USER GUIDEMADCAP CONTRIBUTOR 9Getting Started

Copyright 2019 MadCap Software. All rights reserved.
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www.madcapsoftware.com

THIS PDF WAS CREATED US ING M ADCAP FL ARE.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1
Introduction

4

CHAPTER 2
Review Workflow

6

Inserting Annotations

12

Returning Documents to Authors

14

CHAPTER 3
Contribution Workflow

15

Saving Contribution Templates

19

Creating New Documents

21

Sending Documents to Authors

24

APPENDIX
PDFs

CONTENTS

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CHAPTER 1Introduction
Welcome to Contributor: a single-document authoring tool that is tightly integrated with MadCap
Flare. Contributor is the perfect tool for light content development.
Using Contributor, you can review and edit documents sent to you by Flareauthors. This workflow is for registered users, as opposed to those using
the free annotation-only review mode. See "Review Workflow" on page 6.

Using Contributor, you can review documents sent to you by Flare authors.
With this workflow, you can add annotations to documents, but you cannot
edit them. See "Review Workflow" on page 6.

You can create original content that can be contributed to MadCap Flareprojects, printed, or saved in formats such as PDF and XHTML. See "Contribution Workflow" on page 15.

You can create and original content that can be printed, or saved informats such as PDF and XHTML, for purposes other than contributing toa MadCap Flare project. See "Creating New Documents" on page 21.

CHAPTER 1

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NOTE Contributor's Annotation-Only Mode is free to use after the trial version expires. You
will be able to add and remove text annotations after the trial version expires, but all otherfeatures will be disabled.

CHAPTER 1

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CHAPTER 2Review Workflow
If you are using a full registered mode of Contributor, you can review and edit documents sent toyou by others.
If you are using the free review mode, you can review documents sent to you by others and add
annotations (comments). However, you cannot edit the documents.

REVIEWING DOCUMENTS—FULL REGISTERED MODE
1. Open You can open the review package file from your email, from SharePoint, or from anexternal resource folder. The files in the review package are listed in the Review Packages
window pane. Double-click a row to review and edit a particular file.
If the review package contains topics as well as snippet files, you can open the snippets too.
You can open snippets by double-clicking them in the Review Packages window pane.
Another approach is to right-click the snippet where it is inserted in a topic (or in another snippet) and from the context menu select Open Snippet File.
2. (Optional) Insert Comments You can insert annotations (comments) that are associated withspecific areas of text in the document. These annotations do not become part of the content
within the document, but rather are intended for internal use between you and others. (Do notselect more than one paragraph or click at the very end of paragraphs; otherwise, the "InsertAnnotation" option will not be enabled.) See "Inserting Annotations" on page 12.
3. Return You can return the review package to the author via email, or by using SharePoint
Integration or the external resources feature. See "Returning Documents to Authors" on page
14.

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CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

REVIEWING DOCUMENTS—FREE ANNOTATION-ONLY MODE
1. Open You can open the review package file (from your email, from SharePoint, or from anexternal resource folder). The files in the review package are listed in the Review Packages
window pane. Double-click a row to review and edit a particular file.
If the review package contains topics as well as snippet files, you can open the snippets too.
You can open snippets by double-clicking them in the Review Packages window pane.
Another approach is to right-click the snippet where it is inserted in a topic (or in another snippet) and from the context menu select Open Snippet File.
2. (Optional) Insert Comments You can insert annotations (comments) that are associated withspecific areas of text in the document. These annotations do not become part of the content
within the document, but rather are intended for internal use between you and others. (Do notselect more than one paragraph or click at the very end of paragraphs; otherwise, the "Insert
Annotation" option will not be enabled.) See "Inserting Annotations" on page 12.
3. Return You can return the review package to the author via email, or by using SharePoint
Integration or the external resources feature. See "Returning Documents to Authors" on page
14.

