Cutting-edge authoring and
publishing for today’s technical
writers and learning &
development professionals.
Why Do Leading Organizations Around the Globe Choose MadCap Flare?
Advanced topic-based and micro content authoring combined with industry leading multi-channel publishing give companies the edge in maximizing content reuse and streamlining the creation, management and delivery of content across the enterprise.
Benefits summary
Maximize Return on Investment Across the Enterprise
- Maximum Content Reuse
- Advanced Multi-channel Publishing
- Convert Existing Content Into Training
- Reduced Translation Cost
- Increased Product Adoption
- Streamline Content Delivery
- Improved Customer Experience
- Reduced Costs in Technology Stack
- Increased Customer Self-Help and Ticket Deflection
- Drive Organic Traffic and Improve SEO
Microsoft® Word Users
Learn How Companies Are Maximizing ROI by Replacing Microsoft® Word with MadCap Software
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Key advantages
The Solution
Write Once, Publish Anywhere
With advanced topic-based and micro content authoring combined with industry leading multi-channel publishing for any audience, language or format, you can ensure your content is accessible to your end users, wherever they are, and however they prefer to consume your content.
Topic-based Authoring is the Most Efficient Approach to Content Development
- Topic-based authoring allows you to split your documents into smaller chunks of content.
- A modular approach to content development makes it easy to reuse common content through your deliverables.
Micro Content Authoring Further Expands Content Development
- Micro content authoring further extends topic-based authoring and allows you to create even smaller pieces of content – text, images, and videos that can be consumed by a reader in about 10-20 seconds.
- Improve search experiences with featured snippets in search results using micro content.
- Micro content is easily consumable by machine learning, chatbots, and AI applications, and much more.
Easily Import Content and Leverage Your Existing Legacy Content
- Import a range of content and file types to ensure you can leverage existing content.
Improve Consistency and Content Accuracy
- Shorten ongoing content maintenance cycles with a modular approach to content development. Content updates can be made at the source level and reflected across all deliverables.
Drastically Improve Customer Experiences and Engagement
- Make your documentation an extension of your brand while also improving overall user experience and increased ticket deflection with improved self-Help.
- Pre-built project templates make creating new professional looking content for web, print, desktop and mobile quick and easy.
- Built-in data analytics and usage statistics for a continuous improvement lifecycle and maximum ROI
- Advanced search enables delivery of concise and precise information to end-users quickly
Streamline Translation and Review Workflows
- Integrated translation workflows with MadCap Lingo make translation management streamlined and efficient.
- On-premises and cloud-based review workflows with MadCap Contributor and MadCap Central provide authors and SMEs effective processes to review and contribute content.
Leverage Single-Sourcing for Presentations
- Include PowerPoint as an output format for flexible content delivery.
- Generate PowerPoint presentations from single-sourced content, avoiding manual duplication.
- Ensure up-to-date, consistent presentations across all outputs.
The problem
Legacy Applications and Workflows are Grossly Inefficient
Single-sourcing is the practice of re-using common content throughout your documentation and other content deliverables. From a single source, you can create multiple versions, publish multiple output formats and translate content into any number of languages.
Limited to No Content Reuse, Scalability and Extensibility
- A chapter-based approach to content creation increases costs, requiring a lot of copy and paste as content grows, introducing content duplication and inaccuracies
- Legacy applications are typically not scalable to handle large amounts and different variations of documentation
- The introduction of content translation requirements and workflows are costly and difficult to manage
- The leveraging of existing content and integration with third party applications is limited
- There is limited to no visibility as to customer usage and interactivity
Limited Content Delivery, Usability and Formatting
- Publishing content to multiple formats (web, desktop, mobile, print and embedded in-application Help) is difficult or not possible
- Content search is limited and cumbersome
- Legacy applications are not focused on the user experience of the author and typically lack functionality to maximise authoring efficiency
- Branding and formatting capabilities are limited
Inability to Manage Content Efficiently and Keep Pace with Agile
- Rapid changes across large document sets are impossible
- Keeping pace with shorter development cycles and frequent content updates are difficult
Limited Content Accuracy and Consistency
- Maintaining consistency across teams and departments is nearly impossible with multiple non-integrated applications
- Email-based exchanges and traditional content review workflows are time consuming and inefficient
- Content updates using copy and paste is a tedious process and introduces errors
Single Sourcing
Advanced Single-Sourcing Streamlines Content Authoring
Single-sourcing is the practice of re-using common content throughout your documentation and other content deliverables. From a single source, you can create multiple versions, publish multiple output formats and translate content into any number of languages.
Quickly Generate Multiple Versions
- Update content in one location instead of multiple documents, for automatic updates across your deliverables
- Generate different variations of documents, websites and guides from the same source files
- Create documents for multiple audiences, for example product guides for beginning and advanced users or office policy and procedure manuals based on country
Easily Create Multiple Output Formats
- Generate the same content (or similar) in a variety of output formats including HTML5, PDF and Word
- Control the presentation and content for different outputs using CSS and Page Layouts
- Responsive output for mobile devices (different screen sizes)
Seamlessly Translate to Multiple Languages
- Translations are clearly linked to the same source code
- Reduce costs by translating less content (rather than multiple documents)
- 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.
