MadCap Flare

Figure 1: Main Interface with Home Ribbon (Screenshot of MadCap Flare)

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