La Jolla, CA, Jan. 19, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MadCap Software, Inc., the leader in multi-channel content authoring and a showcase company for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Visual Studio, today announced the launch of MadCap Central, the first cloud-based platform for content and project management designed specifically for the documentation industry.
MadCap Central is integrated with MadCap Flare, MadCap’s flagship product and the industry’s most advanced single-source, multi-channel authoring and publishing solution. Together MadCap Flare and MadCap Central combine powerful technical authoring software with a cloud-based publishing and content management environment to significantly streamline the entire documentation workflow and enable documentation teams to manage projects and content in one centralized location. The result is a comprehensive, agile, and cost-effective alternative to enterprise content management (ECM) and component content management system (CCMS) solutions.
MadCap Flare is already used by thousands of companies worldwide to create and publish their technical documentation, user guides, instruction manuals, online Help, and support websites to any number of print, web, desktop and mobile formats—in users’ languages of choice. It is the only professional authoring and publishing solution that allows authors to create and publish responsive HTML5 output with top navigation, which more closely resembles a modern, search engine-optimized, and completely customizable informational website. And its native XML architecture gives MadCap Flare the extensibility of leading ECM systems.
MadCap Central is the powerful cloud-based content management solution designed specifically for the creators of Flare-based content. With MadCap Central, technical communications professionals can facilitate collaboration among teams and departments, automate publishing, track tasks and projects, manage user permissions to control access and maintain quality, and host projects and content in the cloud—all from one central location. Additionally, the highly scalable MadCap Central can grow to meet the demands of any size organization.
“From the start, our mission at MadCap Software has been to create a superior experience for technical communications and documentation professionals by empowering them to efficiently develop and deliver state-of-the-art technical content,” said Anthony Olivier, MadCap founder and CEO. “Our new cloud-based MadCap Central builds on this commitment by putting a comprehensive content management solution, which is designed specifically for content creators and extends the functionality of our industry-leading MadCap Flare software, within the reach of companies of all sizes.”
Technical Communications Professionals Cite MadCap Central Benefits
“In contrast to CCMS solutions, which simply store and manage your content in a central database, Madcap Central tackles the publishing and delivery aspect of content,” said Tom Johnson, a technical writer and author of the
I’d Rather Be Writing blog. “Pushing the latest updates to your project online in a quick and easy way gives you many advantages in the context of DocOps and agile. You no longer need to use separate systems for source control, task
management, permissions, and other details. It’s all contained and managed within one central hub. Overall, Madcap Central provides a much-needed publishing and content delivery solution for tech docs.”
“I have used other source control systems with Flare, and they have each had their challenges,” said Kate Montressor, senior technical writer at SilverPeak, Inc. “The MadCap Central solution is so easy and works so well – I think it’s a no-brainer!”
“Tracking multiple projects with multiple authors in multiple statuses can be confusing and downright challenging,” notes Neil Perlin, president of Hyper/Word Services. “MadCap Central’s management dashboard, which is tightly integrated with MadCap Flare, will go a long way toward making project management smooth and efficient.”
New MadCap Central for Cloud-based Content Management
Madcap Central enables users of the latest versions of MadCap Flare to extend their authoring capabilities with a powerful cloud-based platform for content and project management. Now content creators can manage projects and content within one centralized location in order to gain better insight into production schedules, milestones and deliverables with a variety of project management tools and content hosting features. It allows users to upload and import MadCap Flare projects, assign users to projects, manage project status, get notifications, and more.
Projects and content hosted in MadCap Central can be accessed anywhere, and publishing no longer requires IT department resources. From a single user to teams of hundreds, the solution was built for scalability, and adding storage is easy. At the same time, MadCap Central provides the ability automate, manage, and publish builds quickly and easily. Using the Build Management view, users can schedule builds; set builds to “Live” for easy publishing and “Keep” to maintain builds; view generated output; view the build log for details, such as warnings or errors during builds; download builds locally; set a vanity URL; and receive notifications.
Significantly, MadCap Central offers the ability to track and manage tasks by viewing them through a task board or calendar view, and all tasks can be broken down into five categories: To Do, In Progress, Complete, Archived, and Backlog. Key task attributes can include any of the following: title, priority (low, medium, high), related MadCap Flare project, start and due dates, estimated hours, owner and user assignment and file attachments. At the same time, users can get full project visibility by using customizable dashboards and widgets—objects that make it easy to see important information at a glance—for quick and easy access to calendars, build history, cloud storage usage, project properties, and other resources.
With MadCap Central, administrators can set user permissions for regular users, either globally for all projects or separately for individual projects. Moreover, MadCap Central can be used to organize users into specific groups to facilitate collaboration. The Message Center serves as an area where users can be associated with projects as well as quickly communicate with specific sets of users, and it enables chats among individuals or entire teams.
Availability and Pricing
MadCap Central is available today and features special, limited-time introductory pricing for 12-month subscriptions that start at $79 per month. It includes 10 GB of storage per company account (with additional storage available), free product upgrades and updates, platinum-level maintenance and support with unlimited email and telephone support, a knowledge base, and forum access. A MadCap Central license can be purchased either directly within the trial version of MadCap Central, online at the MadCap Software Store, or by contacting sales@madcapsftware.com or +1 (858) 320-0387.
MadCap Central is integrated with both MadCap Flare 2016 R2 and the recently launched MadCap Flare 2017. MadCap Flare can be purchased separately and as part of the MadPak Professional Suite. Standalone pricing for Flare is $1,448 per license, which includes Bronze-level maintenance and support. The MadPak Professional Suite pricing is $1,847 per license, which includes Bronze-level maintenance and support. For more information on MadCap Software’s enterprise multi-user and floating license models, visit:
- Flare: madcapsoftware.com/products/flare/pricing.aspx
- MadPak: madcapsoftware.com/products/madpak/pricing.aspx
About MadCap Software
MadCap Software, Inc. is a trusted resource for the thousands of companies around the globe that rely on its solutions for multi-channel authoring and publishing, multimedia, and translation management of their professional documentation. Whether delivering technical, medical, marketing, business, or human resources content, MadCap’s products are used to create corporate intranets, Help systems, policy and procedure manuals, knowledge bases, instruction manuals, user guides, and more to any format, including high-end print, online, desktop, mobile or responsive HTML5. MadCap services include product training, consulting services, translation and localization, and an advanced developer certification program. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, MadCap Software is home to some of the most experienced software architects and product experts in the content development industry. Learn more about MadCap Software at www.madcapsoftware.com.
MadCap Software, the MadCap Software logo, MadCap Central, MadCap Flare, and MadPak are trademarks or registered trademarks of MadCap Software, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other marks are the properties of their respective owners.