What is Madcap Flare: Features, Benefits, and Pricing

Technical writers, communicators, and content developers- all of them require specific tech writing tools in their kitty to speed up their efficacy of work. While there is no dearth of tools and software for content developers, MadcapFlare comes in most handy. That said, this article talks about the Madcap Flare tool, its features, pricing, and correct usage to fish the most out of it. 

From the history of the software to its development, it’s intertwining with other software and varied eye-opening features- we will cover it all. If you are prying to absorb its functionality and work in a simple manner, then read on!

What is Madcap Flare?

Madcap Flare is a potent content management tool to create, reuse, edit, manage, and publish content in different formats, languages, and outputs. All-in-one management tool for content developers imbues laser-sharp features making it unique amid other content creation tools.

The single-source, multi-channel authoring and publishing application facilitate content development for an array of processes. These include technical documentation, authoring of multi-channel outputs, training programs, knowledge bases, online help robots, CRMs, and more.

All in all, the software is a one-stop shop for authoring, featuring, publishing, translating, content development, and content management. That said, it is one of the most trusted and valuable resources that provides a larger-than-life experience to developers, writers, and businesses alike.

Recommended Read: Top 10 Technical Writing Courses in India

History of Madcap Flare

Produced in 2005, in San Diego, California, Madcap Flare is a result of the sincere efforts and mind work of a California-based company. It is a well-known company that curates authoring tools for documentation teams and content developers. The company hired professionals, software engineers, and personnel from world-class firms like Adobe and Macromedia to curate this authoring tool.

As is the case, the tool amassed immense popularity and is considered one of the best tools for technical writers and communicators today. Since then, they have launched various products and updates to conform to the fast-paced eccentricities.

Outstripping Features of Madcap Flare 

Now, that we know what this tool is, it makes sense to learn about its salient features. Learning about these excellent features will give you a clear picture of what makes it the second to none- when it comes to technical writing tools.

Here are its noteworthy attributes:

• Single-source Publishing

The idea of the Madcap Flare tool stands upon this single-source publishing feature. It allows a person to re-use content to foster multiple similar files. That means you don’t have to get back to square one to curate content for a different set of media.

To get more clarity, here is an example. Think of it like you have 3 different sets of the audience

— one who goes for the basic plan

— other who opts for the standard plan

— and the third one who hops onto the premium plan.

It goes without saying that all three plans will have something in common for the products. Yet, there might be some added features to the higher plans. In that case, instead of writing three different content copies, you can have a single master copy.

All there is left to do is define colour codes to deliver content as per the user’s choice and interests. Sounds simple, isn’t it?

This way, you can put the same content to use across different media and platforms.

Know more bout the Technical Writing Skills

• Topic-based Authoring

Topic-based authoring is another eccentric feature of Madcap Flare. It means that you can produce modulated topic-based content. Emphatically, these modular topics can be used as stand-alone and supplementary material in grouped content.

In simpler words, the topic becomes useable as single-topic content, mixed content, or re-used content.

• Multi-channel Output

Flare allows you to publish content with single-button use. Moreover, it facilitates hassle-free publishing content in multi-purpose formats. That voices you can publish the single-sourced file into myriad formats. These formats could be responsive, web, print, desktop, and mobile.

Whether you wish to publish it for a searchable and navigable online audience or knowledge base salesforce, or public, mobile, or e-tablet users, it all becomes possible with Flare.

• Text Editor/XML Editor

Just like Word-doc, Flare also provides a simple-to-use editor. After all, no writing work is complete without editing. Thus, Flare has both HTML and XML editors. Out of them, the XML editor is Flare’s fundamental editor.

Technical communicators, content developers, and any other user can create, edit, manage and publish content using Flare. And that too, with the ease of use.

• Import Content from Varied Sources

Another remarkable feature of Flare is that you can import files and formats from a wide variety of sources. Using Flare, you can import files from:

a) Word doc

b) Excel

c) Adobe Framemaker

d) RoboHelp

e) Author IT

f) HTML

g) Doc-to-help projects

h) DITA

i) .CHM

Flexibility to import files from multiple sources is one of the most inherent things that a writer asks for. Being mindful of the exchange of format ideas, Madcap Flare is designed to assist the easy import of files.

• Responsive Layout

Yet another characteristic of Flare is responsive layout support. With the number of gadgets in hand, switching between screens is more than casual. What poses a problem is the configuration and size issues on diverse gadgets.

To ease out the pain of adjusting to different screens, Flare supports a responsive layout. Thus, facilitating content management on different devices, more so on mobiles, tablets, and laptops.

What makes Madcap Flare Most Efficient Tool for Technical Communicators?

