Workflow

MadCap Software Expands Native XML Family of Documentation and Content Authoring Products

Monday 08. September 2008 - MadCap Blaze, X-Edit, Flare 4.0, and Analyzer 2.0 Enable Integrated State-of-the-Art Publishing Workflow

MadCap Software, the leader in multi-channel content authoring and a showcase company for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Visual Studio 2005 and Microsoft XPS, today announced the launch of four products that expand the MadCap authoring and publishing family. Based on a common native XML architecture that enables an integrated, state-of-the-art publishing workflow, the newest announcements from MadCap include:

— MadCap Blaze, the new topic-based, native XML authoring and publishing solution for long print documents.

— MadCap X-Edit, the new toolset for authoring short, simple documents and collaborating on Flare or Blaze projects.

— MadCap Flare 4.0, MadCap’s flagship software, which now lets authors directly publish online and print content from a single application, and adds Global Project Linking functionality to share content across different projects.

— MadCap Analyzer 2.0 with added functionality for analyzing and proactively recommending improvements to content in Flare or other MadCap projects.

Unlike traditional authoring and publishing tools, the new MadCap products are highly integrated to create a seamless experience for documentation professionals and other content authors. For example, a human resources manager could use X-Edit to write up the details of a new health savings account plan. Those details could be added to the company print manual by a professional author using Blaze, and then later published on the intranet or company website with MadCap Flare — all within a single workflow. Along the way, Analyzer reviews the content in Blaze and Flare to proactively suggest document development improvements, and allow corrections without ever leaving the Flare or Blaze project.

Flare and Blaze are extended even further with the ability to translate content using MadCap Lingo, an integrated translation memory tool for MadCap Software products. Both Blaze and Flare can also publish graphics created with Capture, and Flare integrates with MadCap Mimic and MadCap Echo to incorporate simulation movies and audio, respectively.

“With so much company information shared across a range of media — including the Web, manuals, brochures, online Help, tutorials, and podcasts — it’s becoming imperative for enterprises to implement integrated publishing solutions that can optimize content re-use across the enterprise and for each of these channels,” said Anthony Olivier, MadCap cofounder and CEO. “MadCap Blaze, Flare, X-Edit and Analyzer combine to provide breakthrough capabilities for the next generation of print and online publishing.”

MadCap Authoring for Every Need

MadCap provides tools to support a full range of print and online authoring needs, empowering everyone from documentation professionals to technical support staff, IT professionals, business managers, and other casual contributors.

MadCap X-Edit introduces a first-of-its-kind document solution for the everyday content contributor that combines both editing and publishing into a single document solution. Building on the XPS standard for content delivery, X-Edit removes the need for two documents — one for content development and another for publishing — and allows users to create short documents or to contribute content to Blaze and Flare without having to learn complex formatting or other technical concepts. X-Edit can share cascading style sheets from Flare or Blaze, and like these authoring products, it can publish output directly to Microsoft XPS or Adobe PDF. For authors who don’t require the full capabilities of X-Edit, MadCap also offers:

— X-Edit Contribute lets subject-matter experts open contribution templates created for them by a Blaze or Flare author and create content with the correct styles and project formatting options — all through an easy interface that offers Microsoft Word-like simplicity.

— X-Edit Review lets users make edits or annotations and send the topics back to the Flare or Blaze author. The Flare or Blaze author then adds reviewed content to the project, without lost edits, messy conversions, or formatting hassles.

MadCap Blaze is the next-generation authoring solution for creating long, complex print documents. It introduces a new paradigm for enterprise print publishing through highly flexible topic-based authoring that fosters content flexibility and reusability to eliminate the restrictions, redundancies and errors common in more traditional “book” authoring structures. For more information, see press release, dated September 8, 2008, “MadCap Software Redefines Print Publishing with Debut of MadCap Blaze.”

MadCap Flare 4.0 is the latest version of Flare for single-source print and online publishing. It offers Global Project Linking to share common elements across multiple projects; direct output to PDF and XPS; enhanced print publishing with the incorporation of Blaze functionality; and workflow collaboration with casual contributors and subject matter experts using X-Edit. For more information, see September 8, 2008, press release, “MadCap Software Launches Flare 4.0.”

“From the start, we have placed a high priority on listening to the growing ranks of documentation professionals and their diverse needs for delivering information to customers, coworkers, partners and suppliers,” said Bjorn Backlund, MadCap cofounder and CTO. “The addition of MadCap Blaze and X-Edit extends the power of our popular flagship Flare authoring software to support both the high-end demands of publishing long documents and the simple authoring demands of enterprise knowledge workers.”

MadCap Reporting and Analysis

MadCap Analyzer 2.0, the first integrated software to proactively suggest document development improvements, is being enhanced with several new reports and suggestions on how to improve Flare or Blaze projects. Analyzer can now report on topics linked by context-sensitive Map IDs, as well as those that are not. Analyzer also sorts annotations by topic or by annotation, so that it is easy to track comments and address them. New Index Keywords Suggestion analysis tracks words that are indexed and ensures that they are indexed everywhere throughout a project, enabling a consistent user experience. Also new with version 2.0 is faster, easier installation via the Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition.

“We love the new functionality in Madcap Flare and Analyzer. With MadCap’s tight integration, everything we learned in Flare, we can apply to Analyzer — a super time saver,” said Daniel Ng, manager of knowledge management at GPRO Technologies Berhad. “When we have high demands for press-quality documentation everyday on the Web and print, we simply cannot ignore Flare 4.0’s direct to PDF and XPS workflow. The brand new features in Analyzer 2.0 help us deliver the rich documentation that customers expect, faster and at a fraction of the cost. Ultimately, it makes for more happy customers.”

Availability and Pricing

All MadCap products are available today. MadCap Blaze is priced at $699 per license, with a special one-time upgrade price of $199 for customers who switch from Adobe FrameMaker.

MadCap X-Edit, which also includes X-Edit Contribute and X-Edit Review, is available for $249 per license. X-Edit Review is also available separately at no cost. MadCap Flare is priced at $899 per license; customers also can upgrade from their current version of Flare or from a competing product for $499 per license. MadCap Analyzer is priced at $299.

Additionally Flare and Analyzer are available as part of the MadPak, the industry’s first true single-source suite for multi-channel publishing. Other solutions in the MadPak, which sells for $1,299 per license, include MadCap Capture for screen capture and graphics editing, MadCap Mimic for creating software simulation movies, and MadCap Echo for Web 2.0 audio functions.

MadCap’s software is backed by a range of service and support options, delivered by MadCap’s US-based team of documentation experts. Fees for support start at $449 per year.