Adding an FAQ Page

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Adding an FAQ Page

NetObjects FAQ component allows you to answer your site visitors most common questions about your products, services, or company in general. With NetObjects Fusion's FAQ component, you can display FAQs on your site, which are grouped by category for easy browsing. You can also incorporate a search tool that visitors can use to find the information they need quickly. In addition, you can measure the effectiveness of your FAQs by allowing site visitors to rate the FAQs on your site, and you can view statistics for each FAQ, such as how often a question has been viewed.

The NetObjects FAQ component consists of four components:

  • The FAQ Admin component, which creates a page on which you can add, edit, delete, and manage questions in your FAQ list.
  • The FAQ Details component, which compiles detailed information (such as views and rating) for each question in the FAQ list.
  • The FAQ Search component, which allows you add a search box to your page so that viewers can quickly find what they re looking for.
  • The FAQ TOC component, which a displays the FAQ categories, the number of questions contained in each category, and the total number of questions in the FAQ list.

It is not necessary to add each FAQ component to your site, but you must add the FAQ Admin component and the FAQ Details component to add and display FAQ information.

How the FAQ Component Works

To display the FAQ information on your site, you must first add a page for the FAQ Admin component and a separate page for the FAQ Details component.

  1. From the Custom Components toolbox, select NOF FAQ > FAQ Admin.
  2. Draw a box on the Layout to indicate where you want to position the FAQ Admin component.

The NOF FAQ dialog appears.

  1. If you have not created a Component Suite, create a new one by typing a name for the suite in the New name field. To include the component as part of an existing suite, click the Existing radio button and select the Component Suite that you want to add the component to. See Using Component Suites.
  2. From the Profile drop-down list, select the settings profile that you want to use for the component. If you have not created a settings profile, the default profile will be used. See Creating Component Profiles.
  3. Click OK to close the NOF FAQ dialog.

The FAQ Admin dialog box appears.

  1. On the Settings tab, select the number of FAQs that you want to display per page by either typing a number in the text field or using the up and down arrows in the Record per page box.
  2. Click the Design tab to customize the appearance of your FAQ Admin page by choosing a template from the Style drop-down list.

The default theme is the SiteStyle theme that is used for the current Active SiteStyle. When selected, a preview for this theme is only available from the Style view. A short description of the selected style and a preview image of the additional themes will be displayed in the dialog box.

  1. Click General tab to configure the general settings for your FAQ Admin page.

Script type displays either ASP or PHP, depending on settings from the General tab of the Current Site Options dialog.

  • Click the Publish scripts in debug mode check box to view in-depth troubleshooting information should the component not function properly when published.
  • Select the language (English or German) of your component script.
  • In the Database prefix field, enter a prefix for the file names that the NOF FAQ Component generates in the scripts directory. For example, if you create a .csv file with a prefix of categories, the .csv file is created as categories.csv.

Note: The FAQ Component creates three flat database files on the remote server, and they are by default: rank, categories and FAQ. The prefix you have specified in the Database prefix field will be added in front of each file name, therefore the complete file names are prefixrank.csv, prefixcategories.csv and prefixfaq.csv. By default the files are created in the /scripts folder, so you have to grant write permission to the /scripts folder.

Note: If you enter a relative path in the Database prefix field, for example: ../db/prefix, then it will be treated as such by the Component. This means you will have to manually create the /db folder on the server (in the folder where you publish the site) and grant write permission to the /db folder. The rank, categories and FAQ files will be created in the /db folder, as prefixrank.csv, prefixcategories.csv and prefixfaq.csv.

Note: If you remove the default "prefix" value and you do not enter anything else in the Database prefix field, then the files will be created in the /scripts folder as rank.csv, categories.csv and faq.csv.

  1. To save the FAQ Admin Component settings as a profile that can be applied to additional NOF FAQ components that you add to your site, click Save Profile. See Creating Component Profiles.
  2. Click OK to close the FAQ Admin dialog box.

The FAQ Admin component is not password-protected. It is recommended that you exclude the page containing the FAQ Admin component from navigation by checking the Exclude from Navigation check box on the Page Properties panel in Site view.

Adding the FAQ Details Component

  1. From the Custom Components toolbox, select NOF FAQ > FAQ Details Component.
  2. Draw a box on the Layout to indicate where you want to position the FAQ Details component.

The NOF FAQ dialog appears.

