Answer Buddy > Looking after your search

Write an answer yourself

Sometimes members keep asking a question that nothing on your website answers. A synonym cannot help, because there is no page to find. An answer written by your team fills that gap. Members find it in search like any page, and the assistant can quote it.

Try the other fixes first

If the content already exists and members are not finding it, a synonym or a pin is the better fix and needs no upkeep. Write an answer only when the content is not there.

Write one

  1. Start from the Worklist: the row menu's Write an answer fills in the question for you. Or go to Answers and click Write an answer.
  2. Question this answers: the search that found nothing. It is kept so you can later see whether the answer fixed it.
  3. Check the panel headed We already hold this. If one of the matches already answers the question, use a synonym or a pin instead.
  4. Title, for example "How to renew your membership".
  5. Answer: what a member reads, and what the assistant quotes. Keep it short and plain.
  6. Who keeps it current: a real person at your organisation.
  7. Check every (days): how often it should be reviewed. The default is 180. Anything with a date, a fee, a phone number or a rule needs a cycle. Leave it blank for something that never goes stale, such as a street address.
  8. Link to a page as well (optional): if you give a web address, the answer becomes a link to it. This cannot be changed later.
  9. Click Publish.

Answers are public. Do not put member-only information in one.

Keeping answers current

  • The review clock starts when you publish. The Checked column shows when it is next due.
  • When you have reviewed one, use the row menu: Mark as checked.
  • If a review is missed, the answer shows as Out of date. It drops down the results and the assistant stops quoting it. Nothing is lost: check it and mark it as checked to restore it.

Did it work?

Use the row menu's See if it worked. It shows how many times the question was searched since, how many of those now return something, and how many people clicked the answer.

Turn off or delete

Turn off takes it out of search and keeps it on this screen, so you can turn it back on. Delete removes it for good. Neither touches anything on your website.