![]() But the example above is from one output that automatically tailors itself. ![]() We can do this by creating different outputs, each designed for a different device. The fact that the design differs depending on the device may not seem like a big deal. I tied this change to a still smaller breakpoint and defined it using the HTML5 Skin Editor. Note the icon’s different background color. The image below shows the output from the same project in a still smaller browser window to simulate a smartphone. This change is tied to a “breakpoint,” a device size at which different skin settings take effect, set up in the HTML5 Skin Editor. Note the new position of the logo and the now-hidden navigation panes. The image below shows the output from the same project but in a smaller browser window to simulate a tablet. Notice the MadCap logo at the top left, with its black background, and the navigation panes on the left. For example, the image below shows responsive output on a standard desktop PC monitor. This HTML5 output can change its design and even its content depending on whether it’s appearing on a smartphone, tablet, or PC. Responsive output lets content automatically change its design based on the properties of the device on which it’s displayed – so-called device-agnosticism. But we still want our output to look good on any device on which it displays. We could optimize for a few of today’s devices, but this will quickly become cost-prohibitive as new devices continue to appear. Instead of optimizing our output for desktop PCs, we have to optimize for many smartphones and tablets with different properties. The need for responsive design arose as new devices with differing screen sizes and resolutions continue to appear. In other words, HTML5 output is a step toward hybrid apps. Flare doesn’t output hybrid apps, but the HTML5 code that it does output forms part of the foundation for those apps. Support for “hybrid” mobile apps that are based, in part, on HTML5.This extension of the CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) standard adds power and flexibility for formatting under modern browsers. The output still looks like it’s using framesets but it’s not, so users can find your output using Google et al. But if your company is adopting a more open strategy with public-facing content, the frameset-block is a strategic limitation. ![]() This may be irrelevant if your output is behind a firewall or login screen and thus only available to customers. In other words, users won’t be able to find your content through public search engines. ![]() The result is that online content distributed as WebHelp won’t be found by web crawlers and won’t appear in a list of search hits. WebHelp uses an older “frameset” technology to create the “paned” look of our outputs, but framesets block web crawlers from going deeper into the output than the home page. WebHelp has worked fine for years but has a problem that wasn’t evident until web crawlers appeared. Searchability by web search crawlers/spiders/bots.You can still use WebHelp for browser-based output, but HTML5 has some benefits that may make you re-think WebHelp. It’s a coding language and, in Flare 10 (and 9), a browser-based output. HTML5 is the successor to XML and older versions of HTML. To fully appreciate the major feature enhancements available in MadCap Flare 10, you might need this brief overview of HTML5 and responsive output. In this review, I’ll focus on the major features – HTML5-based responsive output, slideshows, Eclipse Help, and project export – then review what I see as the major enhancements. But MadCap has been busily extending it, with its tenth release this week (March 4) offering major new features and many enhancements. Flare is a relative newcomer to the tech docs world, debuting in 2006.
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