FAQ Manager” Documentation by “Jordie Bodlay” v1.0


“FAQ Manager - Installation Guide”

Created: 5th July 2011
By: Jordie Bodlay
Email: jordie@jordie.org

Thank you for purchasing FAQ Manager. If you have any questions that are beyond the scope of this help file, please feel free to email via my user page contact form here. Thanks so much!


Table of Contents


Introduction - top

FAQ Manager is a PHP script designed to allow you to quickly add and manage a collection of frequently asked questions which can be displayed on your website.

Installing FAQ Manager is easy. If you have any problems or require any help, don't hesitate to contact me via my profile page on codecanyon.net.

FAQ Manager requires the use of a MySQL database. Please ensure you have your database details ready for installation. These can usually be found in your web-hosting control panel.


Step 1 - Database Details - top

Before you upload anything to your website, in the faq directory you will find a file called faq_config.php. Edit this file with a text editor and insert your MySQL database details. These are the lines to change: define ('FAQ_DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define ('FAQ_DB_USER', '');
define ('FAQ_DB_PASS', '');
define ('FAQ_DB_NAME', '');
define ('FAQ_INSTALL_LOCATION', 'http://www.example.com/');

As an example, lets say your hostname stays as localhost (usually the case, and if you can't find what your hostname is, it will probably be 'localhost'), your username is my_user, your password is example, your database name is my_database and you have uploaded the script itself to http://www.example.com/faq/ then this is what you should have: define ('FAQ_DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define ('FAQ_DB_USER', 'my_user');
define ('FAQ_DB_PASS', 'example');
define ('FAQ_DB_NAME', 'my_database');
define ('FAQ_INSTALL_LOCATION', 'http://www.example.com/faq/');

Ensure that FAQ_INSTALL_LOCATION is the URL to where your FAQ Manager files reside (even if they will be included by Wordpress or another CMS and displayed elsewhere).

Note: The value for FAQ_INSTALL_LOCATION MUST end in a forward slash, i.e. /


Step 2 - Upload - top

Upload the files from the package using FTP to a location that is accessible via the web. It is usually best to upload these files to their own folder, such as a folder called faq that would be located at http://www.example.com/faq/.


Step 3 - Web Installation - top

Once the files are located somewhere that is accessible via the web, you'll be able to install the script (provided your MySQL details are correct). Navigate to the faq_admin folder in your installation. For example, if you installed the FAQ Manager script at http://www.example.com/faq/ then point your web-browser to http://www.example.com/faq/faq_admin/

Once the page has loaded, it will ask you for a username and a password to set for the control panel access. Enter your desired username and password and click 'Install'. If the installation is successful, you'll be redirected to the control panel to login.

From here you can use the control panel to add/edit/sort categories and questions.


Step 4 - Accessing the Control Panel - top

After the web installation, you will be directed to your control panel. You can login using the username and password you selected during installation.

For future use, your control panel can always be accessed at http://www.example.com/faq/faq_admin/.

For more information on using the Control Panel, see the Gettings Started Guide.


Step 5 - Viewing the FAQ - top

There are 3 ways you can view your FAQ. Using the example installation location used above, you can access these by one of the following URLS:

While these are examples, if you log into your FAQ Manager control panel then in the top right click 'View FAQ', the dialog that appears will have the exact URLs to these pages on your web-server.

If you wish to modify the HTML for any of these pages, you can directly modify the corresponding .php file.


Installing the FAQ Plugin to Wordpress - top

FAQ Manager is really easy to include into Wordpress. A plugin has been included to make this step simple. In the ZIP file that you downloaded from CodeCanyon, you will see a directory called faq_wordpress_plugin. Inside this directory is a file called faqmanager.php. Upload this file into the plugins directory in your Wordpress installation. This should be: wp-content/plugins/.

Once it is located in the correct folder, login to your Wordpress admin and click on 'Plugins' on the left menu. You will now see "FAQ Manager" listed among the plugins. Click the "Activate" link below it to enable the plugin.

Once activated, click the arrow next to "Settings" on the left menu to expand the sub-menu.

Then click the "FAQ Manager" link.

You will then be presented with a page like the following, with 3 options.

The "FAQ Manager Path" will be blank to begin with, you need to enter the path on your server to the FAQ Manager directory. (note: this is the server path and not the URL). You can click the "Find it for me" button and the plug-in will attempt to find the installation. If it is not successful in finding the FAQ Manager, see below. The other options allow you to select what Page in Wordpress the FAQ should be displayed on. If you haven't yet made a page, create a page (not a post) now, then return to this page and select that page from the list. You can then also select how you want the FAQ to be displayed.

If the "Find it for me" button was not successful in finding the FAQ Manager, you'll need to go to your FAQ Manager admin and click on the 'View FAQ' in the top right. You should see something like the below:

Copy the section that reads /var/www/example.com/html/faq/ (the path inbetween the quotes, not the include(" and "); parts.

Including into another PHP Script - top

If you're installing into any other PHP script, you can use the following code:

<?php
include("/full/path/to/faq/faq_accordion.php");
?>

Make sure you replace /full/path/to/faq with the correct full path to where the FAQ Manager script resides on your server (Note: this is the path on your server, NOT the URL that you may use in a web browser)

If you are unsure what your full path is, navigate to your FAQ Manager control panel and in the top right click 'View FAQ'. At the bototm of the dialog that pops up, there will be the code you can use specific for your server.


Once again, thank you so much for purchasing this script. As I said at the beginning, I'd be glad to help you if you have any questions relating to this theme. No guarantees, but I'll do my best to assist. If you have a more general question relating to the themes on CodeCanyon, you might consider visiting the forums and asking your question in the "Item Discussion" section.

Jordie Bodlay

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