Why Have a Question and Answer Website?

There are several reasons you may want to do this. If you have an informational website that provides certain information on a topic, you may want to give users the ability to ask and answer more questions within a community.

You can also jump in and answer questions as well. This type of site can be very useful for people who can’t find answers to a certain topic in other places and want to interact with a community who has knowledge.

There are a few different tools to get something like this done. You can code it all yourself from the ground up, but that will take you a while. A better way to do it is to use a smooth plugin that has all the functionality you need to build a question and answer website.

Today I am going to go over a plugin I found that does all of this and more. Remember, there are forum style websites, but then there are specific question and answer sites like Quora.

Let’s take a look at the plugin in question and see what all it has to offer.

Using CM Answers in WordPress

CM Answers is a plugin that will give your website the ability to allow site users to post questions and answers to things in a stack overflow layout. The plugin comes with some really great built-in options including voting, moderation, notifications, and access control.

You can even post your own questions and answers from the back end of the website. That being said, once installed and activated, this plugin will give you the ability to create a fantastic website for users to ask questions and get them answered.

Answer websites oftentimes get more traffic from Google because of the content. So if built correctly, this type of setup can drive website traffic. Simply put, CM Answers allows users to post questions and answers, leave comments, vote, and upload files in a discussion board format.

As the main admin, you have full control over what happens on your question and answer website. Some of the things you control include:

• Full Moderation Access
• Restrict User Capabilities
• Create Multiple Forum Categories
• Customize Questions and Answers
• Filter Unwanted Content
• Add Answers
• Keep Track of User Actions
• Fully Customizable
• Voting Options for Questions and Answers
• File Uploads
• Private Messages
• Subscribe to Categories

All-in-all, the CM Answers plugin gives you everything you need to start your own dedicated questions and answers website.

Let’s take a look at how to get the plugin installed and set up for use.

Note: CM Answers does have a pro version. In this case, the pro version does offer quite a bit more in terms of functionality. If your site gets large, you may want to look into it. That being said, this tutorial is based on the free version. As stated above, the free version does give you all the tools needed to start a great Q&A website.

1. Install and Activate the Plugin

In order to start using CM Answers to build a question and answer website, you first need to install and activate the plugin. You can do this by going to the Plugins page in your WordPress admin dashboard.

Simply search for the plugin by name using the search field and install and activate it right from there.

Once the plugin has been installed and activated, you want to access the main settings and configuration page to set it all up. If the plugin doesn’t automatically take you there when activated, simply click on CM Answers > Settings.

You will see this is now an available option in the left side menu area of the dashboard after you activate the plugin.

This takes you directly to setup, where you can configure everything and get the plugin running live on your site.

Let’s go over setup together and get it squared away.

2.Configure CM Answers

At this point, you should be on the main configuration page for the plugin. Remember, the plugin can be used for a number of different reasons. Some of the more popular uses include:

• Forum
• Support Forum
• Community
• Questions and Answers
• Customer Support
• StackOverflow
• Paid Support

On the main configuration page, you will see there are four tabs. These include:

• Installation Guide
• General Settings
• Notifications
• Upgrade

Let’s run over these together and get everything set up for you.

3. Installation Guide

The plugin comes with access to an installation guide. Having trouble getting something done, or something doesn’t seem to be working? Refer to the guide on this page.

General Settings

This is the meat of the plugin. Here, you will set up everything how you see fit. Configure all the options, styles, and settings the way you want them to run on your particular website.

Notifications

This is another very important tab. Here, you will set up all the notifications and notification styles you want for the CM Answers plugin.

Upgrade

If you do want the upgrade to the pro version, then the plugin gives you the option to do so fairly easily right from this tab.

That’s it! You have now successfully installed, activated, and configured the CM Answers plugin. It is ready for use.

An automatic permalink is created when you activated the plugin. To access the main questions and answers page, simply click on that link. You will find it at the top of the “General Settings” tab. You see that the domain (permalink) layout reads like this:

https://yourdomainname.com/answers

This is where everything will show and be housed over time. Now people can start asking and answering questions on your website. Depending on your theme style, it will look something like this:

Note: You can add questions and answers in the relevant link tabs located under the main CM Answers tab in the left menu area of your dashboard. This is also where you will be able to see all questions and answers that have been created by users over time.

Final Thoughts

Building a question and answer website does not have to be overwhelming or difficult. Sure, it may take some time for users to come and get familiar with it. But over that time, you should be able to start building a nice forum of questions and answers.

