In my last post, I discussed ways that you can build lists of related links in your MadCap Flare projects. I expressed a preference for concept links.
If you share my enthusiasm for concept links and are importing FrameMaker content into Flare, you may want to pre-configure your source FrameMaker files to include Passthrough markers with special strings. When you import the marked FrameMaker content into Flare, the Passthrough markers convert to concept markers in the equivalent Flare topics.
You can then insert a concept link help control in each topic that contains the same marker and build a dynamic list of related topics. I described this process in the following post:
MadCap Flare Tip: Helping Users Find Related Information
When preparing your FrameMaker files to include Passthrough markers, follow these steps:
- Add a custom Passthrough marker to each FrameMaker file. If you’re not sure how to set up markers in FrameMaker files, read this post:
Preparing FrameMaker Files for Importing into MadCap Flare
- Insert a Passthrough marker in the heading of each topic that is related to the same concept.
- Add the following string to the Passthrough marker definition:
<MadCap:concept term=”term” />
- Substitute “term” with your concept term, keeping the quotes (“”). Make sure that “MadCap” has an uppercase M and uppercase C.
Example: If you want Flare to build a dynamic list of topics about
search tips, add a Passthrough marker to the heading of each topic that’s related to search tips. Define each marker using this string:
<MadCap:concept term=”search tips” />
To ensure that the markers convert properly, enable the following Flare import settings. If you’re using an import file in your project, you’ll find these settings on the Options tab:
- Enable ‘Passthrough’ Markers = Checked
- Passthrough Marker Format = XML
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Tagged as:
adobe framemaker,
content development,
flare,
framemaker,
help development,
import,
MadCap Software,
web content
When creating online help or user assistance, a common practice is to include a related topics link at the end of a given topic. The link usually appears as a clickable button labeled Related Topics or See Also. When a user clicks the button, a pop-up list of related topics appears, as shown below. Each topic is a clickable link.
In MadCap Flare, you can create this type of link using help controls. Flare offers three types of help control, and my favorite is the Concept Link. This control builds a dynamic list of topics that are associated by a concept. You first have to insert concept markers into the topics to create a concept association among them. This type of linking relationship is similar to A-links in other help tools.
Example: You insert a concept marker with the concept term browsing in six separate topics. You then add a Concept Link control to the bottom of each topic and map the control to the term browsing. When you build your project output, Flare builds a dynamic list that includes all topics that are about browsing. Users can click the link to view the list.
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Tagged as:
madcap flare,
Usability,
user assistance
I haven’t written a post about MadCap Flare for a while, and the release of Flare 6 deserves special attention. With this version, Flare remains miles ahead of its competition.
When a new version of Flare is released, I usually install the new version and keep the last version installed, too. After testing the rock-solid Flare 6 beta during the past few months, I was easily convinced that I could fully upgrade on the GA release date. Flare 5 is no longer on my laptop.
I recently created Flare templates for the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (NCI CBIIT). The Information Development team currently uses Adobe FrameMaker and Quadralay ePublisher. Lately I have been busy preparing Adobe FrameMaker files for import into Flare, running import routines with various settings, and testing the results.
I recommend the following process for preparing your FrameMaker files before importing their content into MadCap Flare. I will provide additional advice and tips in upcoming posts.
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Tagged as:
adobe acrobat,
adobe framemaker,
computer file formats,
desktop publishing software,
flare,
framemaker,
import,
MadCap Software,
technical communication tools
