Main Files and Icons in a Flare Project

A branding stylesheet specifically identifies values for branding elements. A regular stylesheet lets you store styles for general content in your project, including tables, to control how that content looks. A table stylesheet, is used only for tables.

An auto-index lets you automatically add words in your project to a generated index, rather than inserting all of the index markers manually. To do this, you can add phrases and corresponding index entries to an auto-index file. When you generate the output, Flare Desktop scans the auto-index file and adds the words it finds to the generated index.

An alias file is used to populate a header file with the information necessary for producing context-sensitive Help (CSH). After opening an alias file, you can use the Alias Editor to create and assign identifiers (IDs) for the header file. You can use a single alias file in a project for multiple header files, or you can create a separate alias file to go with each header file.

A batch target is a file that points to multiple targets and stores information such as whether to build or publish targets, as well as scheduling commands. After creating the file, you can specify its settings in the Batch Target Editor.

A browse sequence is like an alternative table of contents (TOC) for online output. For example, if you have several topics that you think end users should read in order, you can create a browse sequence. Another way to use a browse sequence is to create an alphabetical list of all of the topics. So readers can use your regular TOC for a structured method of navigation (with folders and subfolders), or they can use the browse sequence for a more flattened, alphabetical way to find topics.

The first step to setting up your project for publishing output is to create a destination file. You can create as many destination files in your project as necessary, depending on how many locations you need to send your output files.

You can export an entire Flare project, or parts of one, to another location. One reason you might want to use this feature is to quickly and easily make a copy of projects and archive them, especially if you have an extremely large Flare project and need to archive only parts of it. Another use for this feature is translation. If you only need a portion of a parent project to be translated, you don't want to send the translator all of the files, but rather a smaller version of the project containing only the files requiring translation.

A file tag can be applied to files for many different purposes, such as assigning authors or milestones to topics.

A glossary is a feature that you can add to your output to help users understand the meaning of individual terms. You can include a glossary in both online and print-based output.

In addition to creating regular index entries that point to a specific place in your project, you can also create index links. An index link is an entry in a generated index that points to another entry. There are three kinds of index links—"See," "See Also," and "Sort As."

Flare Desktop provides language skins for certain languages, such as French, German, and Spanish (i.e., many values are already translated). These languages are identified as being "localized" skins. You can edit these default translations by creating a language skin for the language. For languages that do not provide default translations, you can create language skins so they can be applied to the output too.

Micro content is short, concise information that stands alone and is easily consumable. In Flare Desktop, it begins with the creation of a collection of brief phrases and corresponding responses, such as questions and answers. After generating HTML5 output, these phrase/response combinations can be used in different ways as users interact with your output. For example, it can greatly improve the user experience when people search in your HTML5 output. It can also be used to create field-level context-sensitive Help.

A template page lets you automatically apply certain content—such as breadcrumbs, menus, toolbars, search bars, footer text, or mini-TOCs—to multiple topics in the output. A template page is primarily used in online outputs. However, it can be used in Word output as well. For Word output, a template page lets you determine page specifications (such as size or orientation) and to apply certain content (e.g., header text or page numbers) to many topics in a manual. For print-based outputs other than Word, page layouts are used instead of template pages.

A page layout is used for page specifications (e.g., size, margins) and to apply certain content (e.g., headers, footers, page numbers) to many (or all) topics in print-based output. It allows for easy configuration through the use of content frames, bleeds, crop marks, registration marks, margins, padding, alignment features, and more. You might create multiple page layouts for different purposes (e.g., title page, TOC, chapters, appendix). Page layouts are similar to template pages, but are more flexible and easier to use. The general rule is that page layouts are recommended for print-based output, and template pages continue to be the best method for automatically adding headers, footers, breadcrumbs, and more in multiple topics for online output. Another difference between page layouts and template pages is that page layouts can be used for Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint, whereas template pages can be used only for Microsoft Word when creating print-based output.

