Tumbleweed... Where is everyone?

[Cecily]

I'm back with Flare, after four years of barely using it.

2007-2014, I was a regular here (answering, as well as asking). It was a busy and therefore highly useful place. This week, it's almost deserted. Is this the new norm, or just because of factors like US holiday for MLK + shutdown, or because people go elsewhere (if so, where?)?

[ChoccieMuffin]

Have been away for a couple of days and came back to two pages of new posts...

[SteveS]

I'm still here...

I'm guessing its because the current edition has been around awhile. Activity always picks up when a new edition is released.

[ajturnersurrey]

I'm still around - but I have also noticed this forum being quieter in the last year.
Probably partly, as SteveS says, because there have been no revolutionary new features recently and the product has a fairly stable user-base now.
(And, dare I say it, it is possible people are beginning to choose some other tools instead - though I'd love to know what.)

[NorthEast]

It might also be quieter as traffic is split between here and the Slack group.

[Nita Beck]

As well as competition with the Write The Docs Slack group's Flare channel and the Users of MadCap Flare LinkedIn group. All four communities get activity.

[Cecily]

I can only see one post in the Slack channel for Flare - plus a message promising more content if I pay!
I wouldn't want to do that without knowing what I'll get, and probably not even then. My company is unlikely to pay, and I don't think I want to pay $7 of my own money every month.

Thanks anyway.

[Nita Beck]

The MadCap Flare User Groups Slack community, which is a "joint venture" of the many local Flare user groups around the world and MadCap, is completely free to use. But we're an invitation-only community, unlike the Write The Docs community, which allows "self-joining".

For those wishing to join the MadCap Flare User Groups Slack community, please PM me and I'll send you an invitation. I need to know your email address, your name (rather than a "handle" as most use here), and your location so I can put you in the closest "locale" channel.

Finally, let me explain an important distinction between Slack and these user forums by copying in something I posted this morning in Slack:

Public service announcement: As you peruse channels, please bear in mind that Slack limits us to 10,000 messages (posts and replies) because we are using a free subscription. Older messages eventually are moved out by Slack to an archive that even we admins are not able to tap. This ephemeral nature of Slack is one of the key differences with the official MadCap user forums, which have discussions going back to 2006.

Therefore, if there is some Slack thread that you find particularly useful, consider copying its content to some personal collection of material outside of Slack.

OK, one more "finally": Any member of the MadCap Flare User Group community in Slack has sufficient rights to send invitations to others (and there's a pinned post in Slack about how to do so). I don't mind being the fairy godmother of the community, but I certainly don't wish to be the "gate-keeper".

[trivia_nerd77]

I would like to join, but I am unable to send you a PM. Is it because I'm new to the forum and haven't posted on a topic yet?

[Nita Beck]

I would like to join, but I am unable to send you a PM. Is it because I'm new to the forum and haven't posted on a topic yet?

Yes, it's because you're new and still require moderation. (I disapproved your second, duplicate, post, BTW.)

An alternative way to reach me is to go to my website (link is in my signature) and go to the Contact page and fill out the form. That'll get to me.

[RamonS]

Still around...but use Flare only for my hobby projects. My company decided against maintaining a traditional help file and instead wants to use videos and integrated assistance with WalkMe. Oh well, would have been a major task to redo the help anyway.