Modern FAQ

Introduction

Modern FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) plays a pivotal role in all the organization to support different levels of users with daily operations, protocols, policies and others. This FAQ app is to support Organization’s using SharePoint as a primary or secondary platform. The app uses the default SharePoint authentication and authorization. All the questions and answers are stored inside the SharePoint lists.

Grab Moden FAQ from Microsoft App Source.

Note: The latest version 2.0.0.0 will be available soon in Microsoft App Source

Bodacious App Features

Easy configurations for the SharePoint administrators.
App is designed using the Modern development which supports both classic and modern pages.
App properties are restricted to end users and can only be configured by Site Admins.
Supports as a web part or Full page app.
The question and answers can be mapped to multiple categories (From v2.0.0.0).
The answers to the questions can be an Enhanced Rich HTML Content.
Searching questions and answers can be in any of the below methods (managed via web part settings)
- Categorized search – Search for questions and answers within the category
- Global search – Search for question and answers across all the categories (From v2.0.0.0)

Webpart can be re-used multiple times with different lists.
Settings option to create a new Categories & Questions list for reusability.
Responsive design for multiple device access.
Ability to Activate or Inactivate categories or Q&A at any time to make it hidden from the regular users.
Able to find the information within 1-2 clicks.
Most simple, responsive UI with easy administration.
App is provided with sample data for your reference.
Supports on Multiple browsers like IE, Edge, Firefox, and Chrome.

App Benefits

Reduce support calls.
Reduce emails from users requesting assistance on operations or procedures.
Publishing the rules and procedures as a web page instead of providing a lengthy document.
One FAQ for the entire organization by categorizing the questions.

Supported SharePoint Version(s)

SharePoint Online.

Minimal Configuration to Awesome

Once you had acquired the app from the SharePoint app store, the app will be installed. Once installed please follow the below steps to configure the app.

Note: The app can be added as a web part and also as a full page app.

Once the app is added to the page or created as a full page app, it will check for the current user role and it will proceed only if the current user is Site Administrator.
There are 2 lists named FAQCategories & FAQQuestions lists will be created automatically with some sample items.
The above created 2 lists will have all the default features of SharePoint Online list.
Once the above lists and items are added, you will be provided with the screen below

The web part properties are configured in to 4 sections as described below
- General Settings
- List Settings
- Category Section Settings
- About

General Settings

Settings that are applied generic to the entire web part

Webpart Title – The title of the web part that will be displayed to all the end users.
Show Header – Enable / Disable to show or hide the Title.
Show Header Icon – Enable / Disable to show or hide the header icon.
Select Header Icon – A list of icons are displayed in a panel for selection.
Date Format – The default format is DD/MM/YYYY. You can change the format using the following link for the format guidelines. The change can be made at any point of time.
Sort Questions By – By default the question & answers are displayed based on the sequence defined in the list. This sorting order can be changed to any one of the below
- Sequence
- Modified – The latest updated item will be displayed
- View Count – The most viewed item will be displayed
Sort Order – By default it will be sorted in Ascending order with the choice of field selected in the above setting. You can choose either Ascending or Descending at any time.
Enable Global Search – By default the search is applied to the question and answers within the selected category. Once the global search is enabled, the search key will search for question and answers across all the categories and displays the results.

Note: While displaying the global search results, there won’t be any category selected and once the search is cleared, the first category will be selected and the question and answers to that category will be displayed.

List Settings

Select a Category list – Choose the FAQCategories list from the dropdown.
Select a Questions list – Choose the FAQQuestions list from the dropdown.

Note: If you want to use the FAQ app with the different list, you can create the Categories and Questions list using the option “Create from existing list” and then choose the FAQCategories & FAQQuestions list created with the app.

Category Section Settings

The settings is entirely for the Categories section.

Show / Hide Categories selection – You can choose to display or hide the category selection section.

Note: If the category section is not selected, the Sequence sorting will display the list based on a random order since for each category, we have a sequence. So the better option is to choose either Modified or View Count when there is no Category selection section.

Use Cache – If the categories are not changed frequently then you can use this feature to reduce the hit to SharePoint list and to increase the web part performance. If this setting is enabled, all the categories are stored in browser’s local cache.
Cache Duration – This setting is applicable only if you use cache. The duration until the local cache is refreshed with the latest Categories from the list.
Section Title – Title of the Categories section
Show Section Title – Enable / Disable to show or hide the section title.
Show Section Header Icon – To show a separate icon for the Categories section
Section Header Icon – List of icons displayed for the section header.
Same as Header Icon – You can have the same web part header icon or a different for the Categories section
Show Item Icon – Enable / Disable to show or hide the individual item with icons.
Item Icon – List of icons to choose for the individual category item.

About

This section is for information and guidance purpose. It will display the version that is installed on the tenant and also displays More Info which will navigate to the this post page where you can find the detailed documentation of the app.

How to Use?

The app is very simple and easy to use. No more complicated process or workflow to configure or add items to publish to the end user. Very user-friendly and a handy app.

Make sure the above configurations are done before using the app. If the above configurations aren’t done then the below screen will be shown for the regular users.

Once the configurations are done by the administrator. The following screen will be shown will be displayed.

The User Dashboard has the following features

Category Selection: – Users can see all the categories and they can select the categories to view the questions for that category. Based on the category selected, the questions are filtered and display on the right pane.

Questions View: – The question and answers are displayed on the right pane with all the questions collapsed for the users to view the full list. Clicking on the question will expand the section to show the corresponding answer to the question. Each question also has a view section to display the number of views by the users.

Questions Search: Users can search for the questions using the question title and the search is bound to be within the selected category.

View Count: This will display the count of users viewed the answer for this question. The count will increase when the user view the answer for a question.

Below is the user dashboard with no category selection. All the features that are mentioned above will be available for the Questions & Answers section. Searching for the question and answers is now across all the categories.

Settings

The settings menu will provide additional properties to configure or create a new list.

Note: This feature is available only for the site administrators.

How to Reuse with Different Lists

This app can be reused more than once with a different categories and questions list. I have seen customers using FAQ as a organization wide, department specific or branch specific. The good news is Modern FAQ supports re-use and it can be re-used multiple and there is no limit in it.

Please follow the steps mentioned below to re-use the app with different lists.

Access the Settings menu from the header of the web part.
Select the New List tab from the settings menu
Create the new Categories & Questions list with the name of your choice and also with the below options
- Enable Muliselection Cateogory – Choosing this option will make the question and answers to be mapped to multiple categories
- Create Sample Data – Sample categories and questions will be added to the new list

Following are some of the validation checks implemented
- Both the list names are mandatory
- Both the list names should not be same
- You can choose an option to create sample data or create an empty lists.
Once the above lists are created, edit the web part properties and map the new lists.

Update Existing List

Use the Existing List tab to update the list to enable or disable multiple category mapping. Once the mapping is enabled, the questions list can map multiple categories.