Questions and Answers (Simpplr Q&A)

Overview

Questions and answers (Q&A) allows users to raise questions from the home and site feeds, as well as in content. Users can vote on the questions/answers, and site owners/managers can mark answers as approved or flag duplicate questions. This provides a way to fill in information gaps, crowdsource knowledge, and make sure employees can always find what they need on the intranet.

• Enablement settings
• Ask a question in site feed
• Answer a question in site feed
• Questions in content feed
• Approve an answer
• Mark a question as duplicate
• Unpublish or delete a question
• FAQ

Q&A enablement settings

Application settings

Since Questions are a type of feed, application-level feed settings impact them. Assuming Q&A is enabled at all levels (App, Site, Content) by default, the settings will apply accordingly.

• Timeline: When enabled, users cannot create or view feed posts at Home, Site, or Content levels. No new or existing questions will be accessible. To prevent confusion, this option automatically disables Q&A at the application level.
  • Enabling the feed again will not enable Q&A automatically and will have to be done by the application manager manually.
• Timeline and comments on content: When enabled, questions can only be created at the content level and will be viewable in relevant sections. Site-level and home-level questions cannot be created or viewed. The Q&A settings in Site dashboard > Manage > Setup > Questions and answers will remain unchanged.
• Timeline, comments on content and feed posts: When enabled, questions can be created at Home, Site, and Content levels.

• • Content-level questions appear within the content, Site > Questions, Manage site > Questions, Profile > Questions, and site/home aggregated feeds.

  • Site-level questions appear in the site feed, Site > Questions, Manage site> Questions, Profile > Questions, and the home aggregated feed.
    

Site settings

If Content posts are disabled in Site > Manage > Setup, questions will also be disabled for child content. Existing questions will remain viewable in relevant sections.

Site-level Questions and Answers settings remain applicable. If content posts are disabled at the site level, the Allow questions option will be removed or disabled for child content. New questions cannot be created or viewed, but existing ones will remain accessible in relevant sections with limited interactions—only upvotes are allowed, while answering, editing, and deleting are restricted.

If feed posts are restricted to site owners and managers, only they can create questions, while other users can only reply or upvote.

Content settings

If Allow comments is unchecked in the create/edit content form, Allow questions will be automatically unchecked and disabled. Questions cannot be created or viewed on such content, but existing questions will remain visible in relevant sections with limited interaction—only upvoting is allowed, not answering, editing, or deleting.

Q&A Enablement

Although questions are treated as a type of feed, they will have their own identity. Users can enable or disable questions at the app, site, or content level, based on the feed settings.

Application managers can toggle the Q&A functionality in Manage > Application > Setup > General > Questions & answers.

By default, Q&A is enabled. When disabled at the application level, questions cannot be created or viewed anywhere, even if enabled at the site/content level. Menus like Site > Questions and Profile > Questions will be unavailable, and feed lists will neither show existing questions nor allow new ones.

Site managers and above can toggle the Q&A functionality at the site level via the create/edit site form. When disabled, questions cannot be created or viewed on the site or its child content (even if enabled for content). Pages like Site > Questions and Site > Manage > Questions will be unavailable. Existing questions will be viewable in the home aggregated feed and Profile > Questions, with limited interaction (upvoting allowed, but not answering, editing, or deleting).

Content managers and above can toggle the Q&A functionality at the content level via the create/edit content form. When disabled, questions cannot be created or viewed within the content. Existing questions will be viewable in Site > Questions, Profile > Questions, and the home aggregated feed, with limited interaction (upvoting and favoriting allowed, but not answering, editing, or deleting).

Questions

Questions can be created at the user, site, or content level. They require a title (mandatory) and may include a body and attachments (optional). Questions can be created from the home feed, profile > Questions, site feed, and content detail page.

Q&A can be enabled/disabled:

• At the app level by app managers by going to Manage > Application > Setup > General. This must be done before enabling the feature on any site.
• At the site level by site owners/managers by going to Manage site > Setup > Questions and answers. Note, enabling the feature at the site level does not auto-include questions on every piece of content in that site. Instead, it opens the option to add questions to a new or existing piece of content.
• At the content level by going to the piece of content they want questions on and choosing the option. For new content, the option is added at the bottom before publishing; Allow questions. For existing content, you'll need to go to Edit > Allow questions.

Ask a question in site feed

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To ask a question, go to:

• A site's Questions tab 

• User menu > Questions global list

• Manage site > Questions tab

• No search results > click Ask a question

Users can:

• Ask questions only in sites they have access to and for which Q&A is enabled at the site level.
• Add more description to their question.
• Attach files from their system or from intranet, to a question.

