Collaboration via SharePoint
Mitchell has also realized significant efficiencies by integrating Flare with Microsoft SharePoint and Team Foundation Server (TFS) for collaboration and version control.
“We have so fully integrated all three products into a single system, sometimes it’s hard to tell where one stops and another begins,” Don noted.
Mitchell first began by integrating Flare and SharePoint, which is used to pull in information and map content. The integration also lets the team access external resources, explore synchronized files, and manipulate content externally. After mapping with SharePoint, information can be pulled into Flare and published internally through SharePoint.
“In the past, we had multiple copies, which made it difficult to know if you had the most recent one,” Don explained. “Now we can pull content in with a couple of mouse clicks and manage the mapping from the project toolbar. There’s no need to question if we have access to the most current content or if something is ready for production.”
TFS Adds Robust Source Control
More recently, as the number of projects grew, Mitchell added TFS to handle version control. Following a smooth integration of TFS with Flare and SharePoint, Mitchell quickly began seeing benefits in source and author control. Now, once an update is complete, an author uses Flare to check project changes into TFS, and the changes are added. Should there be a problem, TFS also allows Mitchell to know what happened and who was working on it, so that it can be addressed quickly.
“With TFS and the automated publishing features in Flare (Batch Targets, Command Line Builds), we are able to integrate Help with the product 30 to 60 days earlier in the product lifecycle,” Don observed. “We publish directly to development, so we can get our Help systems out earlier than ever before. We make sure all the critical pieces are in place up front, and then we simply add content as we move along.”
Together, Flare, TFS and SharePoint are providing Mitchell’s writers with more freedom in publishing short how-to demos in the Help topics. Previously, a hosted external system did not allow for source control access. Now the team can publish Help topics, which have demos that are pulled into Flare from SharePoint and published through TFS.
“The integrated system has allowed for an automatic build and publishing option that is saving us considerable time,” Don observed. “This has been a tremendous resource which allows writers to focus on the content. Flare builds it, and everyone keeps on working. Without Flare, this wouldn’t be possible.”
Notably, Don said, “During a recent Mitchell internal educational products’ event named ‘Innovation Fridays’, we were able to demonstrate a reduction of more than 92% in end-to-end processing times for building and deploying product Help to the Web. Gains in other areas were equally impressive. The team recorded a 75% reduction in process time for producing our content set overall and an 80% reduction in processing times for a complex reference set created by process partners and published by our team along with the product Help. Overall, this has reduced our process times by 82% compared with the same process times pre-Flare/MadCap.”
Modern, Intuitive Look and Feel
While the efficiencies gained through Flare have been significant, equally important is the intuitive experience that Mitchell is able to provide its customers. Recently this was enhanced by support for HTML5 output in Flare 8.0.
“I was creating a Help system for a new product, which I then published on the Web as HTML5 Help,” Sarah noted. “With Flare, the user interface of the HTML5 Help looks very much like that of the new product, providing a seamless experience for our customers.”
Another new feature in Flare 8.0 that Mitchell takes advantage of is the streamlined ribbon interface. Consistent with the Microsoft model, the ribbon has tabbed commands on the top with commonly related commands and topics.
“In the past, I was not a fan of ribbons, but that’s changed with Flare,” Don says. “The tools I need are always available through the ribbon. It’s faster to navigate and more intuitive.”