  1. If you have not created a Component Suite, create a new one by typing a name for the suite in the New name field. To include the component as part of an existing suite, click the Existing radio button and select the Component Suite that you want to add the component to. See Using Component Suites.
  2. From the Profile drop-down list, select the settings profile that you want to use for the component. If you have not created a settings profile, the default profile will be used. See Creating Component Profiles.
  3. Click OK to close the NOF FAQ dialog.

The FAQ Details dialog appears.

  1. Configure the FAQ Details page settings on the Settings tab:
  • Show rating allows visitors to see how others have rated the effectiveness of each FAQ. A number of stars will be displayed to each FAQ to indicate its rating. If you do not check this option, the rating will not be shown.
  • Show rating editor displays a combo box next to each question to allow site visitors to rate how effectively the FAQ answered their question. You can set up the ratings options in the FAQ Admin component.
  • Show hits displays the number of times the FAQ has been viewed.
  • Show navigation displays links in the FAQ Details page that allows visitors to navigate to the previous or next page of FAQs.
  • Show modified: Select this option to display the date that the FAQ was last modified or updated.
  • FAQs: Enter the number of FAQs that you want to display per page by either typing a number in the text field or using the up and down arrows.
  1. Click the Design tab to customize the appearance of your FAQ Details page by choosing a style template from the Style drop-down list.

The default theme is the SiteStyle theme that is used for the current Active SiteStyle. When selected, a preview for this theme is only available from the Style view. A short description of the selected style and a preview image of the additional themes will be displayed in the dialog box.

  1. Click General tab to configure the general settings for your FAQ Details page.
  • Click the Publish scripts in debug mode check box to view in-depth troubleshooting information should the component not function properly when published.
  • Select the language (English or German) of your component script.
  • In the Database prefix field, enter a prefix for the file names that the NOF FAQ Component generates in the scripts directory. For example, if you create a .csv file with a prefix of categories, the .csv file is created as categories.csv.
  • To save the FAQ Details Component settings as a profile that can be applied to additional NOF FAQ Components that you add to your site, click Save Profile. See Creating Component Profiles.
  1. Click OK to close the FAQ Details dialog box.

On the published site, the FAQ Details Component will display the list of FAQs for site visitors. The beginning of the answer will be seen underneath each corresponding question. To view the full answer, the site visitor clicks the question; then, the question and its full answer will appear on a new page.

The site visitor will also be able to rate each question and answer to express his opinion on the accuracy and the relevance of the question and answer.

Setting Up Your FAQs

Once you have added the FAQ Admin and the FAQ Details component tools to your site, you will need to publish your site remotely to create your FAQs. On the published site, you access the page containing the FAQ Admin component, where you can add FAQs, view a list of your current FAQs, create FAQ domains (categories), and establish rankings to allow visitors to rate your site.

Adding FAQ Categories

With the FAQ Component, you can group your questions by category so that your site visitors easily search for the information they need. A drop-down menu will appear on the FAQ list page, and visitors can select a category specific to the information they are looking for.

It is recommended that you create categories before adding questions to your FAQ. When you add categories before adding questions, you can assign the pre-established categories to each question as it is added, which is easier than assigning categories to questions after they have been added.

  1. On the published site, open the page containing the FAQ Admin component tool in a browser window.
  2. Click the Categories link.
  3. In the window that appears, click Add Categories.
  4. Enter a name for the category in the Category Name text field.
  5. Enter a description for the category in the Category Description text box.
  6. Click Save to add the category to your category list.
  7. Repeat steps 2 through 5 to add additional domains.

Adding Questions and Answers to Your FAQ List

To add questions and answers to your FAQ list:

  1. On the published site, open the page containing the FAQ Admin component tool in a browser window.
  2. The FAQ Admin page appears.
  3. Click the Add FAQ link.
  4. In the page that appears, type or paste a new FAQ in the Question field or paste the question's corresponding answer in the Answer text box.
  5. In the Choose Category drop-down list, select the category in which you want to include the question.
  6. Click Save to add the question and answer to your FAQ list.

Modifying the Ranking System for FAQs

There are four predefined ranks in the FAQ Admin Component: Very Good, Good, Quite, Slightly, but you can modify the ranking system to suit your needs.

