Peggy
11-06-2006, 12:18 AM
One of the most important features of vBulletin is often one of the most ignored... and/or deleted! FAQ is so easily customized to fit your forum, but most webmasters overlook it completely.
With this feature you can:
1. Change the phrase from FAQ to, perhaps, Forum Guidelines or Forum Rules. Whatever you fancy.
2. Make several categories within the FAQ. Your standard FAQ looks something like this:
vBulletin FAQ (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq)
User Maintenance (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_vb_user_maintain)
General Forum Usage (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_vb_board_usage)
Reading and Posting Messages (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_vb_read_and_post)
You are able to change that vBulletin FAQ category title to whatever you want it to be. You can also add several more categories, there's no limit.
Suggested Categories:
Posting Guidelines (not to be confused with the How To above)
Forum Rules (this is good if each of your forums has its own set of rules. I'll use this as an example further down in this tutorial).
Copyright Rules
Blog/Journal rules (if your site offers members access to journal or blogs)
Chat rules (if your site has a chatroom)
The above are just a few examples. Now, let's utilize the Forum Rules example.
1. Open your Admin Control Panel, and go to FAQ in the menu on the left.
If you know the category name that you want to add, give it a simple little title in the Varname box. For the purposes of this tut, we'll call it rules. (Noone's gonna see it, it's just a silly vB thing).
2. Next, select No Parent FAQ Item. (This makes it a category)
3. Next, give it a title... such as Forum Rules
4. Leave the text box empty on this.
5. Display order 1
6. This controls what product this FAQ is associated with. You do not need to worry about this option unless you are planning on making an addon for vBulletin to be released, so leave it set to vBulletin.
7. Unless you have other languages set on your forum, you don't need to worry about the Translations section.
8. Save
Now, that you have a new category for Forum Rules, you can create the rules.
In the left hand menu, click on FAQ Manager.
To the right of that category you just created (theoretically), click on Add Child FAQ Item.
Here you have the same setup as before, except that you'll notice that Forum Rules is the Parent FAQ Item, and here, you'll use the text box.
For the purpose of this tut, let's give is a varname of attachments. The title rules is Attachment rules (I'm sure you can think of something better).
In the text box, list your rules. (i.e a new member must reach a minimum of 10 posts before you can access downloads, and whatever other rules you might have for attachments). Display order 1, save.
Now your FAQ looks something like this:
Forum Rules (http://yourname.com/)
Attachments
(http://yourname.com)vBulletin FAQ (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq)
User Maintenance (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_vb_user_maintain)
(http://yourname.com)General Forum Usage (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_vb_board_usage)
(http://yourname.com)Reading and Posting Messages
Do the same thing for any other rules you might have.
As I said above, if you have additional, different rules for each of the forums on your board, you can make a child category of each forum, then a child cat for each forum's rules.
I believe that you can do 3 or 4 levels deep on the child categories.
There really is no limit to what you can use FAQ for, so take the time and explore the possibilities!
With this feature you can:
1. Change the phrase from FAQ to, perhaps, Forum Guidelines or Forum Rules. Whatever you fancy.
2. Make several categories within the FAQ. Your standard FAQ looks something like this:
vBulletin FAQ (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq)
User Maintenance (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_vb_user_maintain)
General Forum Usage (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_vb_board_usage)
Reading and Posting Messages (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_vb_read_and_post)
You are able to change that vBulletin FAQ category title to whatever you want it to be. You can also add several more categories, there's no limit.
Suggested Categories:
Posting Guidelines (not to be confused with the How To above)
Forum Rules (this is good if each of your forums has its own set of rules. I'll use this as an example further down in this tutorial).
Copyright Rules
Blog/Journal rules (if your site offers members access to journal or blogs)
Chat rules (if your site has a chatroom)
The above are just a few examples. Now, let's utilize the Forum Rules example.
1. Open your Admin Control Panel, and go to FAQ in the menu on the left.
If you know the category name that you want to add, give it a simple little title in the Varname box. For the purposes of this tut, we'll call it rules. (Noone's gonna see it, it's just a silly vB thing).
2. Next, select No Parent FAQ Item. (This makes it a category)
3. Next, give it a title... such as Forum Rules
4. Leave the text box empty on this.
5. Display order 1
6. This controls what product this FAQ is associated with. You do not need to worry about this option unless you are planning on making an addon for vBulletin to be released, so leave it set to vBulletin.
7. Unless you have other languages set on your forum, you don't need to worry about the Translations section.
8. Save
Now, that you have a new category for Forum Rules, you can create the rules.
In the left hand menu, click on FAQ Manager.
To the right of that category you just created (theoretically), click on Add Child FAQ Item.
Here you have the same setup as before, except that you'll notice that Forum Rules is the Parent FAQ Item, and here, you'll use the text box.
For the purpose of this tut, let's give is a varname of attachments. The title rules is Attachment rules (I'm sure you can think of something better).
In the text box, list your rules. (i.e a new member must reach a minimum of 10 posts before you can access downloads, and whatever other rules you might have for attachments). Display order 1, save.
Now your FAQ looks something like this:
Forum Rules (http://yourname.com/)
Attachments
(http://yourname.com)vBulletin FAQ (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq)
User Maintenance (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_vb_user_maintain)
(http://yourname.com)General Forum Usage (http://www.vbimpressions.com/forums/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_vb_board_usage)
(http://yourname.com)Reading and Posting Messages
Do the same thing for any other rules you might have.
As I said above, if you have additional, different rules for each of the forums on your board, you can make a child category of each forum, then a child cat for each forum's rules.
I believe that you can do 3 or 4 levels deep on the child categories.
There really is no limit to what you can use FAQ for, so take the time and explore the possibilities!