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Feature Availability

Vtiger Editions: One Pilot | One Growth | One Professional | One Enterprise | One AI

Introduction

FAQ, or Frequently Asked Questions, are commonly asked questions about a process or a business. FAQs are written in pairs of questions and answers. You can create an FAQ from your customers' questions if you think it might be useful to other customers. For example, ‘How do I sign up for Vtiger CRM?’ may be a frequently asked question.
These FAQs can be uploaded on a portal or a website that all your customers have access to.

FAQ Editor in Vtiger

The FAQ editor allows you to:

• Add the question and answer
• Format the content by adding different font styles, headings, font sizes, colors, numbers, and bullets.

Actions in FAQ Editor

You can perform the following actions in the FAQ Editor:

• Create - You can add a new FAQ using the Add FAQ button.
• Edit - When you hover on the title of the FAQ, you will find the edit icon. By clicking the edit icon, you can edit the title of the FAQ and save it.
• Follow -  By clicking the follow icon, you can follow and unfollow a FAQ. 
• Add Tags - You can add tags by choosing from the drop-down or creating your own tags.
• Open in a new tab - You can open an FAQ in a new tab.
• Click to copy the direct link - This is the direct link to the FAQ. By clicking this icon, a URL copied successfully message will be displayed. You can now share this link with others.

Statuses in FAQ Editor

While you create an FAQ, the FAQ will be set to Draft. Once it is created, you can add the following statuses:

• Draft: The FAQ is written and not completed yet.
• To be reviewed: The FAQ is written and ready to be reviewed for technical and grammatical errors.
• Reviewed: The FAQ has been reviewed (by the concerned person for technical review, grammar review, etc.)
• Published: The FAQ has been reviewed and published on the website for customers to view.
• To be deleted: The FAQ that needs to be deleted.
• Obsolete: The FAQ is not required anymore.

Note: Customers can see an FAQ only when its Status field is set to Published.

FAQ Visibility

• Public: When visibility is set to public, the FAQ is visible to everyone on the internet.
• Logged-in Contacts: When visibility is set to logged-in contacts, the FAQ is visible to all the contacts who are currently signed in or using the CRM at that moment
• Employees: When visibility is set to employees, the FAQ is only visible to your organization's employees.
• Bot Only: When visibility is set to the bot, the FAQ is only visible to the bot for training.

Key Terminology

Creating an FAQ Using + Add FAQ

You can create an FAQ manually in the CRM, through Import, or from Workflows. 
Follow these steps to create an FAQ manually in the CRM:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Go to the Help desk.
3. Select FAQ. The FAQ List View opens.

4. Click +Add FAQ. The Add FAQ window opens.
5. Enter or select the following information:
   1. Question: Type the Question in the Question field.
   2. Answer: Type the Answer in the Answer field.
   3. Category: Add Question variants.
   4. Version: Add FAQ Label.
   5. Click View full form. The form expands.
   6. Enter or select the following information:
      1. Question Variants - Enter alternate versions of the question. 
      2. FAQ Label -  Specify labels or tags for the FAQ.
      3. Product Name - Mention the product related to the FAQ.
      4. Status: Select a Status from the drop-down.
         1. Draft - The FAQ has been written but has not yet been completed.
         2. To be reviewed - The FAQ is written and ready to be reviewed for technical and grammatical errors.
         3. Reviewed - The FAQ has been reviewed (by the concerned person for technical review, grammar review, etc.)
         4. Published -The FAQ has been reviewed and published on the website for customers to view.
         5. To be deleted - The FAQ that needs to be deleted.
         6. Obsolete - The FAQ is no longer required.
         7. Junk - The FAQ is irrelevant, incorrect, or unusable and serves no purpose.
      5. Category: Select the Category of the FAQ from the Category drop-down.
      6. Link - Add any relevant links.
      7. Version - Select the Version from the Drop-down.
      8. Parent FAQ - Specify the parent FAQ, if applicable.
      9. FAQ Intent - Define the intent or purpose of the FAQ.
      10. Feature - Select the feature related to the FAQ.
      11. FAQ Visibility - Set the visibility preferences for the FAQ.
      12. SEO Information block: Enter or select the following information:
          1. SEO Keywords - Add keywords that help people find the FAQ on search engines.
          2. SEO Description - Write a short summary of the FAQ that will show up in search engine results.
          3. Canonical URL - Enter the main URL to tell search engines which version of the page to focus on.
          4. Meta Robots - Set rules for search engines, like whether they can show the FAQ in results or follow its links.
          5. Schema Markup - Add extra details to help search engines better understand the FAQ and show it more clearly in results
   7. Click Save.

