LG SYSTEMS DEPLOYS MADCAP FLARE V2.0
Flare Native XML Help Authoring Software Enables LGS to Deliver Exceptional Output, Ensure Consistency, and Publish Documentation as Fast as Its Created.San Diego, CA, USA – December 19, 2006
— MadCap Software, the leader in Help authoring technology, today announced that LG Systems, Inc. (LGS) has deployed MadCap Flare 2.0, the industry’s first native XML Help authoring application. Using Flare, LGS has been able to enhance the quality and consistency of its print and online documentation while speeding the time to publish.LGS, which develops government business and financial applications on behalf of its member organizations in South Australia, has implemented Flare in conjunction with a rewrite of all its application modules in Visual Studio 2005. Flare replaces an earlier system of Windows-based command lines that provided Help prompts at the bottom of the screen. LGS selected Flare after testing trial versions of six leading Help authoring solutions, using each to build a mini Help document.
“We were rewriting all of our software in a cutting-edge environment with Visual Studio 2005 and using the Agile Development Model, so we wanted a cutting-edge Help authoring solution to provide our users with the best help possible, and that’s Flare,” said Steve Salter, LGS documentation specialist and trainer. “Based on XML and using the latest technology, Flare has all the earmarks of being the rising star among contenders.”
One of the biggest benefits LGS has seen from using Flare is its single-source publishing capability, which has enabled LGS to publish documents in Flare as fast as it creates the content. Using Flare, LGS is able to simultaneously generate three forms of Help: print manuals, HTML Help content for each software module, and a consolidated Help center on the website. Flare helps to speed the process and ensure quality by, for example, automatically stripping out duplicate contact references in the consolidated website Help center.
“While Flare is not the only software to offer single-source publishing, the integration is so clean that the process of publishing to different formats is almost invisible,” explains Salter. “We love that we can modify any topic, and with one button-click build new versions of HTML, print, and WebHelp. We also like Flare's use of cascading style sheets; formatting issues can be addressed in one location, and it flows through all of our projects and all of their builds.”
Salter added, "Our users demand high quality documentation, and they consider the output exceptional. They also love the fact we publish a combined WebHelp of all the latest versions of our Help projects every Friday – something we couldn’t do with our previous solution.” Other benefits LGS has found with Flare are its ease of use, a modular approach that does not require a jet database, and the fact that the development team members can modify content in the XML editor of their choice
“As an organization that is owned by its members, LGS understands the need to create a superior user experience that extends from its software to the supporting Help content,” said Anthony Olivier, MadCap Software CEO and former CEO of eHelp Corporation. “The strong positive user response to the new LGS print and online documentation demonstrates Flare’s value in contributing to that quality user experience.”
Salter notes that the Flare user forum is an important part of his company’s success. He says, “The user forum is priceless, and Flare's technical support people are active contributors. If you want to find the best way to do something, the forum can provide answers quickly, whether you're just starting with Flare, or a seasoned veteran trying a feature for the first time. It's fantastic that Flare has developed a dedicated group of users in a comparatively short time, surely a testament to help professionals taking Flare to heart.”
About Flare
MadCap Flare is the first native XML Help authoring application. In addition to providing an innovative new cross-browser, cross-platform WebHelp, MadCap Flare will generate a new Help format designed specifically for .NET application developers (DotNet Help), Microsoft HTML Help (.chm), and printed documentation (Microsoft Word and Adobe FrameMaker). The patent-pending new visual XML editor can be used to access the underlying XML structure of documents in a comfortable WYSIWYG environment. Meanwhile full Unicode support facilitates automatic translation to both single-byte and double-byte languages.Flare also delivers features to customize the authoring environment, open multiple documents simultaneously for easy cross-editing, design browse sequences visually with simple drag-and-drop, use the command line to compile output, and take advantage of auto-numbering. It enables users to import all legacy content including documents authored in Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker, HTML, RoboHelp projects, and even HTML Help projects and convert it to the XML format. HTML also can be directly converted to XHTML.
About LG System Inc.
LG System Inc. (LGS), headquartered in West Lakes Shore, South Australia, is an incorporated association of member councils, commercial and government-like bodies with the objective of controlling their IT direction. The thirteen member organizations collectively fund and oversee the association’s information technology group, which develops, maintains, and supports a suite of government business and financial applications. The software, for which LGS owns the copyright, is distributed as open source code to the association’s members. For more information, visit www.lgs.sa.gov.au.About MadCap Software
MadCap Software, headquartered in San Diego, is just a new name for a group of familiar faces that have been leading the technical writing community for over a decade. With its flagship product, MadCap Flare, MadCap Software is leading the technical communications industry into the future. Through its strategic partner Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), MadCap is delivering solutions optimized for Microsoft Vista, Visual Studio, and the .NET environment. Today more than 1,000 companies are customers of MadCap’s native XML Help authoring and documentation software. MadCap is home to some of the most experienced software architects and product experts in the industry, including many former core members of eHelp® Corporation, creators of RoboHelp®. Learn more about MadCap Software and its Help authoring suite at www.madcapsoftware.com.
