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FAQ SOP

Creating FAQs from Scratch

Use the following steps to create a new FAQ:

  1. Open LibAnswers.
  2. Select Answers from the top of the page and then select Create.
  3. On the Create page, select the FAQ tab.
  4. From the Group pull down menu, select Ask Us.
  5. In the Question field, add the title / question being addressed in the FAQ.
  6. Optionally add additional details to the FAQ in the Details field. THIS IS NOT THE ANSWER FIELD. This text will appear below the Question text for the FAQ.
  7. Click Save Question and Continue.
  8. Enter the Answer in the answer box.
  9. Assign a Topic from the drop down menu under Topics.
  10. Add Keywords to the entry.

FAQ Status

There are 3 statuses for your FAQs:

  • Unpublished Draft: Answers that you're still working on.
  • Published: Answers that show up in your public FAQ lists and are visible to your users.
  • Unpublished: Answers that do no show up in your public FAQ lists and are not publicly accessible or searchable.

Note: Once you have published an FAQ, you can only toggle between the Published and Unpublished statuses.

Topics and Keywords

Topics

A topic list is a set list of subjects that is assigned to an FAQ upon its creation. Topics are:

  • established, broad subject headings;
  • displayed with the FAQ to the user;
  • linked to other FAQs with same topic and can be clicked on to display FAQs within that topic.

Keywords

Keywords are commonly searched-on words and phrases that you assign to the FAQ. Keywords are:

  • searchable terms that the FAQ creator assigns;
  • not visible to the user;
  • words that may relevant to the individual FAQ but to narrow to be a topic.

Note: When assigning a keyword, consider using common misspellings (eg. libary, Goggle).

Writing Tips for FAQs

  • Make the question brief and to the point.
  • Make the answer concise and easy to understand.
  • When applicable, link to existing information (don’t recreate the wheel!).
  • Include friendly URLs to databases. If students are looking for help, there's a good chance they're already frustrated; don't make it worse by forcing them to find the database you're talking about.
  • Add an image or screenshot if it improves the response.