An FAQ will be created and saved in the CRM.
Note: You can add mandatory details first and add the other details to the FAQ later.

Other ways of creating an FAQ

Import

Apart from manually creating an FAQ, you can create an FAQ by importing it. When you have a large number of FAQ to write, it is not easy to publish them manually by writing one at a time. In this case, you can import the FAQ from your local computer. Write all your FAQs in an XLS or CSV file on your local computer. The column names in the file must be the same as the field names in the CRM. For example, to map the Question field in the CRM to the question in your XLS or CSV document, you must create a column called Question.
To learn more about importing, click here.

Workflow 

You can automate the creation of FAQs through Workflows. A workflow has three main components:

• Trigger - What causes the workflow to execute
• Conditions - The conditions that must be met to create an FAQ
• Action - Creating a FAQ

For example, you can create a workflow for this scenario - When a case is closed, and its Title ends with a question mark, create an FAQ. You can copy the Case Title to the Question and the Case Summary to the Answer.
To learn more about Workflows, click here.

Mailroom

If you receive emails that must be converted to FAQ, you can achieve that through Mailroom automation. To do this, you must set up the following:

• Mailroom rules for FAQ
• Auto-forwarding in your email client

When you do the above, all the emails landing in your email client are auto-forwarded to the mailroom. The mailroom will then scan your incoming emails and create FAQ records. For example, when an email’s subject contains the phrase - ‘How can I’, you can automatically convert the email to an FAQ.
To learn more about Mailroom, click here.
To learn more about Auto-forwarding, click here.

Enhancing your FAQ

Now that you have created an FAQ, you can enhance it to add value. Based on the type of information you want to display, you can add tables, screenshots, images, and links to other articles, websites, etc. This can be useful when you have to make references to a screen or an external help document, or a website.

Adding screenshots 

 Follow these steps to add a screenshot to an FAQ:

1. Click the Image icon in the Answer textbox. 
2. Click the Upload tab.
3. Click Choose File to browse and select the image on your local computer.
4. Click Send it to the Server.
5. Specify image properties such as the alternative text, height, and width of the image, alignment, etc., in the Image Info tab (optional).
6. Click OK. 

The screenshot will be added to the FAQ.

Adding links

 Follow these steps to add a link to an external document:

1. Select the text you want to link the external document to in the Answer textbox.
2. Click the Link icon in the toolbar.
3. Type the URL of the external document in the URL field under the Link Info tab.
4. Click OK.

A hyperlink in blue will be added to the text you selected. This indicates that the link is embedded in the text. 

Editing an FAQ 

You can edit an FAQ in two ways:

• From the List View 
• From the Summary View 

From the List View

Follow these steps to edit an FAQ from the List View:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Go to the Help desk.
3. Select Agent Enablement > FAQ. The FAQ List View opens.
4. Hover over the FAQ you want to edit. 
5. Click Edit from the quick action options. The Editing FAQ page opens.
6. Make the necessary changes in the required sections.
7. Click Save.

From the Summary View

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Go to the Help desk.
3. Select Agent Enablement > FAQ. The FAQ List View opens.
4. Click on the FAQ you want to edit. The Summary View of the record opens.
5. Click Edit in the top right corner. The Editing FAQ page opens. 
6. Make the necessary changes in the required sections.
7. Click Save.  

Searching for your FAQ

The search bar in the List View is a unique feature. It is one of a kind because it filters, searches, and delivers the result brilliantly. The search bar helps you search for a record and filter the rest of the records using field names that you specify. This feature comes in very handy if you have many forms in the CRM.
To know more about the search bar in List View, click here.  

