Implementation Considerations

Is Quire right for you and your project?

Licensing

For a free license to use Quire for your publication projects, and for additional access to support, please sign up.
A Quire license enables users to create publications with Quire and distribute as they see fit. Users can modify the default theme in any way that suits their needs. However, we ask that users don’t redistribute Quire itself.

Quire is compatible with macOS and Windows. Currently, support is better for macOS.
Installing Quire also requires installing a number of third-party applications. It is recommended to do so with care, and to consult with your institution’s technology department if you’re using a work machine.
A standard web server / hosting service is required for publishing your project, but no special server software or setup is required.

Quire does not offer a graphical user interface, but requires using a command-line shell and a text editor to create a publication. While this can be a new and somewhat intimidating way to work, we‘ve found that most users can fairly quickly master the basics.
Quire can be used “out of the box” by any individual, no matter their skill level, using Quire tutorials and documentation as support. However, in order to customize the layouts and features of the default Quire theme beyond what is provided out of the box, advanced knowledge of CSS, HTML, and static site generation is required.
We do provide documentation and additional resources to aid non-technical users in gaining the skills and knowledge to use Quire in a more advanced way.

Quire is free to use, however, there are occasionally associated costs:

In order to output your Quire publication as a PDF you will need to use Prince XML, which requires purchasing a license for commercial or non-watermarked use. Learn more about Prince’s pricing plan.
If you are at a small institution, you may want to hire a developer for general technical support, design customization, and deployment.

Quire is optimized for book-like projects. Especially those that rely on visual illustrations and/or scholarly apparatus like citations, bibliographies, and footnoting.
For those looking to publish more non-textual, image-intensive presentations, like an online exhibition or a fully illustrated children’s book or graphic novel, Quire may not be the right fit.
Using Quire for journal publishing is also an option, though not yet fully developed.

Quire is in limited beta. While fully functioning, changes and improvements are continuing to be made to it which may lead to incompatibility across versions.
Quire projects, once published, no longer require Quire to keep running. After publication, a compatible version of Quire would only be necessary to make new updates and re-output the various file formats.