Using a solid plugin like CM Answers makes this even easier. Instead of trying to find a bunch of third-party tools to stick together and build one thing, you can use this plugin that provides you with everything you need in one place.

I hope this tutorial was able to show you how easy it is to build a question and answer website. With the use of the right tools, you can have one up and running in no time at all.

Have you been using another tool or plugin to build a question and answer section on your site? Did you find that CM Answers was simple and easy to configure and use?

The post How to Set up a Q&A Site with CM Answers in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

In fact, you can create an entire website based on questions and answers. Over time, many question and answer websites that have grown from little niches to full-blown online communities. Great examples of these are Yahoo Answers and Quora.

Today, I will show you how to add a WordPress question and answers section to your website. Whether you want to dabble with a small section or have a full-blown question and answers site, this tutorial will help guide you.

Why Add a Question and Answers Section in WordPress?

There are a number of reasons why someone may want to use WordPress for questions and answers for visitors.

As I said above, Businesses get asked the same questions repeatedly. For this reason, almost every major business has a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section on their website. This can be used to answer the most common questions you receive.

It’s also a useful tool that your support team can take advantage of.

However, you can build an entire website dedicated to questions and answers. People heavily rely on the internet to find the answer to a question and building a website to do that is bound to succeed, if it is done correctly.

Yahoo Answers, Quora, and even Reddit have proven that creating a space for a community to ask and answer questions works. And you can make a lot of money doing it.

In fact, websites that answer your questions are some of the more popular on the Internet.

Install the DW Question & Answer Plugin

To create a question and answers section in WordPress, you are going to need a plugin. The DW Question & Answer plugin is perfect. The plugin automatically creates a Q&A area in WordPress that will look similar to Quora or Stackoverflow.

Users can submit questions, leave answers, and even comment on the answers. This is important because the community can leave feedback on why it is not right or ask for a better explanation. Luckily, the plugin is easy to use so let’s get right into it.

Let’s start by clicking on Plugins and selecting the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for DW Questions & Answers in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the DW Questions & Answers plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

Once the Question and Answers plugin is activated you will want to click on it in your left sidebar and head over to the settings section.

Note: You will also notice that when the plugin is activated it creates two new pages in your WordPress site: “DWQA Questions” and “DWQA Submit Question.”

If you are interested in editing these page slugs go to Pages > All Pages and click “Quick Edit” link below each page link.

Allow User Registration

After activating the plugin and setting the page slugs to your liking you need to go to Settings > General and allow user registration on your website. Scroll down to the membership section and check the box next to “Anyone can register.” Make sure that you choose Subscriber as the new user default role.

Configure Question & Answer Plugin Settings

Now the user registration is properly enabled it is time to set up the Question and Answers plugin settings. To get to the right area simply click on Questions > Settings.

On the General tab, you can configure the basic plugin settings. You will see most of these are pretty self-explanatory, but let’s take a look at it together.

The layout will take you through a number of flexible settings that will allow you to build and dictate exactly how you want your WordPress question and answers section to look and feel. Scroll through everything and pick the setup you want. Don’t forget to set custom permalinks for your questions at the bottom of the setting’s box.

When you are finished playing with the general settings and getting them how you like then click on the “Notification” tab and setup the emails that will be sent to users when a question is asked, answered, or a new comment is added.

Finally, click on the “Permissions” tab and choose the user roles that are allowed to ask questions, answer questions, and leave comments. By default, the WordPress Question and Answers plugin allow anonymous users to post answers, but questions can only be asked by registered users. This is a great way to get users to register for your site. Click all the boxes in the settings according to how you want everything set.

Managing Your Question & Answers Website

It is pretty straightforward. As the administrator, you can control all aspects of the site. You are able to see all questions and answers, and you can edit or delete any questions submitted by any user on your site. The plugin and setup give you full control.

As the administrator, you can also add all the categories and tags. Now, users will not be able to add categories, but they will be able to add tags as a way to filter and search for certain questions and answers.

Front End Look and Feel

The WordPress Question and Answers plugin is designed to work and flow very well with almost any theme. Users can search for questions by sorting, status, categories, views, and answers.

Your website users can also vote on questions and answers, and they can add their own comments. Users can also follow questions by clicking on the star icon next to each question. Overall look and feel will depend on your settings and theme, but as an example here is what it will roughly look like.