Converting Cases into the FAQ

When customers ask you common questions, you can make an FAQ out of the questions and display it in the Customer Portal. But when the same question is asked through a case, then you can convert the case into an FAQ.
Follow these steps to convert a case into an FAQ:

1. Log in to the CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to the Help desk.
4. Click Cases.
5. Select and open the case that you want to convert into an FAQ.
6. Click the More icon on the top right of the Summary View.
7. Select Convert to FAQ.

An FAQ will be automatically created. The case title is copied as the question and in the case’s comments as the answer. You can view the newly created FAQ under Main Menu > Help desk > FAQ.
To learn more about Cases, click here.  ​

Sharing FAQs via Email

You can send FAQs while composing a new email, replying to an existing one, or responding to a specific case. For this example, we will send an email to a Case. 
Follow these steps to share FAQs:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to the Cases module. The List View of the Cases module opens.
4. Open the record you want to email. The Summary View of the record opens.
5. Click Email on the top right corner. The Compose Mail window opens.
6. Click Insert Links. 
7. Select Insert FAQs from the drop-down. The Select FAQs window opens. 
8. Enter or select the following information to add FAQs:
   1. Search Bar - Use the Search Bar to find the FAQ you need by typing keywords or selecting a category.
   2. Categories - Click the Categories and pick the category that matches your topic to see related FAQs.
   3. Copy - Click to copy the FAQ and paste it into your email where needed. 
   4. Insert - Click Insert to add the FAQ automatically, and it will appear in the email.
9. Click Send. 

Different Ways to View FAQs in the CRM

When you click on an FAQ, the Summary View opens. The Summary View displays the question and the answer.
The following shortcut keys are beside the Question:

• Click to follow - You can click this icon to follow a FAQ.
• Tags - You can add tags to a FAQ record.
• Open in a new tab - You can open the FAQ in a new window.
• Click to copy the direct link - You can copy the FAQ link and share it.

Activity Section

In the Activity section, you can have conversations with other members of the team by using @mentions. You can find the history of changes that happened in the FAQ and the people who have worked on it.
By clicking Filters and enabling Internal Comments and Updates, the conversation history will be displayed.

Edit Icon

By clicking the Edit icon, an editing FAQ window opens. Here, you can edit the Question and Answer, add the Question Variants FAQ Label, select FAQ visibility, and save it.

More Icon

By clicking the three dots on the top right corner of the screen, you can do the following:

• Follow and Add Followers - You can follow a record and also add followers to a record.
• Print - You can print an FAQ record.
• Duplicate - You can duplicate a FAQ record.
• Attachment - You can attach documents to a FAQ by clicking Documents under attachment.
• Add or Link - You can add another FAQ or link other FAQs to a FAQ record

Widgets

You will find the following widgets in the Summary View of Article Editor:

• Analytics - You can get your analytics for FAQs by simply creating a chart or minilist.
• Details - You can see all the details of your FAQs.
• Documents - You can link and add Documents to your FAQs. You can also click the record lists or open record lists.
• FAQ - You can link FAQs to a particular FAQ.

Accessing Published FAQs

Your customers or contacts can view the FAQ in the Customer Portal and in the Live Chat widget on your website. Let us learn about them in detail.

Customer Portal

The customer portal has all the information that might interest the customers of an organization. It is the one-stop destination for your customers to create a case, view the status of their cases, access the FAQ, etc. 
Giving customers access to the customer portal: To give customers access to the portal, you must enable the Portal User field in Contacts. When you do this, your customers will receive credentials at their contact email address, using which they can log in to the customer portal.
To learn more about the Customer Portal, click here.

Live Chat widget

The Live Chat widget provides quick help to your customers. Your customers can type in their queries, and the Chat widget will refer to your FAQs and provide them with the relevant answers. Your customers can also talk to an agent from the Live Chat widget. For your customers to use Live chat, you must enable the Live Chat widget on your website. The Live Chat widget will be hosted on your website, through which the customers can seek help.
To learn more about Live Chat, click here.

References

Creating Articles in Vtiger CRM 
 

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