Folders in a Flare Project

When you use Windows to view the location where you project is stored, you will always see Content and Project folders (which hold content and project files, respectively). In addition to those, you might see other folders, depending on the actions you take in your project.

.git

.gitignore

The .git folder is the local repository for a Flare Desktop project and is included when your project is bound to Git (e.g., via MadCap Flare Online). The contents of this folder are updated automatically when you perform source control tasks. The additional .gitignore file is necessary to make sure that certain folders (e.g., Analyzer, FileSync, Output, Project/Users) are ignored when you push and pull files. In most cases, you do not need to do anything with the .git folder or .gitignore file. See Git and MadCap Flare Online and Flare Desktop.

Also see Adding and Editing an Ignore File.

Analyzer

This holds files that are automatically created with each Flare project. They are database files used behind the scenes when you use the analysis tool in Flare Desktop. You do not need to do anything with these files. However, if you are experiencing issues in Flare Desktop it is sometimes useful to close your project and delete this folder in Windows. A new Analyzer folder will be created when you re-launch Flare Desktop. See Analysis Ribbon.

Content

This holds all content files (e.g., topics, images, stylesheets, snippets) in your project. These files are stored in the Content Explorer in Flare Desktop (see Content Explorer). Within this folder, you can create as many custom subfolders as necessary (see Creating Subfolders).

FileSync

This holds files that are automatically created when you create mappings between external files and copies in your project (e.g., if you are working with external resources or SharePoint integration). You do not need to do anything with these files. See External Resources and SharePoint Integration.

Output

This holds files that are created when you build the final output for a Flare project. You can then distribute these files to end users. See Step 5: Building and Publishing Output.

Project

This holds all project-related files (e.g., glossaries, targets, skins, TOCs, condition tag sets. These files are stored in the Project Organizer in Flare Desktop. See Project Organizer.

SourceControl

This holds files that are used for the source control cache. This folder only pertains to some source control providers. You do not need to do anything with these files. See Source Control.