using Project Packager
Use MadCap Lingo to translate content or package content for translation
Gain visibility with reports such as word and segment count, exact matches already in translation memory, content requiring translation and more

Plus: Language and business services with MadTranslations

Complete end-to-end authoring, consulting, translation and publishing services
Tools and expertise in maximizing content reuse, from the initial authoring stage through the final translation stage

Publishing

Publish Fully Responsive HTML5 Websites, PDFs, and More

Ensure your content is accessible to your end users, wherever they are, and however they prefer to consume your content.

For inspiration and real-world examples view our customer showcase.

Supported Formats

Publish your content to popular formats including HTML5, PDF, Microsoft® Word, Clean XHTML, EPUB, and Eclipse Help; as well as legacy output types such as WebHelp and DITA for example.

Fully Responsive Websites

Flare utilizes responsive web design that automatically adjusts the display of your content depending on the device.

User-Friendly Web Design

Create stunning HTML5 web content that is user-friendly, easy to navigate and visually impressive for your end users.

Page Layout Support for High-end Print

Flare offers advanced capabilities for high-end print publishing needs, including CMYK support, OpenType Fonts, vector graphic support and more.

Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Learning Record Stores (LRS)

Generate SCORM-compliant (SCORM 2004, 1.2) and xAPI-compliant (Tin Can) content directly from MadCap Flare to upload to any external LMS or LRS.

Combine the Benefits of On-Premises Authoring and Publishing with the Convenience of the Cloud

Limited or no IT resources? By combining the power, security and no need for internet dependency of MadCap Flare’s on-premises authoring with MadCap Central’s cloud-based hosting, content and project management, there’s no need to invest in expensive web and publishing servers, project management software, analytics and other non-integrated solutions to manage your content delivery workflow.

Hosting
Project Management
Contribution and Review
Translation
Publishing
Analytics

Easily Host and Manage Your Projects and Content in the Cloud

MadCap Flare makes it easy to publish your technical and software documentation projects and other content directly to MadCap Central in just a few clicks. Once published, you can manage your outputs and set the status for each, including whether the site is live, if the site is private with password protected user access, whether the site can be crawled by search engines and much more.

Repurpose and Reuse Content Anywhere

Break down silos and take advantage of direct integration and publishing to popular Help Desk, CRM and other third party support applications. With Flare, you can publish directly to Salesforce^® , Zendesk^® and ServiceNow^® with the MadCap Connect plug-ins. In addition, repurpose content to any other platforms, third-party applications and content management solutions using MadCap Flare’s Clean XHTML output.

Adaptable Platform for a Rich Variety of Content and Document Types

Flare’s publishing versatility is unmatched: Content developers, from technical writers and documentation managers to eLearning specialists and instructional or user manual designers, can create and manage a rich variety of content from a single application.

Employee Handbooks and Policies & Procedures Manuals
Online Help, Documentation and User Assistance
Medical, Regulatory and Compliance Documents
Training Manuals and eLearning Guides
API and SDK Documentation
Knowledge Bases and Corporate Intranets
User Guides, Installation Guides and Quick Start Guides
Support and Troubleshooting Documentation
Administrative, Programmer and Internal Development Documentation
Proposals, Contracts, Reports and Audits
Marketing,Corporate, and Technical Communication Documentation
Illustrated Parts Catalogs and Maintenance Manuals

AUTHORING AND REAL-TIME ACTIONABLE ANALYTICS ON YOUR OUTPUT

Improve Content Accuracy, Reliability and Overall Customer Satisfaction with Analysis and Reporting During Content Creation and Real-Time Actionable Analytics on Post-Production Usage

By taking advantage of built-in authoring analysis and reporting during content development, plus real-time end-user statistics on how your users interact with and find your content, you can improve content quality, overall customer satisfaction and self-help, and enable a continuous workflow of content improvement for maximum ROI.

Authoring analysis and reporting

Find and Fix Issues with Powerful Project Analysis and Reporting

Powerful project analysis and reporting features are included that can help find and fix issues with your projects. Run tests before you publish to find critical technical issues, such as broken links, duplicate stylesheets, missing images and more.

Scan your project to find and fix critical technical issues, including:

Broken Links
Duplicate Styles in Stylesheets
Duplicate TOC Items
Broken Image Links
Broken Bookmarks
Undefined Variables, Condition Tags,
File Tags and Conditions
Non-XML Topics and More

As well as used and unused items including:

Snippets
Topics
Styles
Variables
Map IDs
Images and More

Plus, improve content quality and reuse by
identifying suggestions, including:

Markup (XHTML)
Index Keywords
Cross-references
Local Styles
Snippets
Variables
Accessibility

The Power of MadCap Analyzer Is Now Built Into MadCap Flare

MadCap Analyzer’s features and functionality are now included in Flare. Find and fix critical issues quickly, get content suggestions for snippets and variables, meet accessibility and editing guidelines, generate custom reports, and much more.

Find Elements

Quickly and easily find files containing particular elements such as custom tags, MadCap-specific features (drop-down text, concepts, equations), markup, inline styles, style classes, and more.

Text Analysis for Readability, Average Sentence Length and More

A text analysis tool built into Flare allows you to run reports on your project content. Scores are based on the “Flesch Reading Ease” and “Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level” tests, and reports can be run on topics, documents, entire projects or compared side-by-side to other documents.

Reports include Readability scores, average sentence length, punctuation density per sentence, and the number of unique words.

REAL-TIME actionable ANALYTICS on POST-PRODUCTION OUTPUT REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOUR CONTENT IS LOCATED

Maximize Customer Self-Help and Improve Content Usefulness by Gaining Valuable Insight Into User Interactivity

Are your end users finding the content they need? How many times did a user search for content that provided no results? Should you create micro content for particular search phrases? All of these critical questions can be answered with data analytics on your Flare-generated content.

Don’t “drive blindfolded”; take the guessing out of your content quality strategy
Easy set up in just minutes so you can start gathering data analytics immediately
Track usage on any hosted website or desktop output
Content can be hosted anywhere, not just with MadCap Central

Search

Search Queries

Search Queries with No Results

Content

Topic Views

Context-Sensitive Help Calls

Demographics

Browser Statistics

Operating System Statistics

Gather Usage Data On Any Content – Online, Hosted or Even Local Desktop

Unlike most data analytic solutions, your Flare-generated technical content can be hosted anywhere — including desktop-based content — to capture data quickly in just a matter of clicks. Your content can be hosted using MadCap Central’s easy online hosting feature. You can use a third-party hosted website, server, or even on your own internal desktop accessible only to you or your employees and internal network users.

“We use the output analytics feature in MadCap Central and find it easy and convenient. We use the analytics for all of our MadCap Flare projects, regardless of whether they are hosted with MadCap Central or not.”

NIGEL LONGLEY | Learning Material Consultant, Construction Industry Solutions Ltd (COINS)

Micro-content and Data Analytics Are Changing the Content Development Game

How can you ensure you give your end users and technical writers the information they need and want the most? By combining micro-content from MadCap Flare and data analytics from MadCap Central, you can improve your content quality and ensure your users find the most relevant and accurate content they need quickly and easily.

We love the micro-content feature in MadCap Flare, and we have created hundreds of specialized micro-content pieces in our Learning Center.
Casey Schroeder | Lead Content Strategist, 84.51°