Flare 8 Niggles

[wbrisett]

Nita wanted to keep the other thread clean, so I'll start one for little (or big) things you find in Flare 8 that bug you.

The thread for good things is here: http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... 13&t=14698


I'll move my comments from that thread here.

I was hoping for an update in the .NET version. A few of the older outstanding issues with Flare aren't due to the program, but the version of .NET it runs on. I was also hoping for a true 64-bit version, but that's once again tied to the .NET version.

I am wondering about the review part of Flare. In the email I got, they mentioned one of the new features was "Free review for subject matter experts (Madcap Contributor)". I sent a test file to a coworker who doesn't use Flare and the link in the email goes to the Trial version of Contribute. Looks like they did update things a bit in the review, but the idea of using Contributor for reviews was there in version 7. I was kind of hoping this would solve the issue for us where we are currently using Acrobat's Shared Review process with our SMEs.

[lauraj]

I was curious about the "free review" feature too but haven't investigated it yet. Does it truly just refer to the 30-day free trial version? If so, that's more a sort of "free one-time-per-SME review" feature, which isn't terribly useful.

[Nita Beck]

"Niggles"! Love it!

I'll go post a cross-link in the "Faves" thread to this one.

[lauraj]

My project has many email links. When I build it as HTML5, I get a warning for each one: "Topic contains a topic popup to an email address. Topic popup will be converted to a hyperlink." I don't get these warnings when building the old targets (HtmlHelp and WebHelp).

I tried deleting the link and re-adding it (using the Flare Insert Hyperlink dialog and specifying Link to Email), and I still get the warning. The link works, but I don't want two hundred warnings every time I build the HTML5 target! What gives?

[Ryan Cerniglia]

I was curious about the "free review" feature too but haven't investigated it yet. Does it truly just refer to the 30-day free trial version? If so, that's more a sort of "free one-time-per-SME review" feature, which isn't terribly useful. :(

The free review feature in Contributor v4 will still allow for annotation based reviews after the 30 day full-featured trial is over.

[WhyUNoWork]

My project has many email links. When I build it as HTML5, I get a warning for each one: "Topic contains a topic popup to an email address. Topic popup will be converted to a hyperlink." I don't get these warnings when building the old targets (HtmlHelp and WebHelp).

I tried deleting the link and re-adding it (using the Flare Insert Hyperlink dialog and specifying Link to Email), and I still get the warning. The link works, but I don't want two hundred warnings every time I build the HTML5 target! What gives?

Ditto. Also went and changed the window target for those links thinking that would help...Nope, it keeps warning you.

[paule]

Does anybody know where the Open with and Locate in Content Explorer options are located? I use both of these options heavily, and I cannot find either of them for the life of me.

Thanks in advance.

[paule]

I have found the Locate in Explorer button now (on the right-hand side of the Project ribbon), but I am still looking for the Open with button.

[i-tietz]

Does anybody know where the Open with and Locate in Content Explorer options are located? I use both of these options heavily, and I cannot find either of them for the life of me.

I wish other software producers were as kind as MadCap :

switch-it-off.png

[RamonS]

I agree with Inge, but then again, the time spent to slap the ribbon onto everything could have been spent for something that people want and that is actually useful. The ribbon is only useful to look at it, trying not to barf, and then turn this productivity killer and space waster off.

[i-tietz]

It's called "marketing".
They don't only want to keep their "old" customers but also gain new customers. And new customers know ribbons from MS Office and don't have a problem with not finding something they're used to ...

[RamonS]

Inge, you really think that adding the ribbon is a selling point? I bet the ROI on adding the ribbon is negative or flat in the best case. As if anyone decides not to buy Flare if it lacks a ribbon, but otherwise does everything needed and then some.

[i-tietz]

Inge, you really think that adding the ribbon is a selling point?

Unfortunately, yes.
We're living in a world where people voluntarily buy a new cell phone, smart phone or IPad every year, although their old one is still working! People simply wanna be up-to-date!
There's many people out there who buy software for different reasons than we do. For them the look of a GUI is important. If those people look at software and think that it is far behind current technology, then they don't buy it.
For example:
For years we had customers and potential customers asking us when we would offer our software using the .NET technology, which allows having tool windows docked or floating and when we would have the menu items opening tabs instead of windows ... they don't want to work with software that they consider "ugly".

[RamonS]

I see a functional benefit to floating windows and tabs, but going by the well established rules of UI design the ribbon violates pretty much everything. It requires for most commands more clicks, uses more space, adds more visual clutter, changes often removing any spacial reference points, and thus increases user fatigue while reducing productivity.
Fine, some think this is awesome and some buy everything that Apple lets Chinese sweatshops produce while creating an insane amount of generally toxic e-waste (which often gets handled without any safety and protection by African sweatshops). We have a word for folks like that: bescheuert.

