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We use Madcap Flare and Lingo here and we're not a translation house. You
can probably sign up on the forums at http://forums.madcapsoftware.com
Post grievances or success stories. I guarantee you someone/anyone will
respond with 48 hours if the topic is interesting enough to warrant a reply
from the community :)
Robohelp 7 is a solid tool as well.
Few things to take note of (patience is key as with adjusting to slightly
new workflow and any new environment, Word 2007 anyone?)
* Global project link
* Most importantly Flare v4 is NOT like RoboHelp although there are a fair
bit of similarities. I know you won't believe me but if you do prepare to be
annoyed..:)
* Tip1: Learning the new structure bars and how to apply conditional text
is very good. The output to Word output or PDF is much more 'solid'
* Tip2: Learning to work with lists is probably the number one skill that
you need to get used to - which is related back to how well you can work
with in the structure bars.
* Stronger, clearer print output support.
* Much, much better image handling for single-sourcing between online and
print outputs. --automatic image width resizing so no more images bleeding
to the edge of a page...anyone who has done this will know what I
mean...even Flare 3 had this problem before.
* Fair knowledge of what the CSS (stylesheet) is doing would be
advantageous but not a requirement.
* Strong Flare to Word output support. Multi-level lists transfer very
accurately no crazy running indents and tabs.
* Simplified visual page layout
* Columns anyone? Now you can for print output.
* Solid indexing display and support
* Solid single-sourcing components such as variables and snippets
PS. Not sure if the tech whirlers list is particular about posts with
respect to tools but anyway I thought I'd contribute a little something back
to the community.
The YAHOO HATT list is pretty good resource and so is
-----Original Message-----
From: Norman, Mary [mailto:Mary -dot- Norman -at- xerox -dot- com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 8:10 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Know Anything about Madcap Flare?
Hi all -
Our new translation house is using Madcap Flare for online help and printed
content development. As a result, our documentation group is looking into
purchasing the software to replace our current RoboHelp 7.0. I am doing
research on my own to find out more about this software, but any
advantages/disadvantages/experiences you can provide would be helpful!
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