MadCap Software Forums

May I ask what version of IE this is?

Sounds like the same UI confusion experienced and reported in this topic: http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6640 The search bar in the top menu applies only to the open topic, NOT to the entire help system. This is a confusing implementation because there is no means of knowin...

So far as I'm aware, the enhancement request page is a "squeaky wheel" tool.... IOW - if you think it's a good idea, submit it as an enhancement request. Personally, I intend to submit bookmarks to these topics. Seems more efficient.

Well, there's a pretty big caveat that is implied in all this -- you go with what is best for your users. That said, it doesn't make a lot of sense to present screens when the user is already looking at the screen (of course, this assumes you're VERY exacting in your descriptions) and there are even...

d) all of the above. :) Seriously, the functionality would be great to have and yes, you absolutely should be able to choose how/when/if you want it to come into play. It seems reasonable to have, since so much of Flare is oriented around making the process of making the help easier. This would defi...

Can you break the content into sections, and then each section appears when the user clicks on the appropriate toggler? I do something similar. For instance, in one topic there's just three togglers, but the first one reveals text and a rather large picture, the second reveals some more text and a ...

It's close, but not exactly what is needed. This is (essentially) one VERY long topic. Rather than making the user scroll vertically down it, I want to have Flare break it at one to one and a half page lengths (roughly every 500 words) and insert lateral 'continue' links so the user may just hit one...

Bump. Is there a way to do this other than by hand if you are not importing?

I've been reading more and more lately from the perspective that posits screenshots are redundant for application or online help as the user referring to them generally has the application open (hence does not need them). Considering this seems to be a rising trend and also considering how reducing ...

Thirded on the Microsoft Manual of Style, but also agree to some extent with Ramon. User terminology or industry specific references trump style guides in every case. On the other hand, references that incorporate both are usually best for educating and ramping up technological concept knowledge for...

Ok, sounds like we're basically on the same page. If I'm reading it correctly, sounds like what you'd like would be a) some sort of WYSIWYG DTD / Schema designer (presumably also including an XSLT designer so you could control the appearance of the content) and b) the ability for Flare to comply wi...

I may have misread your previous post, but it sounded more along the lines of Writer A says "the DTD tells me I have to put a paragraph after a heading, but darn it I just want to go straight to the next heading level down so I'm going to over ride it." That to me is what ad hoc modificat...

My apologies, I tend to assume any such 'create your own' on an enterprise level would be a function of administration, not commonly available to the end user. It's not as if your average end user is dealing in these things (generally speaking). Also, I do not think it necessarily valid that DITA an...

No doubt at all that this is already happening. But to turn the horns back at you (so to speak... heh), what if there were a product on the market that not only provided the compliant structure, but did so in a WYSIWYG format where you didn't have to remember which tags went with which topic type, a...

Agreed. History demonstrates the standards chosen by the WC3, et al seem to manage well enough with time, and I would emphasize that DITA is not just 'an XML standard' but is, in fact, the specific standard being supported by Oasis and WC3 as 'the standard' for organizing and presenting help and sup...

Indeed. I suspect it will run the same pattern as has Adobe. Market adoption/popularity making things... interesting. But, as we see with Flare, quality outs in the end. The question is -- can DITA be friendly? I figure if anyone can make it so, MadCap can.

I understand what you're saying, and wasn't attempting to minimize the amount of design and coding that would be required to do so. As for standards, I know the WC3 and OASIS both reference DITA as the standard for online help and support and that's no small potatoes. But I am aware that adoption as...

Fine, I guess we won't get anywhere in this discussion, but I find it somewhat disrespectful to brush aside over a decade of experience as nonsense or unfounded bias. I find this fascinating. You entered this topic essentially doing just this and you exit it accusing me of doing it. I have provided...

The study I was referring to was done by Cem Kaner and the results are summarized on pages 25 - 27 in the book "Bad Software" by Kaner & Pels (1998, John Wiley & Sons Inc.). Cem Kaner is often considered THE guru when it comes to software quality and software user rights. In this ...

Sorry, I didn't mean to give you the impression I was trying to convince you. I'm not. People tend to believe precisely as they want to, regardless any information presented to the contrary (a statement neatly demonstrated in your last reply, wherein you specifically state that you find technical su...

If nothing else, DITA is the defacto standard for Frame users who work with Structured Frame, so being able to pass DITA compliant files in and out would make working with Frame and Flare in the same doc team a lot more seamless. Obviously, the true holy grail would be Flare users being able to jus...

Alan Cooper isn't Microsoft, though I suppose anyone outside the core of tech would easily assume otherwise since Microsoft now 'owns' VB (it was developed by Cooper and his company Tripod in 1991 and later snapped up by Microsoft). Alan's company, Cooper Consulting, has been involved in usability a...

Small addendum: That sounded snarkier than intended. You cannot hear the grin. Apologies.

I agree that there isn't a safe way to argue about what the current abilities of the average computer user is, especially since there are exceptions in both directions in any targeted group. It may be that most users you work with are novices with computing and that would certainly affect your pers...

My mentor (long long ago) told me that rule number one is "never assume". I found it wisdom. True, so why assume that the users know what the Favorites do and that they are there. From my experience most users are challenged by the extra features of help systems and I rarely found users w...