CHAPTER 29REGULAR DOCUMENT FILES VERSUS LINGO TRANSLATION FILES
For MadCap Lingo review package (LIREV) files, the XML Editor works a bit differently than it doesfor regular document files from products such as Flare or Word. That's because Lingo is a translation tool, so only text segments are important, and in particular, the target language segments.
When you open a file from an LIREV package, the editor shows a table containing text segmentsfrom that file in the source and target languages. The status of each segment—which indicates how
closely the target segment matches a translated segment in translation memory—is also shown.

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You can make changes only to the target segment, as well as insert annotations. In addition, you
can make certain formatting edits to the target segment (e.g., bold, underline, color), but manyother features (e.g., insert image, hyperlink, table) are disabled for Lingo review files.

IMPORTANT You cannot use the Internal Text Editor when working with review packages.

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Inserting Annotations
Supported In:

You can insert an annotation (comment) into a document. These annotations do not become partof the actual content, but rather are intended for internal use between you and others.

HOW TO INSERT AN ANNOTATION
1. Open the document or topic.
2. Highlight the content that you want to associate with the annotation, or place your cursor onit.
NOTE Do not highlight more than one paragraph.
3. Do one of the following, depending on the part of the user interface you are using:nRibbon Select Review > Insert Annotation.

nRight-Click If the track changes feature is enabled, you can right-click and select Insert
Annotation.
A rectangle extends to a sidebar on the right, with a line pointing to the selected content.
This rectangle will hold the annotation text after you type it.
Also, the selected content is shaded, indicating that the annotation refers to that text.
However, the shading will not be displayed in the output; it is for internal use only.

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4. Type your comment in the annotation rectangle.

5. Clickto save your work.

NOTE When you insert an annotation, your initials are displayed next to it. The initials arethe first two letters of your login user name. However, you can change the user name andinitials (for use in Contributor) to something else. For more information see the online Help.

CHAPTER 213

Returning Documents to Authors
Supported In:

After reviewing documents sent from an author, you can return the documents via email.

NOTE There is more than one way to transfer files between individuals using Flare and Contributor. For example, you can: (1) use the integrated email feature with Microsoft Outlook,(2) add files to SharePoint or External Resources where others can access them, or (3) savefiles to your computer (File > Save, then Save As or Save To) and then manually transfer
them using some method (e.g., email). If you want to use the integrated email feature, youmust have matching versions of Contributor and Outlook. If you are using 64-bit Contributor,
you need 64-bit Outlook. Likewise, if you are using 32-bit Contributor, you need 32-bit
Outlook.

HOW TO RETURN DOCUMENTS TO AUTHORSThe following steps include the integrated Outlook email method. If your systems are not set up forthis feature, you can use one of the other methods (e.g., or save to your computer and manuallyemail).
1. Open the review package containing the documents you reviewed. If you do not see theReview Packages window pane, select Review > Review Packages.
2. In the local toolbar of the Review Packages window pane, click.

3. In the email message, click Send.

CHAPTER 2

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CHAPTER 3

Contribution Workflow
Following is the basic workflow if you are creating original content to be contributed to a MadCap
Flare project.
1. (Optional) Save Contribution Template A Flare author might email you a contribution templatefor you to use when creating new documents. Contribution templates are simply files with certain settings already in place. They are a quick way to create and edit documents in a pre-set
format that the author wants you to use. You can save a contribution template and then use it
later whenever you need to create new documents to send to a Flare author. By saving thetemplate file in a folder called "Documents\My Templates\Contributor" you can easily selectit when you create a new document. See "Saving Contribution Templates" on page 19.

CHAPTER 3

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CHAPTER 316

2. Create You can create new documents from the Contributor interface. See "Creating NewDocuments" on page 21.
3. (Optional) Insert Comments You can insert annotations (comments) that are associated withspecific areas of text in the document. These annotations do not become part of the content
in the document, but rather are intended for internal use between you and others.
4. After you finish a document, you can do the following.
nSend You can send a finished document to a Flare author so that it can be incorporated
into a project. See "Sending Documents to Authors" on page 24.

CHAPTER 317n

PDF You can save the document as an Adobe PDF document.

n

XPS You can save the document as a Microsoft XPS document (similar to a PDF document).

n

XHTML You can save the document as an XHTML file (with an .htm extension).

nPrint You can print the document directly from the Contributor interface.

