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Question/Answer Software

Knowledgebase-like features

         

JoshS

1:26 am on Jan 27, 2015 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Not sure if this is the most appropriate forum for this, but...

I volunteer for a national nonprofit organization as their webmaster. We want to add an "ask the expert" feature to our website. The way we see this working is users can submit questions (with photos, if needed), our experts will answer these questions, and the Q&A will be posted to a knowledgebase of archived Q&A's. I have looked at a few software/script packages that work along these lines. There is one feature we hope to have that I have not found, though. We want to have the users select the most appropriate topic category for their question. We will have different experts responsible for certain categories. When a question is submitted, ideally an email should be sent to the designated expert of that category to notify them that there is a new question waiting.

Does anyone know of a software script that does all of this?

Thank you!

ergophobe

2:08 pm on Feb 5, 2015 (gmt 0)

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I keep hoping someone will jump in here. I'll have to ping LifeInAsia - he's doing it with Drupal, but I don't know that he would recommend it.

LifeinAsia

2:37 pm on Feb 5, 2015 (gmt 0)

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Who? What? Me?

Yes, we're doing exactly what you want to do with Drupal. There is a predefined list of categories and Experts need to select one or more categories when they register. When someone asks a question in that category, all the experts in that category are sent an e-mail notification.

In addition to core Drupal, it also uses the following modules:
- Answers
- Rules (for triggering the e-mail)
and probably some others that we're using elsewhere as well, so not specific to that section (e.g., Chaos Tools, Views, Panels, etc.).

JoshS

3:06 pm on Feb 5, 2015 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Thank you! I would have never thought to look into Drupal. But...why might you not recommend it, LifeInAsia?

LifeinAsia

4:18 pm on Feb 5, 2015 (gmt 0)

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why might you not recommend it, LifeInAsia?

If you're not already using Drupal, the learning curve just to install/maintain Drupal and implement this is rather steep.

But if you're already using Drupal and comfortable with it, then it's pretty easy to implement.

Ergophobe's comment about my maybe not recommending it probably stems more from my frustration with some of Drupal's translation issues and conflicts between some modules. The problems he heard about from me in regards to the Expert system had more to do with conflicts from other modules (notably Organic Groups).

JoshS

5:29 pm on Feb 5, 2015 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Ok...well, I have no experience with Drupal :-/

LifeinAsia

5:53 pm on Feb 5, 2015 (gmt 0)

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If you wanted to do it as a standalone site (for instance, make the Drupal Q/A section a subdomain- something like experts.example.com) instead of converting your existing site to Drupal, it might not be too bad.

The difficulty is if you have current members that you want to use with the Drupal- sharing members can be a little tricky.

LifeinAsia

5:56 pm on Feb 5, 2015 (gmt 0)

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Actually, if you setup Drupal in a sub-directory of your site and use example.com/experts, that would also work instead of needing a separate installation.

You'd still have to deal with the members issue, though.

JoshS

6:00 pm on Feb 5, 2015 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



We just revamped the website a year ago, so I definitely am not looking to convert to Drupal. The Q&A will be a stand alone feature...no integration with any other software. Might be worth a shot.

To be clear...the Q&A's are readable by anyone, right?

LifeinAsia

6:30 pm on Feb 5, 2015 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



You can setup granular visibilities:
- viewable by everyone (default)
- viewable by registered members
- viewable only by certain roles
On our site, we allow anyone to read the question, but you have to register to see the Answers and comments.

Also, some other customization that we did (some of which was sort of a pain):
- Any registered user can leave a comment on the question, but only registered experts can give "Answers" to the question. "Answers" use a different block to identify the author (larger picture, highlighting, etc.).
- Users have the option to ask a question anonymously (so user information isn't shown with the question) and Experts have the option to answer anonymously.

JoshS

7:06 pm on Feb 5, 2015 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Super...thank you!

ergophobe

11:06 pm on Feb 5, 2015 (gmt 0)

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Thanks LifeInAsia!

JoshS

3:56 pm on Feb 7, 2015 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Just wanted to clarify one last thing...are users able to attach photos when asking a question, LifeinAsia?

LifeinAsia

8:20 pm on Feb 7, 2015 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



Yes- there are a few options.

A) You can have a separate Image field and allow one or more images to be uploaded to that field. Then you can stylize the display how you want (individual images, light box, etc.)
B) You can allow users to upload images within the text body of their question (or answer). Display options are somewhat limited- basically inline with the text, and left- or center-justified.

Ergophone may know of some others.

ergophobe

10:05 pm on Feb 7, 2015 (gmt 0)

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Who's ergophone?

Just before deciding to procrastinate here, I was and am wrestling with image display in WYSIWYG. It is always simpler to do such things in a field where you can control markup.

LifeinAsia

1:23 am on Feb 8, 2015 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



Who's ergophone?
Evil twin?

It is always simpler to do such things in a field where you can control markup.

Agree- definitely limited control when using images through WYSIWYG.