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On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 1:37 PM, Jennifer Randel
<jennifer_randel -at- khsd -dot- k12 -dot- ca -dot- us> wrote:
> The help files were great for getting started, in terms of understanding the interface and finding out what terms meant and stuff. However, once I really started really getting into page layouts and other aspects of Flare, I've had a lot more difficulty finding what I need in their help.
I wonder if the difference between the different responses (love or
hate Flare) comes down to whether or not you have created Help/used a
HATT before?
I know that I had used RoboHelp before (and after) trying Flare for
the first time. I found that Flare fixed so many of the things that
frustrated me about RoboHelp. When I had to go back to RoboHelp
(granted an older version) after using Flare, I was frustrated all
over again.
Having said that, I know that, as a lone writer, I found creating my
first CSS to be quite frustrating. It is probably the hardest thing
about getting going with Flare. I spent way more time with CSS The
Missing Manual clutched in my hand than I wanted to. So I feel your
pain Jennifer. After quite a bit of research, most of the things I
wanted to do but couldn't were limitations of HTML, not the tool. I
do remember commenting about it on a mailing list and having Mike
Hamilton from MadCap replied that they were including more
documentation on how to create you CSS template in their next release.
This was maybe release 5?
Template design really is an advanced user skill. It would be nice if
there were prebuilt templates. I remember back with FrameMaker 5.5,
when there was a whole portfolio of templates (book, brochure,
newsletter) you could download and play around with. That was a great
way to learn how to get the look you wanted.
--
Julie Stickler http://heratech.wordpress.com/
Blogging about Agile and technical writing
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