[lauraj]

I personally don't like the ribbon, and agree that it's a step backward in usability, BUT I can imagine that people -- consciously or subconsciously -- evaluate the "newness" of an app's look and feel as part of their purchase decision.

To take an extreme example, when you look at FrameMaker (I only have version 8, it might have improved since), you have to assume it's been starved for development resources ever since its Unix days - otherwise it would look like a Windows program. That's not necessarily true, but it's the way the mind works. Another example: you're shopping for a house, you walk in and see orange shag carpet. Boom: Instant assumption that the place hasn't been redecorated since 1976. You might be wrong, but it's going to take you a mental effort to get over the impression.

... that said, I'm turning the @$#! ribbon off now! Thanks for reminding me I have that option, and THANK YOU MadCap for giving me the option.

[i-tietz]

THANK YOU MadCap for giving me the option.

Hear! Hear!

[lauraj]

I don't notice any difference in performance once the application is up, but Flare 8 sure takes a long time to open... about 10 seconds to open my favorite .flprj in Flare 8, vs. about 5 sec in Flare 7.

[Nita Beck]

A nit if there ever was one: The 1/2 button on the toolbar of the various panes is no more. I used that 1/2 button a lot, such as for the File List, when I wanted to see more columns when checking out the full path to a topic. It's gone whether one uses the new Ribbon UI or the classic Toolbars UI. That little button has been around since V1.0, so I've got a lot of "unlearning an old habit" to do. But, eh, I'll get over it.

[wclass]

Personally, I like the ribbon - the main reason is that I can customise the quick access bar and put the functions that I use all the time right up there at the top.

But just so I don't turn this "niggles" thread into a positive one I also miss the 1/2 button.

[wclass]

One thing that bugs me is what isn't there. I have raised lots of bugs/feature requests over time (it's been several years for some Word bugs) and many of them are still not fixed.
When will I see these errors fixed?

• better import mapping options for lists (why won't Flare just map to "ul")
• link to selected style sheet instead of creating a new one
• export to standard Word styles instead of creating an endless supply of p_1, p_2, p_3, li_1, li_2, etc

And what about these features?

• able to attach existing Word template
• able to transfer variables to the document properties
• use columns in the output

[helen]

Just a heads up that Avast 7 does not play nicely with Flare 8. It scrutinized it a sandbox before announcing that it was fine but I should use with caution (how helpful). You can add it as an exception though. I think Avast and I are going to have a falling out - it's decided that Webex is also a virus.

[chunkee]

Hmmm.

Still no auto bind to source control for Subversion when creating new components? Topics, MasterPages, PageLayouts etc.?

[Nita Beck]

Still no auto bind to source control for Subversion when creating new components? Topics, MasterPages, PageLayouts etc.?

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Is that different than having Flare prompt to add auto-created files to source control? Or do you really want Flare to automatically add new files to source control and not even prompt you or alert you that it's doing so?

Given my authoring habits, I wouldn't want Flare to automatically add new files to SVN. What if I mistyped the filename of a new file? What if I inadvertantly saved a new file in the wrong folder in the Content Explorer? By manually adding new files to SVN, I get a chance to look through all the filenames and where they are stored to make sure I've got them right before adding them to SVN. That way, I don't have to deal with renames and moves in SVN.

Please rest assured that I'm not criticizing you. I'm sincerely interested in why you desire this approach.

[chunkee]

Do not worry about criticism.

When we used TFS 2010, and you created a new Topic, or Skin, or Snippit, the modal window when doing so, had a checkmark already in place to bind to source control. Using Subversion, that is not present, not even the choice to do so. Perhaps my phrasing should have been better. What I dislike is having to go back and take another step to add the newly created files to the source control.

Not certain why it is present for TFS and not Subversion.

Thank you for your reply, Nita Beck.

jC

Still no auto bind to source control for Subversion when creating new components? Topics, MasterPages, PageLayouts etc.?

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Is that different than having Flare prompt to add auto-created files to source control? Or do you really want Flare to automatically add new files to source control and not even prompt you or alert you that it's doing so?

Given my authoring habits, I wouldn't want Flare to automatically add new files to SVN. What if I mistyped the filename of a new file? What if I inadvertantly saved a new file in the wrong folder in the Content Explorer? By manually adding new files to SVN, I get a chance to look through all the filenames and where they are stored to make sure I've got them right before adding them to SVN. That way, I don't have to deal with renames and moves in SVN.

Please rest assured that I'm not criticizing you. I'm sincerely interested in why you desire this approach.

[jmenning]

Personally, I like the ribbon - the main reason is that I can customise the quick access bar and put the functions that I use all the time right up there at the top.

Yes! That was my first reaction to seeing the ribbon-ization section of the release notes. I only use a handful of the toolbar buttons on a regular basis, so I can hide the rest of the mess.

Of course, I'll have to rewrite some of my AutoHotkey shortcuts