Faq

[Slippercream]

I'm thinking this would be an excellent tool for putting together a directory of links for... well... those truly frequently-asked questions, not just about the boards and usage. Having it at the topmost bar helps, especially as newbies come to the site for the first time and see it up there.

I've a few ideas:

1. Linked table of contents or expandable/collapsible wiki format structure linked to single posts worthy of "FAQ" status will work. This way we won't have to recreate any of the KB that's already out there. This way, too, managing the entirety of the body content of the FAQs doesn't fall solely upon the shoulders of a few select people.
   
   
2. Have sections broken out by category (General forum/lingo/membership, etc; engine/perf, chassis and suspension, transmission/drivetrain; documented specifics, issues, fixes...; maintenance and guidelines, etc...)
   
   
3. Have the subsections be more general yet concise. This will make perusing the FAQs much easier than and focused, as opposed to doing a "Find" search through the browser. For instance:
   
   

   Engine FAQs > Engine Block > GT > Increasing engine displacement for more power

   or

   Suspension and Chassis FAQ > Suspension > Handling > Types of suspension setups - pros and cons

   
   
   
4. Change the required steps for new member registration to include a link to the FAQ section, with a special "Continue with registration" button made visible only via a link from new user registration. Or, alternatively, the FAQ could be panelviewed, with a button provided by the view that says "continue..." much like in a EULA registration dialog.
   
   This way, new users will have known that an FAQ does exist, and can always come back in the future for any common questions.
   
   
5. Create an alternate link in the main list of forums for the FAQs. I know this might seem rather unnecessary since there's already a link at the top bar, but I've seen and experienced personally that we can often overlook the obvious after having grown familiar with certain places to navigate in a site. For instance, most people probably never realize that there's an "Advanced Search" option/link in the main Google page, right next to the search query field. Or that there's a "jobs" link at the very bottom of the main Yahoo! page.
   
   
6. To minimize the burden of having to manage the FAQ links/wiki separately, you could give mods of certain forums the auths/profiles to manage their respective lists within the FAQ. They can create new links/wikis and designate links to the single posts. Another way to avoid placing the burden on only one or two people to maintain the FAQ link list.

Just a thought that might be helpful I'm thinking psy-q and a good number of other members might appreciate and welcome this idea as a great opportunity to "educate" our fresh members on the ways of the site, while still providing some form of "guided search" other than the "self-service" search button above

[psy-q]

Nobody really reads FAQs unfortunately.

I think I've come up with an effective method:

"You fail at life, read this: Club4G Unofficial Rules"

[Jonrod]

I second psy-q. I love those rules.