Introducing MadCap Flare

Flare is a new XML-based authoring tool that has been attracting a lot of attention throughout the online Help community. This is due in part to the fact that the company behind it, MadCap Software, was formed by some of the key members of the team who had been responsible for eHelp Corporation's RoboHelp product (now owned by Adobe).

This presentation provides an objective appraisal of Flare, and focuses on the key similarities and differences between Flare and RoboHelp. We'll cover Flare's fundamental work flow and operating principals, and discuss its strengths and weaknesses in relation to its major competitors. The session also demonstrates the process of importing a RoboHelp project and discusses the issues and challenges that organizations might experience in migrating from RoboHelp to Flare.

YOU WILL LEARN:

• The basic principles of Flare
• How Flare stores content and formatting information
• How the authoring experience within Flare compares to working with RoboHelp and other major Help tools
• How to import existing content, including RoboHelp projects, into Flare

Matthew Ellison

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Matthew Ellison is a Senior Member of the STC with 19 years of experience as a user assistance professional in the software industry. He has trained more than 800 authors how to develop online Help. Matthew is also a qualified teacher (PGCE), a Certified RoboHelp Instructor and Certified Technical Trainer. He presented an introduction to MadCap Flare at the 2006 WritersUA Conference in Palm Springs, and is a regular speaker at Help Conferences in the US, Europe and Australia. Matthew is currently organising the European Online Help Conference, scheduled to take place in Manchester on September 7-8th, 2006 ( www.uaconference.eu )