Madcap Flare is considered the most unique and powerful tool among the sea of content creation tools. Now, if you are wondering- what makes it well-liked among the technical writing community, then read on to learn about its exclusive benefits.

·       Time-efficiency

Writing, especially technical writing, is a time-consumptive task. Research, writing, editing, publishing- all of it eats up a lot of time. And in this fast-paced world, time holds invaluable importance.

Flare signifies your time and lets you do all technical writing in a time-efficient manner. Whether you want to club tad topics together to make a whole new or publish the parts of a large topic- you can do it all with a click of the button.

• Ease of use

Well, technical writers are already juggling complex topics, so if they get easy usage of the tool- that’s a plus point. Ain’t it?

In that light, Flare lets you have a flair for writing by providing you painlessly manageable writing exposure. Anything to everything within the confines of the tool can be done with a few clicks.

• Content re-use

Creating content is already a daunting task, not for everyone though. However, what’s more, frustrating is to rehash the same content again and again- say for different sets of media or platforms.

To resolve this pain-staking problem, Flare enables you to re-configure the source content the way you want. When you know you have to post similar content for a diverse audience or different channels, you no more have to start from scratch.

All you got to do is create a master copy, and make edits to the same copy. Hence, use the same content for a slew of purposes. Saving your time and energy all along.

• Enhanced self-service

Flare’s prowess doesn’t end with the content re-use and ease of use. There’s surely more to it. It works at your disposal to help out with keywords, search terms, topic views, and more. To cap it all, it helps you optimize the content for your users as they are searching and consuming your content every day.

• Flexibility for multi-channel publishing

For amplified customer acquisition, publishing content on a single platform is never enough. All your target audience isn’t waiting for you on the same platform, right?

For that matter, you have to publish content on multi-channels to cultivate a large base of prospective clients. The multi-channel publishing feature of Flare lets you flex the source copy as per the channel and audience. Thus, setting up a more personalized experience for the content consumers.

Madcap Products and Services

• Madcap Flare
• MadCap AMS
• MadCap Central
• MadCap Contributor
• MadCap Lingo
• MadCap Connect for Salesforce®
• MadCap Connect for Zendesk®
• MadCap Connect for ServiceNow®

Pricing

As you have seen, Madcap Flare offers an array of products and services which you can pick as per your preferences and requirements. Each product comes with a unique price tag, here we have covered the three most popular and prominent products by Flare:

• MadCap Flare: The exclusive tool for authoring, creating, and publishing content for technical documentation, Learning, and Development. It prices at $167 per month/ per user.

• MadCap Central: This tool serves cloud-based editing, publishing, content, and project management. It prices at $125 per month/ per user.

• MadCap AMS: Comprising Madcap flare, central, and more, the tool is an all-in-one solution to manage the complete Content Development Lifecycle. It prices at $250 per month/ per user.

All of these products by Flare are billed annually. To know the pricing of more products, please visit their website.

FAQs

Q1. What is Madcap Flare?

Madcap Flare is an all-around content management and development tool that lets you create, edit, manage, and publish content. It promotes content publishing in a wide variety of formats, languages, and devices. Features like single-source publishing, topic-based authoring, and multi-channel publishing make it one of the masterpieces.

Q2. Is Madcap Flare free?

No, Madcap Flare is not free. However, with a free trial and product purchase, its introductory training course comes without a price tag.

Q3. What is Madcap Central?

Madcap Central is a secure cloud-based integrated forum for content and project management. This software allows you to upload projects, import projects, assign users to project tasks and more of that sort.

Q4. Is Madcap Flare any good?

As the name itself suggests, Flare is a great option to supplement the flair of writing processes. Madcap Flare is a valuable asset for anyone searching for a powerful content management solution. Further, its thoughtful features spice up the game of content developers and technical communicators.

Final Verdict

Post-analysis of Madcap tool features, benefits, and highlights, it would be fair to say that Flare is a structured solution for tech writers. The advanced elements promote content development and project management.

From single-source authoring to multi-channel publishing- the tool makes technical writing a breeze. Taking into account all its exceptional features, you can put it to use to validate your productivity levels. Moreover, you can cut down on excessive time and effort.

Putting it all together, we hope this article helped you familiarize yourself with this tool. If you are a working professional in the field, you can directly go for it as per your preferences. On the other hand, if you are a newbie, you can check out our premium technical writing course. Designed by industry professionals, the program inflates you with the necessary technical skills and tool knowledge. Not only it will enlighten you about Madcap Flare, but other necessary tools for technical writing. These include GIT, Scribus, MS Viso, and more!

Now, if you have aroused little curiosity for this program, you can enrol in the free demo. Leave the rest to us.

Thank you!