A submitted question gets auto-published in the site and will be visible to other users who have access to that site. Users can only edit questions that they've created and can't edit questions that have an approved answer. If your answer has been chosen as the approved answer, you can't go back and edit it unless you're the site manager.

Answer a question in site feed

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To answer a question in site feed:

1. Go to a site’s question tab or global list of questions.

2. Click on the question you want to answer.

3. In the question detail screen, click Answer, then type your answer and submit. 

Users can:

• Answer a question only in the sites that they have access to.
• Attach files from their system or from intranet, to an answer. 

A submitted answer gets auto-published in the site and will be visible to other users, who have access to that site. Users can further post more answers or vote on the existing ones.

Questions in content feed

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Enable Q&A for content feed

Users can ask questions in the content feed. First, Q&A must be enabled for content feed. To enable Q&A for content feed:

1. Go to Manage site.

2. Under Content posts > Post & replies, select Enabled. 

3. Under Advanced options, check the boxes for Allow comments and Allow questions. 

Content feed filters

When a content author allows questions and comments to be posted in the content feed, users will see three filter tabs in the content feed. 

1. The All tab shows all comments, polls, and questions posted in the content feed timeline.

2. The Comments tab shows only posts and polls in the content feed timeline. 

3. The Question tab shows only questions posted in the content feed timeline. 

If the content authors allows only questions to be posted in the content feed, the All and Comments tabs will be not visible.  

Ask a question in content feed

Once Q&A is enabled for content feed, users who have access to the content can ask a question.

1. Select the Question tab.

2. Enter a question into the field. Add more details or attachments, then click Ask question.

Answer a question in content feed

Users who have access to the content can answer a question.

1. Click on the question title or view question to go to the question's detail page.

2. Post an answer or read and vote on existing answer.

The question's detail page also provides context on the content to which the question belongs.

Global question list

All questions asked in content feed can be found in the global question list as well as the question tab of the site where the question was asked. You can find the global question list in User menu > Questions. 

Approve an answer

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Site managers, admins, and content managers can approve an answer by:

1. Going to a site’s Question tab or global question list.

2. Clicking on a question.

3. Going to an answer, clicking ... and selecting Mark as approved.

Users can still post more answers to the question with an approved answer. 

Mark a question duplicate

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App managers, site owners/managers, and content managers can mark a question as duplicate by:

1. Going to a site’s Questions tab or global list of questions.

2. Clicking on a question.

3. In the question detail screen, clicking on ... and selecting Mark as duplicate.

Duplicate questions cannot be answered. Users can still access the original question to post more answers.

Unpublish or delete a question

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To unpublish or delete a question, go to :

1. the applicable site’s Questions tab or global list of questions.

2. Click on the question you want to unpublish.

3. In the question detail screen, click on ... and click Unpublish.

• Only app managers, site owners/managers and content managers can perform this action. 

• Re-publish an unpublished question from Manage site > Questions tab.

• The Delete option will permanently remove a question from the list. You cannot get this question back.

FAQ

Can questions be enabled/disabled at the site level?

Yes, Q&A can be enabled/disabled at the app level as well as at site level. Enabling Q&A at the app level will open up Questions for the home dashboard feed. Q&A must be enabled at the site level to see the Questions option on site feeds.

Can the best/correct answer be flagged and moved to the top or showcased?

Yes, site owners and managers can mark an answer as approved, and it stays on top.

How can I be notified of new questions and answers?

As of the 25.05 release, only in-app notifications are enabled for Q&A. We will offer email, SMS, and browser notifications that will be fully customizable in an upcoming release. 

Can you sort Q&A by site?

In the global questions listing page, we can filter questions based on the sites a user follows.

Does the Site manager get a notification when someone posts a question?

Yes, all site members get notified when a new question is posted in the site they are a member of.

Does a user get notified when their question has been answered?

Yes, users are notified via in-app notifications. Email notifications are not currently supported.

Do questions have auto governance like Simpplr content does? This is useful because some answers may change over time.

Not at the moment but there has been an idea submitted as a future enhancement.

Is there an option to have Q&A tiles? 

Not at the moment but there has been an idea submitted as a future enhancement.

Do the questions need to be approved?

No, questions asked by users get auto-published in the sites. Users who can access that question can post answers. Site owners and managers can then go and mark one answer as an approved answer. 

Will there be a permissions set for questions? 

No, Q&A is independent of feed & timeline permissions, as questions asked are not posted on home/site feed.

Can non-site members see questions posted in private or unlisted sites?

No. If you are not a member of a Private or Unlisted site on the intranet, you won't be able to see/search for questions asked in those sites. You will only see questions posted in Public sites.