|
|
 |
Creating Your Database of FAQs
To put your department's FAQs into the University FAQ System, you
should follow these steps:
1. Review your existing FAQs.
Make sure the content is up to date and that your FAQs are categorized
into appropriate topics and subtopics as necessary.
2. Request space in the University FAQ Database.
Any academic department or administrative unit can have space in this
database. You can request space
now. Your department and its FAQs will not show up on the University
FAQ Search page until NIS makes your space public (see last step
below).
3. Create the topics and subtopics for your FAQs.
Before you put any FAQs into your database, you should log in to the
Departmental FAQ Admin System
to create the necessary topics and subtopics. From that page, select
the Topics and Subtopics link. Note: Only Administrators previously
authorized by NIS can log in.
4. Grant your staff Contributor or Administrator privileges.
When NIS creates your space in the University FAQ database, it assigns
you as the Administrator for your department. As Administrator, you
can then assign more Administrators or Contributors, each described
below.
Administrators can add or remove
Administrators and Contributors, can create or modify topics and
subtopics, and can submit, review, edit, and approve FAQs for publishing.
Contributors can only submit
FAQs into the department's section of the database. Some Contributors
might have the privilege to submit FAQs only for a particular topic
within a department, at the Administrator's discretion.
To assign privileges to staff, you log in to the Departmental
FAQ Admin System and select Manage Users.
5. Have your Contributors submit FAQs into the database.
Once you have assigned staff as Contributors, have them submit the
FAQs they are responsible for. They can log in to their Departmental
Contributor FAQ form. The FAQs that Contributors submit will automatically
appear on the main page of the Departmental FAQ Admin System under
Pending, awaiting an Administrator's approval before they get published.
6. Review and approve your FAQs for publishing.
Once your Contributors have submitted their FAQs, you can preview,
review, and edit them. Again, just log in to the Departmental
FAQ Admin System. On the main page, you will see all FAQs awaiting
approval in the Pending section. There you can edit the FAQs or simply
publish them. Normally, once you publish an FAQ, it is immediately
available on the University and Departmental FAQ Search pages. However,
none of your published FAQs will be publicly available until NIS makes
your space public (see last step below).
7. Preview your FAQs.
Once you have approved your FAQs for publishing, you can view them
in the context of the University
FAQ Search page. Just log in directly to the University
FAQ Preview page. They will appear on your Preview page. This
gives you a chance to see them as they will appear prior to making
them public.
8. Request that NIS make your FAQs public.
Once you have previewed your FAQs and you are ready to make them public,
contact NIS. Once NIS makes your department public, your FAQs will
immediately be available on the University
FAQ Search page. Note: You only have to contact NIS once, the
first time that you publish your body of FAQs. All subsequent changes
that you make will be immediately available in the University and
Departmental FAQ Search pages.
9. Create links to your FAQs.
If you'd like to link to the University's FAQs use this link:
http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/faqs/result.php
If you want to link to just your department's FAQs, use a link
like this:
http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/faqs/result.php?category=web
But replace "web" with the name of your department in
all lowercase.
|
