Is Flare Easy?

Clearly, we're all different ...

One of the reasons I (with my team) chose Flare is because it was EASY to use. From the first day of our trial we were up and running and generating output, and we would not go back to the other tool. The beginner's tutorial was useful, and I've learnt stuff from the helpfile.

Now, we've had issues, and we had to learn stuff, I won't deny that, but I think it's in pretty good shape. Using the XML editor was different, but if you really don't like it, use one of your own choosing - in a team environment that is a plus. I don't like the CSS editor, but I can set up a .css file elsewhere and bring it into a project seamlessly. And it generates all the output types we want.

I probably wouldn't buy a book nowadays (apart from the fact that there is no more room on my shelves). I'd rather see the Knowledge Base expanded. I don't think there is enough room in a book to cover best practices. Books tend to see things from one point of view - a knowledge base or a wiki (or a forum) can have far more examples and scenarios. I'd support the "writer's centre" concept mentioned earlier - a place to download templates, and skins, and scripts, ...

Just my two cents.