Installation

The installation instructions for FAQ Builder below assume that you are already familiar with the operation of WordPress. If you are not familiar with WordPress then we suggest taking a look at http://demoblog.listpipe.com/.

Installation Instructions
We suggest using WordPress’s native plugin installation system that can be found in ‘Plugins’ ยป ‘Add New’ (if your server is set up for that), or by following the steps below:

  1. Backup your database.
  2. Download FAQ Builder from http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/faq-builder/ and unzip it.
  3. Unzipping the downloaded file should produce a folder called ‘faq-builder’ (if not, try downloading the files again). Upload the that folder and its contents to your ‘wp-content/plugins’ directory inside of your WordPress install.
  4. Login to your WordPress admin section and click on the Plugins tab. At this point you should be seeing a list of your plugins. Find FAQ Builder in your list and activate it by clicking the ‘Activate’ link.
  5. Now that your Plugin is active click on the ‘FAQ Builder’ tab in the bottom left of your admin screen, then select ‘Categories. Edit the ‘General’ category if you desire by clicking the ‘edit’ link, then add new categories by clicking the ‘Add New Category’ link. You need at least one category at all times for your users to be able to ask their questions.
  6. Next, if desired, click back on the ‘FAQ Builder’ tab and add any of your own questions that you wish (see the user manual for more information)
  7. Next, to display the FAQ Page, place the following ‘shortcode’/text in one of your pages or posts to display your FAQ page with the search form: [faq_build_page] (do not copy and paste this ‘shortcode’; find out why).
  8. Next, place the following ‘shortcode’/text in one of your pages or posts to display your FAQ Ask Form : [faq_build_ask] (do not copy and paste this ‘shortcode’; find out why).
  9. Manage submissions anytime by clicking on the ‘FAQ Builder’ tab.

Updating

The best way to upgrade is to use the ‘Upgrade Now’ button on your plugins page (if your server is set up to handle that), or by following these steps:

  1. Backup your database.
  2. Deactivate FAQ Builder.
  3. Delete the old version of FAQ Builder from your plugins directory (typically ‘wp-content/plugins’) via ftp.
  4. Download the new version of the FAQ Builder from http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/faq-builder/ and unzip it (Unzipping the downloaded zip file should produce a folder named ‘faq-builder’), and upload it to your plugins directory.
  5. Reactivate FAQ Builder.
  6. Refer to the user manual for more information

Important Notes:

  1. FAQ Builder uses WordPress’s ‘shortcode’ functionality to allow you to dictate where the FAQ Page and FAQ Ask Form appear on your site (for more information about ‘shortcode’ please see the Shortcode API). In short, ‘shortcode’ is a simply a special piece of text in a page or post that WordPress recognizes and converts into the appropriate element. For this reason, we have ‘broken’ the ‘shortcode’ in our documentation so that is displays as a text blugb rather than the FAQ Page or FAQ Ask Form. If you copy the shortcode directly from our site, it will most likely not display (you will have to strip out the ‘<strong>’ tags). We recommend re-typing the shortcode into your page yourself to avoid any confusion, especially if you are not familiar with HTML.
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