Clarify 2 - How-to writing software [avoid]
Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:41 am
Disclaimer about this program: I recommend avoiding the program described below as it quits working after 30 days. Although it's a great program and an excellent toolset, the company behind this software decided the only folks who would care about this are big companies looking for a knowledge base tool, which is ridiculous. While the advanced, web-based version is in the $1,800 range and roughly matches competing offers, a basic version would go a very long way for both writers and new customers.
Contacts with the company asking for some kind of 3rd option for non-Enterprise customers were declined. Clarify 2 is abandonware.
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Disclaimer about this post: before you begin, this is a terrible write-up. First, the program isn't technically freeware, isn't portable, and isn't even in development anymore. It's also a bad test on my part as I had issues on a Win7x86 machine that didn't get resolved and then wasn't as thorough on my Win10x64 testing (just wanting to get it up and running).
I went out on a limb to try this as I needed to put together sequences in something other than a word processor. It doesn't make sense for basic, step-by-step procedures which I'm doing frequently in my professional life. Clarify 2 breaks up the steps of a sequence into clear groups. You can do screenshots, add text/marks, flavor text, and more.
The major issue with the program is that it focuses the user on one-step-at-a-time processes, meaning you add an image, add some text, add some annotations, and then move on to the next step. When you're trying to describe a process, it's useful to record the process first and then go back and add clarifications, the goal here being to try and find a freeware alternative to the commercial Stepshot.
There is however a batch image-add that you might use to grab from your own screen capture sequence using something like StepsToReproduce or ActivePresenter, but I haven't been able to make that work yet.
It does get away from building a process using a word processor so I might find a use for this in the weeks and months ahead, in which case I'll add to this thread.
http://www.clarify-it.com/
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia ... rify.shtml
Contacts with the company asking for some kind of 3rd option for non-Enterprise customers were declined. Clarify 2 is abandonware.
---
Disclaimer about this post: before you begin, this is a terrible write-up. First, the program isn't technically freeware, isn't portable, and isn't even in development anymore. It's also a bad test on my part as I had issues on a Win7x86 machine that didn't get resolved and then wasn't as thorough on my Win10x64 testing (just wanting to get it up and running).
I went out on a limb to try this as I needed to put together sequences in something other than a word processor. It doesn't make sense for basic, step-by-step procedures which I'm doing frequently in my professional life. Clarify 2 breaks up the steps of a sequence into clear groups. You can do screenshots, add text/marks, flavor text, and more.
The major issue with the program is that it focuses the user on one-step-at-a-time processes, meaning you add an image, add some text, add some annotations, and then move on to the next step. When you're trying to describe a process, it's useful to record the process first and then go back and add clarifications, the goal here being to try and find a freeware alternative to the commercial Stepshot.
There is however a batch image-add that you might use to grab from your own screen capture sequence using something like StepsToReproduce or ActivePresenter, but I haven't been able to make that work yet.
It does get away from building a process using a word processor so I might find a use for this in the weeks and months ahead, in which case I'll add to this thread.
http://www.clarify-it.com/
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia ... rify.shtml