  1. On the published site, open the page containing the FAQ Admin component tool in a browser window.
  2. Click the Rating Ranks link.
  3. In the window that appears, click the Add rank link.
  4. Enter a single-digit numerical value for the new rank in the Rank text field.
  5. In the Rank Name field, enter a descriptive name for the rank value. For example, a rank value of 5 could have a rank name of "Highly Effective", and a rank value of 4 could have a rank name of "Very Effective", etc.
  6. Click Save to add the rank value and name to your ratings system.
  7. Repeat steps 2 through 6 to add additional ranks.

Editing an FAQ

To edit an FAQ:

  1. On the published site, open the page containing the FAQ Admin component tool in a browser window.
  2. Click the List FAQ link.
  3. In the window that appears, click the edit link corresponding to the FAQ you want to edit.
    • Change the category to which the FAQ is assigned by selecting a new category from the Choose Category drop-down list.
    • Revise a question or answer by editing its text.
    • Delete an FAQ by clicking the delete link corresponding to the FAQ you want to remove.
  4. Click Save to update the FAQ.

Adding the FAQ TOC Component

  1. In Page view, from the Custom Components toolbox, select NetObjects FAQ > FAQ TOC
  2. Draw a box on the Layout to indicate where you want to position the TOC component.

The NOF FAQ dialog box appears.

  1. If you have not created a Component Suite, create a new one by typing a name for the suite in the New name field. To include the component as part of an existing suite, click the Existing radio button and select the Component Suite that you want to add the component to. See Using Component Suites.
  2. From the Profile drop-down list, select the settings profile that you want to use for the component. If you have not created a settings profile, the default profile will be used. See Creating Component Profiles.
  3. Click OK to close the NOF FAQ dialog.

The FAQ TOC dialog appears.

  1. On the Settings tab, click the Show details check box to display the number of FAQs in next to each category listed on the TOC page.
  2. Click the Design tab to customize the appearance of your FAQ TOC page by choosing a style template from the Style drop-down list. The default theme is the SiteStyle theme that is used for the current Active SiteStyle. When selected, a preview for this theme is only available from the Style view. A short description of the selected style and a preview image of the additional themes will be displayed in the dialog box.
  3. Click the On Success tab and select the page that contains the FAQ Details component. The table of contents will be displayed on this page.
  4. Click General tab to configure the general settings for your FAQ TOC page.
  • Click the Publish scripts in debug mode check box to view in-depth troubleshooting information should the component not function properly when published.
  • Select the language (English or German) of your component script.
  • In the Database prefix field, enter a prefix for the file names that the NOF FAQ Component generates in the scripts directory. For example, if you create a .csv file with a prefix of categories, the .csv file is created as categories.csv.
  • To save the FAQ TOC component settings as a profile that can be applied to additional NOF FAQ components that you add to your site, click Save Profile. See Creating Component Profiles.
  1. Click OK to close the FAQ TOC dialog box.

Adding the FAQ Search Component

  1. In Page view, from the Custom Components toolbox, select NOF FAQ > FAQ Search.
  2. Draw a box on the Layout to indicate where you want to position the FAQ Search component. To ensure the most efficient search, you should place the FAQ Search component on the page containing the FAQ Details component.

The NOF FAQ dialog appears.

  1. If you have not created a Component Suite, create a new one by typing a name for the suite in the New name field. To include the component as part of an existing suite, click the Existing radio button and select the Component Suite that you want to add the component to. See Using Component Suites.
  2. From the Profile drop-down list, select the settings profile that you want to use for the component. If you have not created a settings profile, the default profile will be used. See Creating Component Profiles.
  3. Click OK to close the NOF FAQ dialog.

The FAQ Search dialog appears.

  1. Click the Design tab to customize the appearance of your FAQ Search page by choosing a style template from the Style drop-down list. The default theme is the SiteStyle theme that is used for the current Active SiteStyle. When selected, a preview for this theme is only available from the Style view. A short description of the selected style and a preview image of the additional themes will be displayed in the dialog box:
  2. Click the On Success tab, and choose the page in your site structure on which search results will be displayed.
  3. Click General tab to configure the general settings for the FAQ Search page.
  • Click the Publish scripts in debug mode check box to view in-depth troubleshooting information should the component not function properly when published.
  • Select the language (English or German) of your component script.
  • In the Database prefix field, enter a prefix for the file names that the NOF FAQ Component generates in the scripts directory. For example, if you create a .csv file with a prefix of categories, the .csv file is created as categories.csv.
  1. To save the FAQ Search component settings as a profile that can be applied to additional NOF FAQ components that you add to your site, click Save Profile. See Creating Component Profiles.
  2. Click OK to close the FAQ Search dialog box.