FAQ_Ask - "Ask the Expert"

This module is an add-on to the FAQ module that allows users with the 'ask question' permission to create a question which will be queued for an 'expert' to answer.

For more about why this module exists, please read "Ask the Expert" or Advice Column.

Viewing of the completed question and answer pair is done by the FAQ module.

Installation

Normal module installation applies.

Settings

In order for this module to support multiple experts, it requires that the FAQ module be set to "Use Categories."

The settings are on a new tab in the FAQ Settings page. One selects the roles to be considered experts; then one is given a choice of users within those roles to associate with the FAQ categories. The expert role(s) need to be given the "answer question" and "edit faq" permissions.

Note: until one or more experts are set up, the module does almost nothing except generate a few warning messages.

You will need to enable "FAQ: Create new content" for the user /admin/people/permissions !

You might need to change where the "Ask a question" block is displayed in your theme /admin/structure/block/manage/faq_ask/ask_a_question/configure i.e. in the content area instead of sidebar.

Categories & Subcategories: You can change the list view to a drop-down using the "Select list" widget for "field_faq_categories at /admin/structure/types/manage/faq/fields

Menus

The module creates a menu item for "Ask a question" (see "Usage Notes" below). There is an abbreviated version of the FAQ form without an answer field. The node is created without the 'published' attribute.

If you do not want FAQ nodes to be published when answered by default you can change the 'published' property in the workflow settings of the content type 'faq' to off (admin/content/types/faq/edit). The question then will have to be published explicitly.

Blocks

There is a block that will show the unanswered questions to the 'expert' (generally, this requires a separate role). The user who created the question is also allowed to edit it until it's answered. (After that, standard FAQ permissions take over.)

If one is an expert with unanswered questions, those will be shown first. After those have been answered, if the user has asked unaswered questions, those will be shown. Finally, users with "administer nodes" and/or "administer faq" will see all unanswered questions.

Notifications

If notification of question creation is needed, use the Subscriptions module set for the appropriate terms (FAQ categories).
The module also allows for asker to be notified when question is published. Enabling this on the settings page will produce a checkbox for logged in users they can tick off if they want to be notified and for anonymous users an e-mail field is supplied. The e-mail is checked for validity during posting of the question.

Usage Notes

While this module does supply an "ask a question" menu entry, I typically disable it and use an FAQ "shortcut" instead (that is, "Ask Nancy" points to "http://www.myexample.com/faq/999").

The other shortcut I use is to set up the taxonomy term description something like the following. This puts an "ask" link right at the top of the FAQ page.

<a href="http://nanwich.info" target="_blank">Nancy</a> is a South carolina-based web site builder. She generally uses the content management system (CMS) know as Drupal. She welcomes your questions about web sites and Drupal.
<br/>
Click here to <a href="/faq_ask/137"><b>ask her a question</b></a>. She will answer as soon as possible.

Since FAQ now supports the Taxonomy Image module, I also create a picture of the expert to go with this term. This, however, requires a bit of CSS tweaking and, as of this writing, a patch to TI. I will be happy to provide more details upon request.

Please post questions about using this module, bug reports, or feature requests on the module's project page.