- Fully-integrated translation workflow with MadCap Lingo
This project wouldn’t have been possible without Flare’s amazing single-source functionality. The content we’re producing is worlds ahead of what we were doing before.
Joe Bleasdale Training Manager | disguise
Multi-channel publishing
Multi-Channel Publishing Streamlines Content Delivery
Multi-channel publishing allows you to publish your content to many different output formats from a single project. MadCap Flare allows you to publish output to a variety of formats, including responsive HTML5, high-end PDF, PPTX and much more.
Web | Print | Desktop | Mobile | Presentations
Responsive HTML5 | Adobe® PDF | Microsoft® Word | Microsoft® PowerPoint | Clean XML | Salesforce® | Zendesk® | ServiceNow® | EPUB
Leveraging MadCap Flare's multiple outputs, we were able to take our PDFs and publish them in a modern, online format with very little overhead.
Aini Bhatti Technical Writer | Avigilon, a Motorola Solutions Company
Comparison Guides
Detailed Product Comparison Guides
Our comprehensive guides help you understand the key differences between MadCap Software and its competitors.
Microsoft® Word Users
Learn How Companies Are Maximizing ROI by Replacing Microsoft® Word with MadCap Software
LEARN MORE
Unqork Compares Content Management Systems: MadCap Software, Adobe® RoboHelp®, Adobe® and FrameMaker®
Are All Content Management Systems Created Equal?
Adapted from the MadCap Software Webinar:
Unqork
Delivers
State-of-the-Art
Educational Offering
Via “Four Stages of Maturity” Model
| MadCap Software | Adobe® RoboHelp® | Adobe® FrameMaker® | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
True Single Sourcing Maintain your source content and output to many output types: PDF, DOC, DOCX, XPS, DotNet Help, WebHelp, WebHelp Mobile, EPUB, FM, XHTML Book, DITA, CHM, WebHelp Plus, AIR, and HTML5 |
Supports the full range of output types right out-of-the box. You can also extend the power of Flare through plugins and add-ons. |
Developed as a tool for online/in-product help only. Unable to handle advanced print and publication requests. |
Limited to print-type outputs like PDF, MIF, RTF, TXT and HTML only. Further integration required for more output options. |
|
“Open” Architecture Project files stored as XML, with complete transparency and accessibility. |
Project files are transparent and easily accessible. Add, removed edit content through the Flare UI or using external resources. |
All content must be handled through the UI, even if the files already exist in the project’s file structure. |
Only offers topic-based authoring in a Structured Environment. |
|
Full CSS Support Supports external CSS files for formatting of topic elements and tables. Allows multiple CSS files associated with a single topic (single sourcing) and allows CSS mediums (different styles on-screen/print). |
Full CSS1, CSS2, and CSS mediums support allowing for one or more CSS files associated with a single topic. |
Supports a single CSS file only. No CSS medium support. |
Uses EDD-type files only. No CSS support offered. |
|
Leveraging Existing Content Leveraging of existing content. Maintains content fidelity during import and offers advanced page layout technology for use with a variety of print options. |
Flare integrates with Microsoft® borrowing modern XML data flow techniques, using the Microsoft® XML Schema for Office documents. |
Lacks support. |
Lacks support. |
|
Maximum Content Reuse Support for topic-based authoring (including conditions, snippets, and variables) for maximum content reuse for consistency across multiple projects and outputs. |
Out-the-box support for conditions, snippets, variables, page layouts, TOC files, cross referencing, and hyperlinking. |
Lacks support. |
Uses legacy chapter-based authoring only. |
|
Stand Alone Authoring Solution A complete end-to-end solution. Import content, edit, author, review and publish to multiple output types and formats using ONE tool. |
MadCap Authoring & Management System (AMS) combines desktop authoring with the cloud. Import, edit, author, review & publish to multiple output types. |
Lacks support. |
Lacks support. |
Flare stood out for its usability, single-sourcing, support for integrating with everything, and the ability to create gorgeous state-of-the-art documentation.
Olga Gomonova Head of Client Enablement | Unqork, Inc.
Additional Resources
Case Studies on Making the Switch
Learn how companies are using MadCap Flare to increase productivity, reduce project time and improve the quality and consistency of their content.
View Case Studies
Featured Success Story
Cognex, the World’s Leading Provider of Machine Vision, Switches from Adobe® RoboHelp®, Adobe® FrameMaker®, InDesign® and Microsoft® Word
Read more
Leverage Your Existing Legacy Content
Learn how easy it is to import your existing content, whether from popular content types such as Microsoft® Word or legacy content types such as FrameMaker®, with these free resources.
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Flare as a Content Management System
MadCap Flare offers a robust, cost-effective alternative to traditional content management systems, giving you the ability to easily create, manage and publish content from a central user interface.
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MadCap Flare Plugins, API Documentation Resources and Redistributables
MadCap Flare plugins allow you to easily publish your single-sourced content to ServiceNow®, Salesforce®, Zendesk® and more.
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MadCap Flare Project Templates
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.
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