NOTE Because documents in Contributor are often used as part of Flare projects, you may
sometimes see them referred to as "topics."

CHAPTER 318Saving Contribution Templates
Supported In:

A Flare author might email you a contribution template for you to use when creating new documents. Contribution templates are simply files with certain settings already in place. They are aquick way to create and edit documents in a pre-set format that the author wants you to use. You
can save a contribution template and then use it later whenever you need to create new documents
to send to a Flare author. By saving the template file in a folder called "Documents\My Templates\Contributor" you can easily select it when you create a new document.

HOW TO SAVE CONTRIBUTION TEMPLATES
1. In the Documents folder on your computer, create a subfolder and name it My Templates.
This subfolder can be used to hold all of the contribution templates that an author sends toyou.
2. In the My Templates folder, create a subfolder and name it Contributor.
3. Open the email message that the Flare author has sent to you, with the contribution template
as an attachment.
4. Double-click the attachment.
5. In the dialog that opens, click Save.
6. Navigate to the Documents\My Templates\Contributor folder and click Save.

NOTE In addition to contribution template files (those with an .mccot extension), Contributor lets you select other types of files from the template folder as well. This includes
document template files (.mcdoct), XHTML files (.htm), stylesheet files (.css), and page layout files (.mcpglt).

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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 touse them when creating new documents.

CHAPTER 320

Creating New Documents
Supported In:

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 thenew document.

HOW TO CREATE A NEW DOCUMENT
1. Select File > New.
2. Select a file to use as a basis for your new document, either from a template or from anotherexisting file.

OPTIONSnFactory Templates If you selected Factory Templates, you can choose from various templates provided by Contributor.
ll

CHAPTER 3Document.mcdoct This template creates a basic document with a header and alittle 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 littlebody 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.

21

l

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 oran intranet, where others can view it in a browser window.
NOTE You can quickly create a new XHTML document by pressing CTRL+Non the keyboard.

lStylesheet.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 thancreating your own stylesheet.

lPage Layout.mcpglt This template creates a page layout file. You will end up with afile 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) toyour 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.

CHAPTER 322nMy Templates If you selected My Templates, you can choose from any templates thatyou 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" on page 19.
NOTE Any templates that you created in the past for X-Edit can still be used inContributor, but those files will need to be relocated to the new Contributor folder
location in order to use them when creating new documents.

nNew 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
double-click it.

, use the Open File dialog to find a file, and3. 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.

4. In the File Name field, enter a file name.
5. Click OK.
6. 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 tothose types of files as well.
7. ClickCHAPTER 3

to save your work.

23Sending Documents to Authors
Supported In:You can send a finished contribution document (MCCO file) to a Flare author so that it can be incorporated into a larger project.

NOTE There is more than one way to transfer files between individuals using Flare and Contributor. For example, you can: (1) use the integrated email feature with Microsoft Outlook,(2) add files to SharePoint or External Resources where others can access them, or (3) savefiles to your computer (File > Save, then Save As or Save To) and then manually transfer
them using some method (e.g., email). If you want to use the integrated email feature, youmust have matching versions of Contributor and Outlook. If you are using 64-bit Contributor,
you need 64-bit Outlook. Likewise, if you are using 32-bit Contributor, you need 32-bitOutlook.

HOW TO SEND A NEW DOCUMENT TO AN AUTHOR
The following steps include the integrated Outlook email method. If your systems are not set up forthis feature, you can use one of the other methods (e.g., or save to your computer and manuallyemail).
1. Create or open the MCCO file.
NOTE If you have just created a new document, you must save it before you cansend it.

2. In the local toolbar of the editor click.

3. Complete the email message with the address of the recipient(s) and any message text. Thensend it.

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APPENDIXPDFs
The following PDFs are available for download from the online Help.
Contributor Workflow Guide
Getting Started Guide
Review Workflow Guide
Shortcuts Guide
What's New Guide

APPENDIX25