Congratulations on setting up the DW Questions & Answers plugin for WordPress. A Q&A or FAQ section can really go a long way to improving the customer experience and reduce the number of questions you receive. Although, not everyone is going to read the answers, so be ready for some repeats.

Make Sure Visitors Know The Section Exists

If you are adding this as a new feature to your website, make sure it gets the attention it deserves. How you go about it depends entirely on what it’s for.

For example, if you decided to create this Q&A section for a product or service you produce, it should be present on your sales pages. You should consider emailing customers about the FAQ section as well to let them know it exists.

Of course, if your entire website is about questions and answers, it shouldn’t need any help. But you can give it a boost by constructing a list of popular questions and asking them on your own website. This can help you draw in an audience and build a community.

I hope this tutorial gave you a little insight on how easy it can be to set up a WordPress question and answers section on your website.

Have you ever built a full question and answers website before? Why do you want to add a questions and answers section in WordPress?

The post How to Add a Question and Answers Section to Your WordPress Website appeared first on GreenGeeks.

An area for frequently asked questions can be an excellent way to provide help to visitors, engage readers and improve your online reputation. In our recent article about the top 5 reasons why brand consistency is vital to your business success, we highlighted how the reputation of a brand plays a pivotal role in the success of a business. Whether you sell products or simply provide information, a WordPress FAQ can be an invaluable asset. Adding one of these to your site is relatively simple. You can either go the basic route of adding a page or create more of an elaborate touch with the use of a plugin.

Adding a FAQ Page

One of the easiest methods to add the FAQ to your site is by creating a page specifically for this purpose. Once completed, you would add it to your menu along the top navigation or perhaps in the footer of your site. For this method, use the following directions:

• Click on the “Pages” section of your WordPress dashboard.
• Click the “Add New” button that is along the top.
• Enter the name of the page, such as “FAQs.”
• In the content area, add your frequently asked questions. It will make them stand out more if the question is highlighted by a header or in bold. The answer you provide can remain as the default font.
• Once all of your content and settings for the page are set, click the “Publish” button on the right of the editor.
• Go to the “Appearance” section in your WordPress dashboard and select “Menus.”
• Make sure your top menu is selected by using the dropdown list on this screen. Under the “Pages” area, you should see your FAQ page listed near the top. Click the check box next to it and click the “Add to Menu” button under the list of pages.

• Using drag-and-drop methods, you can then grab the FAQ in the “Menu Structure” and position it anywhere you wish.
• Click the “Save Menu” button on the bottom right of the screen.
• NOTE: You may have to change the order of this page manually by going back into the FAQ editor screen and modifying the “Order” number. This will move it to where you want to see it on the top navigation area.

Using a FAQ Plugin

One of the driving reasons why many people love using WordPress is because of the vast collection of plugins. For creating the FAQ, there are many of these to choose from. The most difficult part is finding one that works for you. To install a WordPress plugin:

• Go to the “Plugins” section of your dashboard.
• Click the button for “Add New” at the top of the screen.
• Enter the “FAQ” keyword in the search bar that appears on the right.
• Once you find a plugin that works for you, click to install and activate the plugin.

There is a vast number of FAQ plugins each with their own pros and cons. In most cases, you’ll have the option to add new questions, create the answers and use things such as shortcodes to place them anywhere you wish. Some will automatically create a page for you to display on your site. Here are a few of the more popular ones to choose from.

1. Q and A Focus Plus FAQ
The Q and A Focus plugin offers optimized code to help your site remain fast. You can also place a recent FAQs widget on the site to keep the content fresh and updated. It also delivers a ratings system in regards to the answers to give visitors a way to share opinions with one another.

2. Acronix FAQ
When you need quick and easy, Acronix FAQ is a great alternative to choose. It delivers a simple to use interface while providing a collapsible platform for questions and answers. You can also separate the questions according to topics.

3. WooCommerce Product FAQs
For those looking to enhance their eCommerce solution, WooCommerce Product FAQ may be a wise solution. When a potential buyer asks a question about any given item, you can answer directly onto the product page. You can also choose which questions to display in case other buyers need the same information. Tools such as this have been found to increase the level of sales in many eCommerce and auction sites.

Adding a WordPress FAQ has potential to boost brand reputation while offering free information to your visitors. They can be used to clarify information or to provide additional facts regarding your site or business. Take the time to build your FAQ section and enhance the experience of your site for both yourself and your audience.

How many questions do you answer from your visitors in any given week? What are some of the weirdest questions people ask you from the website?

The post The Easiest Way To Create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Section in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.