Controlled Language with Simplified Technical English: How to Integrate the HyperSTE plug-in in Flare

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Jose Sermeno

Through the integration of the Flare API and HyperSTE, the leading quality assurance software for standardized documentation, authors can now validate the language and terminology used in their Flare content.  This ensures use of standardized vocabulary and style– improving consistency, eliminating ambiguity and reducing complexity. Furthermore, authors can ensure compliance with corporate terminology and style guide rules using advanced interactive checker and quality measurement features.

More information on how the HyperSTE plugin can be used can be found in our press release or visit the Tedopres website.

To install the plugin and connect it to Flare you’ll first need:

  1. Flare V9.1.
  2. Tedopres HyperSTE 4.0, including a license and dictionary.
  3. A Flare project with topics to validate.  Continue reading →
Jose Sermeno

About Jose Sermeno

With over 10 years of experience in the software industry, Mr. Sermeno brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the product evangelist team, helping introduce new users to everything MadCap Software. In his spare time, Jose is the Project Director for San Diego City Robotics, the San Diego community college systems robotics program, and enjoys working in software design and open source hardware development. Prior to joining MadCap in late 2010, Jose ran a Drupal development shop, and was an application manager for Temple University Health System.

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What’s new in Flare V9.1?

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Jennifer White

MadCap FlareThe release of MadCap Flare 9.1 brings some exciting added features and enhancements along with many bug fixes. Check out some of the new functionality:

Controlled Language/Simplified Technical English Integration

Through the integration of our API and HyperSTE, authors can use a standardized vocabulary and style to improve consistency, eliminate ambiguity and reduce complexity. Furthermore, authors can ensure compliance with corporate terminology and style guide rules using advanced interactive checker and quality measurement features.  Continue reading →

Jennifer White

About Jennifer White

Jennifer, a MadCap Product Evangelist, is experienced in writing, broadcasting, public speaking, marketing, and social media management.

Posted in Flare | 2 Comments

Guest Post: Creating Faded Edges and Spotlights on Screen Captures With MadCap Capture

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Jennifer White

Nita Beck, a 32-year technical communications veteran, has 18 years of experience as adjunct instructor at Rochester Institute of Technology in tech comm programs, is the founder of the Rochester Flare User Group, and was a featured speaker at MadWorld 2013. She also writes a blog on her website, www.beck-communications.com, where we found this post about MadCap Capture. We’ve re-published it here (with Nita’s permission) for you to check out:

Creating faded edges and spotlights on screen captures with MadCap Capture

Like some technical writers, I habitually reach for an image-editing tool other than MadCap Capture. But having attended Paul Pehrson’s terrific session at MadWorld 2013 on Capture, I started rethinking my habit. As a MadCap Flare author, I already use Capture for callouts and for

harnessing the power of variables and conditions from my Flare projects. But could I use Capture to make my screen captures more visually engaging?

As I was reading up on Capture on MadCap Software’s website, I noticed some nice images like the one below. I liked the fade-out effect on edges of the base image, and I especially liked the “spotlight” that gave a zoomed-in effect to a portion of the image.
Image from MadCap Software website
Perhaps because I have never bothered to figure out how to get effects like these using Capture, I assumed Capture could in fact not produce them. Furthermore, I suspected that MadCap hadn’t used their own product to create these nice images.

And that got me wondering: Could I reproduce similar effects using nothing but Capture?

Continue reading →

Jennifer White

About Jennifer White

Jennifer, a MadCap Product Evangelist, is experienced in writing, broadcasting, public speaking, marketing, and social media management.

Posted in Capture, Tips & Tricks | Leave a comment

MadCap Software’s STC Summit Wrap-Up

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Jennifer White

WHEW! That was an intense couple of days. MadCap Software rocked Atlanta and had an amazing time at the STC Summit.

From our booth (that dominated the exhibition hall)…MadCap Booth2

Continue reading →

Jennifer White

About Jennifer White

Jennifer, a MadCap Product Evangelist, is experienced in writing, broadcasting, public speaking, marketing, and social media management.

Posted in Events, MadCap Software | 2 Comments

CSS Tip: Creating Tip or Note Boxes without a Div or Table

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Jose Sermeno

With CSS and auto-numbering you can easily create “Note”, “Tip”, or “Example” boxes by creating a paragraph style and applying it.  We’re going to be dropping this class in the Default (or “root”) medium of the CSS file used by the Flare target.

Note

This example works with both PDF and Web outputs. Since it does use some CSS3 for the rounded corners, the corners will appear ‘square’ in PDF and older browsers.  Continue reading →

Jose Sermeno

About Jose Sermeno

With over 10 years of experience in the software industry, Mr. Sermeno brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the product evangelist team, helping introduce new users to everything MadCap Software. In his spare time, Jose is the Project Director for San Diego City Robotics, the San Diego community college systems robotics program, and enjoys working in software design and open source hardware development. Prior to joining MadCap in late 2010, Jose ran a Drupal development shop, and was an application manager for Temple University Health System.

Posted in Flare, Tips & Tricks, Tutorials | Leave a comment