This tutorial will show you how to build a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Application much like the one you can find on the FAQ page. This is a very simple application that is made using App Within Minutes Application. You may frequently use this technique as the basis for several different kinds of applications.

Application Overview

The FAQ application allows users to post a question by entering the question into a simple form field and then submitting the form. The question then appears in a list along with all other questions that have been previously posted. Users can click on the questions to view both the question and answer in a consistently styled view. If the question has not yet been answered, any user can post an answer to the question by editing the page. In edit mode, the page will display a web form that is the same for every FAQ page.

Creating the FAQ Application

Start creating your FAQ Application by going to the App Within Minutes home page. Since XWiki 4.2 it's available from the "Applications" panel.

There you can see listed the existing applications. Click on the "Create Application" button to start the wizard.

In the first step you have to provide the application name, which will determine the application home page URL and the application space. Each application is mapped to an XWiki space.

In the second step you define the application structure. Drag and drop a "Long Text" field from the Field Palette. Then change the name from "Long Text" to "Answer". This will be the "Answer" field.

In the last step you customize the way the home page of your application will look like. Click on the drop-down menu and select the "Creation date" item then click on the "add" button. This will add a "Creation date" column in your application live table. 

Creating new FAQ entries

To create a new FAQ entry click on the "ADD NEW ENTRY" button from the "Actions" panel. 

Write your question and click on the "add" button.

Click on the "Save & View" button. Go back to the "FAQ.WebHome" page to see the list of existing questions.

Answering to FAQ questions

To answer to a question click on the "edit" button in the "Action" column from the live table, enter your answer in the "Answer" field and press the "Save & View" button.