MadCap Software, Inc.,
the leader in multi-channel content authoring and a showcase company
for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and Microsoft XPS, today
announced the newest releases of the MadPak product suites–MadPak and
MadPak ML (MadPak Multilingual–the industry’s first true single-source
suites for multi-channel publishing. At the heart of these product
suites is MadCap Flare 6.0, the powerful, XML-based multi-channel
publishing software for desktop, print and online content. Flare 6.0 now
adds the first functionality for authoring technical documentation with
single-click output for mobile devices; expands multimedia support;
enhances collaboration, workflow and publishing; and tightens
integration with Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS).
Other new product versions within the MadPak suites are X-Edit 2.0 for
collaborative authoring; Analyzer 3.0 for reporting on and recommending
improvements to documentation projects; and Echo 2.0 for dynamic audio
integration. Additionally, MadCap is launching MadCap Blaze 3.0, the
XML-based alternative to Adobe FrameMaker for long print documents.
MadCap Flare Delivers Industry First in Mobile Output
With Version 6.0, MadCap Flare becomes the first authoring software that
allows for native, intuitive publishing of any technical documentation
to mobile devices. Flare’s new completely platform-independent mobile
functionality means it doesn’t matter whether the output goes to an
iPhone, a device running Windows Mobile or Android, or another mobile
platform. The Web-based XHTML output is optimized to squeeze every bit
of performance out of low-bandwidth connections. Additionally, a
built-in mobile simulator lets authors test mobile output on their PCs
if they don’t have access to the actual devices.
Flare 6.0 adds multimedia support for more than 20 Windows Media Player
and QuickTime video formats, enabling authors to incorporate a greater
variety of animation and video files into their documentation.
Additionally both Flare 6.0 and Blaze 3.0 feature a new PDF XSL-FO
(Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects) processor for
dynamically displaying PDF content, as well as enhancements to PDF
formatting, image quality and file size compression.
"Authors need to ensure that anyone reading their documentation can
access it wherever and whenever they need it. Today, with mobile devices
becoming such an important source of information delivery, users need
to access content and documentation there as easily as they do via their
desktops, laptops or print documents," said Anthony Olivier, MadCap
co-founder and CEO. "With the enhancements to Flare 6.0 and Blaze 3.0,
we’ve extended our commitment to supporting all the channels that users
rely on for information into the mobile world, as well as expanding our
rich Web and print content delivery."
Users Praise Flare 6.0 Mobility and Usability Features
"The Flare 6.0 feature with the most strategic potential is the WebHelp
Mobile output target. This feature takes what was a separate process
requiring different tools and skills and starts to make it just one more
Flare output," said Neil Perlin, principal of Hyper/Word Services. "I
expect that more developers will try outputting to mobile devices now
that it’s easier and more convenient to do so with Flare."
"I’m really excited about the new Flare 6.0 release. Using it, I can
create mobile targets, which will be perfect for a project I’m actually
working on right now! The mobile target is styled like an iPhone app,
and is a great way for me to deliver content to our customers who are on
the go, but who need access to our Help content," said Paul Pehrson,
Doc Guy Training owner, trainer and consultant.
Pehrson added, "Flare 6.0 also makes my work as a Help author easier,
because now I can build multiple targets at the same time, right in the
application. There are several other interface improvements that will
make authoring in Flare easier and faster, and I’ve been impressed with
Flare 6.0’s stability. The features included in version 6.0 remind me
why Flare is my favorite authoring tool."
Flare 6.0 for Enhanced Workflow, Collaboration and Publishing
With Flare 6.0, MadCap adds new features for enhanced workflow,
collaboration, and publishing.
Microsoft TFS support has been enhanced to provide seamless integration
to one of the industry’s leading source control systems. With Flare 6.0,
companies now have a single interface for managing and distributing
their documentation while maintaining source control and version
control, facilitating collaboration.
File Tagging is a flexible, new feature that lets project managers
assign customized "tags" to files, topics, and even authors to help
track project development. Custom tags such as "In Progress" or "Pending
Review" can help project managers responsible for large teams or
document sets to create customizable status tags that fit their
organization’s workflow. A complete reporting engine allows managers to
then pull reports based on those tags, opening a new window on project
management.