If you want to send your project to another location or person, you can package (zip) the project into a single file that is much smaller than the entire project in its normal state. The zipped project can then be easily unzipped by anyone who also uses Flare Desktop, retuning the project to its normal state so that it can be edited. Zipping a project is also a great way to create and store a backup of your project.

From the Reports folder in the Project Organizer, you can generate custom reports based on information contained in your project. In addition, you can design the look and feel of reports, save them for future access, and open them in a browser window (where you can print them).

A relationship table is an element used to link related topics together. It is similar to concept links or related topics links (see Inserting Concept Links and Inserting Related Topics Links). Although a relationship table is a common feature in DITA, you do not need to be using DITA or know anything about DITA in order to take advantage of relationship tables.

A filter can be included in the search feature to let users narrow their search based on concepts that you have inserted into topics.

A skin is a file that contains information about the appearance of an online output window.

A snippet is a chunk of formatted content that is heavily used in single-sourcing. Snippets can include text, tables, images, and whatever else can be included in a normal topic. You can insert snippets into one or more topics throughout your project, thus allowing you to reuse content that is maintained in one place. You can even insert them into other snippets, creating nested snippets. Snippets are not usually intended for single words or very short phrases that change frequently. In those cases, you probably want to use variables instead.

There are several types of online output and print-based output that you can produce in Flare Desktop. HTML5 is the recommended online output type, and for print-based output, PDF and Word are preferred. Each output type has its own set of advantages.

When you first start typing content, a popup may display below your text as you type. This is the Auto Suggestion feature, which analyzes text as you type and compares it to other content (e.g., phrases, variables, snippets) that already exists. This means you can quickly select existing content from the popup so that you do not have to finish typing it..

A table of contents (TOC) is a common way for end users to find specific information in online and print output.

You can share review files containing topics and snippets with other individuals to get their feedback. You can transfer the files between yourself and reviewers in various ways (e.g., email, SharePoint, external resources feature, save to a network drive). The reviewer's changes are automatically tracked so you can see what edits were made. After inserting annotations or making changes to a file with Flare Desktop or with Contributor (for non-Flare Desktop users), reviewers can send the package back to you. You can then view those comments and accept or reject the edits so that they are added to the source file(s).

A variable is a small piece of plain text or auto-generated content that can be edited in one place but used in many places throughout your project. Variables are especially useful for text that might change frequently, such as version numbers and dates. Variables are stored in variable sets, which can hold multiple variables. Depending on the template you select when creating a project, Flare Desktop may provide you with an initial variable set, but you can add as many additional variable sets and variables as you like.

A header file (sometimes referred to as a "map file") is a simple text file that works in conjunction with an alias file (i.e., as you edit the alias file, the header file is populated automatically) in context-sensitive Help. The header file contains basic information about connecting areas of an interface to the corresponding topics or micro content in online output. Both you and the software developer need access to this file, or at least to the IDs that will be used to connect various parts of the interface to specific areas of the documentation.

A topic is a file containing information about a particular subject. Topics might be the most important part of a project. Everything else is contained within topics (e.g., cross-references, text, images) or points toward topics (e.g., tables of contents). The very reason end users open a Help system or manual is to find information, a little direction. They find that help within individual topics.

You can open the Ignored Words dialog and manually add specific words to a list. This means that if other occurrences of the word are found in any other files in future sessions, they will not be flagged as questionable spellings. This is similar to adding words to a dictionary. The difference is that this feature simply ignores questionable spellings of certain words, whereas a dictionary also lists spellings as suggestions.

Anytime you build a target, a build log is automatically created. By default it is stored at the root level of the output folder for that target (e.g., [project]\Output\[user name]\[target name]). However, in the Options dialog (File > Options) you can choose where your log file will be stored when you build a target. As an alternative to the default location, you can choose to place it in the Reports folder of the Project Organizer, or you can select a custom location.