Course Outline

Offered by Networked Information Services

Instructors: Roland Jaeckel (rjaeckel@bu.edu)
Prerequisites: Forms: Introduction and Dreamweaver: Managing a Site (or equivalent knowledge). Access to a site on www.bu.edu is recommended.
2 hours

Benefits of the University FAQ system (10 minutes)

1. It's searchable. Search all of the FAQs in the system or just departmental ones with a Boolean search.
2. It's organized logically.
3. It's editable anywhere throughout the Web.
4. It's part of the larger FAQ system.
5. It can be displayed in different formats using the same questions.

Overview of the University FAQ system (15 minutes)

1. Departmental FAQ Contributor Form
2. Departmental FAQ Admin System
3. University FAQ Database
4. University FAQ Search Page
5. Departmental FAQ Search Page

Hands-on exercise: Adding a Topic and Sub-topic

1. Browse to the Admin System.
2. Log in as tutw1.
3. Click on Topics and Subtopics.
4. Add a topic called "Your Name" by typing it into the textbox and clicking the Add Topic button.
5. Click the Publish checkbox next to your topic.
6. Add a subtopic by scrolling down to the bottom of the page. Add a Subtopic, selecting the topic you just added (Your Name) from the pulldown menu next to it
7. Click the Publish checkbox next to your subtopic.
8. Preview your newly published topics at:
   http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/faqs/admin/prepublish.php?category=tutorial
   

Hands-on exercise: Adding a question to your new subtopic

1. Click on Add a Question.
2. Choose the topic you just created from the second pulldown menu.
3. Choose the subtopic you created from the third pulldown menu.
4. Click the Apply button to apply the changes to the topic and subtopic.
5. Type a question and answer into the form
6. Submit the form.
7. Submit some more questions if you'd like.
8. Browse to the Admin System and you should find your question under Pending.
9. Now click Publish to publish your question.
10. Search for your question on the Preview page.

Hands-on exercise: Editing your question

1. Browse to the Admin System.
2. Click the radio button marked Published.
3. Find your question from the list displayed.
4. Click the red Edit link to edit your question.
5. The Edit a Question form looks identical to the Add a Question form, except that the page is already filled out with the question information.
6. You can change the topic and subtopic from the navigation on the left if you'd like. If you do choose to change the topic or subtopic be sure to click apply before editing your question.
7. Edit your question and answer in the form
8. Submit the form.
9. Choose Published from the bottom radio buttons.
10. Browse to the Admin System and you should find your question under Published.
11. Search for your question on the Preview page.

Hands-on exercise: Adding users to the FAQ system:

1. Click on Manage Users page
2. Add your BU login as an administrator for the FAQs.
3. Close your browser and open it again.
4. Log in to the Admin System using your own BU login.

Creating your database of FAQs for the first time (20 min)

1. Request space in the University FAQ Database.
2. Review, expand, and categorize your FAQs.
3. Use the Departmental FAQ Admin system to:
• create the topics and subtopics for your FAQs.
• grant your staff Contributor or Administrator privileges.
• have your Contributors submit FAQs into the database.
• review and approve your FAQs for publishing.
4. Preview your FAQs on the University Preview page.
5. Preview your FAQs on your Deparmental page (the URL will be "http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/faqs/admin/prepublish.php?category=DEPARTMENT" with DEPARTMENT replaced with your department's name).
6. Send mail to webmaster to make your FAQs public.

Maintaining your FAQs (10 minutes)

1. Administrator tasks (adding and approving questions, adding users, reviewing submitted questions, reviewing old FAQs).
2. Contributor tasks (adding questions).