Link Viewer is a new data view that can be opened to see: all the files
linking to a topic, all files linked from that topic, and all the
current targets using this topic. With Link Viewer, documentation teams
can collaborate more effectively, since anyone on the team can see the
ramifications of making edits to a current topic and all the topic
dependencies–before proceeding.
Batch Generate goes beyond simply allowing authors to build multiple
targets for batch publishing. Once authors have set the "batch" they
want to generate, they can save the settings as a new batch target type
for future use. Additionally, built-in integration between Batch
Generate and the Microsoft Windows Task Scheduler means authors can
schedule a build or batch build without ever having to leave the Flare
or Blaze interface.
Usability enhancements include the ability to take advantage of popular
features with just one or two mouse clicks versus the multiple steps
previously required. Features offering enhanced usability include the
user interface, template processes, the skin editor, file imports and
merges, source control, context menus, index and concept views, the
target editor, and the WYSIWYG editor, among others.
MadPak Extends Power of Integrated Single-Source Suite
MadPak and MadPak ML are comprehensive suites featuring integrated,
XML-based products for complete end-to-end technical communication.
MadPak includes Flare for multi-channel publishing, as well as X-Edit
for content contribution and collaboration, Analyzer for reporting and
analysis, Mimic for software simulation movies, Capture for screen
capture and graphics editing; and Echo for audio. MadPak ML includes all
the products in the MadPak but bridges the gap between authoring and
translation by including MadCap Lingo, the first truly integrated
authoring and fully functional translation memory tool for translation
of content.
In addition to Flare 6.0, new product updates for MadPak include X-Edit
2.0, Analyzer 3.0, and Echo 2.0.
X-Edit 2.0 lets casual contributors and subject matter experts create
short documents, edit Flare or Blaze projects, create content using
pre-defined Flare or Blaze templates, and review technical authors’
topics. The newest X-Edit version adds functionality for multiple file
review and contribution, which now allows multiple topics to be sent
simultaneously for review, contribution and editing by casual
contributors, documentation managers, and reviewers all through full
Microsoft Outlook integration.
Analyzer 3.0 starts by identifying issues within in Flare or Blaze
projects, such as broken links missing images, or inconsistent index
keywords. Then it goes beyond to proactively recommend corrections and
improvements, such as where to add a snippet for content re-use,
consolidate styles, add an index, and much more. Version 3.0 of Analyzer
adds support for Flare 6.0, as well as the new Link Viewer feature also
found in Flare 6.0.
Echo 2.0 lets authors add audible instructions, soundtracks, podcasts,
and other sound elements. The newest version improves the usability of
features, such as the ability to export Echo audio files to WAV or MP3.
Blaze 3.0
MadCap Blaze is the highly flexible, topic-based authoring tool
alternative to Adobe FrameMaker for long print documents and books. It
is fully compatible with MadCap Flare, ensuring that if authors need to
extend beyond print documentation in the future, they can simply open
their Blaze projects into Flare and publish to online content–via the
Web, personal computers, and mobile devices. Version 3.0 of Blaze offers
many of the new features provided with Flare 6.0. They include the PDF
XSL-FO processor and PDF formatting and image quality enhancements,
tighter Microsoft TFS integration, File Tagging, Link Viewer, Batch
Generate, and improved usability.
Availability and Pricing
MadCap Blaze and all of the products in MadPak and MadPak ML are
available today. MadCap Blaze 3.0 is priced at $699 per license. MadPak
sells for $1,399 per license and includes MadCap Flare, MadCap X-Edit,
MadCap Analyzer, MadCap Capture, MadCap Mimic, and MadCap Echo. MadPak
ML sells for $1,699 and includes all the components of MadPak plus
MadCap Lingo. MadPak and MadPak ML products are also available
individually; pricing per license is $999 for Flare, $249 for X-Edit,
$299 for Analyzer, $299 for Mimic, and $89 for Echo. MadCap Lingo
pricing starts at $149 for a three-month subscription or $599 for a
perpetual license. Maintenance (support and subscription) fees start at
$199 per year for the Bronze Level, $299 for the Gold Level, and $499
for the Platinum Level. Discounts for multiyear maintenance contracts
are also available.
