Creating New Documents

You can create new documents (or topics) from the Contributor interface. If a Flare author has sent you a contribution template that you have saved, you can select that template when creating the new document.

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How to Create a New Document

Select File > New.
Select a file to use as a basis for your new document, either from a template or from another existing file.
- Factory Templates If you selected Factory Templates, you can choose from various templates provided by Contributor.
  - Document.mcdoct This template creates a basic document with a header and a little body text. You will end up with a document that has an .mcdoc extension. Select this option if you want to create a standalone document, rather than a contribution topic that will be sent to a Flare author.
  - Topic.mccot This template creates a very basic topic file with a header and a little body text. You will end up with a document that has an .mcco extension. An MCCO file is the same as an MCDOC file, with the exception that it indicates the file was created specifically for use as a contribution topic. If you create an MCCO document, you can quickly email it to Flare authors for incorporation into their projects.
  - XHTML Document.htm This template creates a very basic document with a header and a little body text. You will end up with an XHTML document that has an .htm extension. An HTM file is a good option if you want to post the file on the internet or an intranet, where others can view it in a browser window.
    
    Note You can quickly create a new XHTML document by pressing CTRL+N on the keyboard.
  - Stylesheet.css This template creates a cascading stylesheet (CSS). You will end up with a file that has a .css extension, and it will open in the Stylesheet Editor. A CSS file can be used to create elements with formatting. You can then apply the formatted styles to content in a document to change how it looks.
    
    Note If a Flare author has provided you with a contribution template, chances are that you will use the styles provided by the author, rather than creating your own stylesheet.
  - Page Layout.mcpglt This template creates a page layout file. You will end up with a file that has an .flpgl extension, and it will open in the Page Layout Editor. A page layout is an element that you can create in order to determine page specifications (e.g., size, margins) and to apply certain content (e.g., headers, footers, page numbers) to your document for print-based output. Page layouts allow for easy configuration through the use of content frames, a snap-to grid, dragging and dropping, alignment features, and more.
    
    Note If a Flare author has provided you with a contribution template, chances are that you will use the page layout provided by the author, rather than creating your own page layout.
- My Templates If you selected My Templates, you can choose from any templates that you have saved in your "Documents\My Templates\Contributor" folder. This would likely include any contribution templates that a Flare author has sent to you. See Saving Contribution Templates.
  
  Note Any templates that you created in the past for X-Edit can still be used in Contributor, but those files will need to be relocated to the new Contributor folder location in order to use them when creating new documents.
- New from existing This lets you choose an existing file of the same type—that you've already created and stored somewhere—as a starting point for your new file. As with template files, your new file will take on all of the settings contained in the file you select. To use this option, click the browse button , use the Open File dialog to find a file, and double-click it.
In the Folder field, select a folder for the new document. You can browse for a folder by clicking the browse button . The Open File dialog, will open, allowing you to find a file.
In the File Name field, enter a file name.
Click OK.
For most document types, add any content, formatting, or annotations as necessary. If you created a stylesheet or page layout, you can use the respective editors to make changes to those types of files as well.
Click to save your work.

What’s Next?

After creating a new document, you can do a number of things with it, including the following.