Write an answer by hand when no page covers a question. Each answer is indexed like a page, so it is found, cited and rated like any other document, everywhere Kelu answers, as soon as you save it.

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Write an answer

1

Open Q&A

In the sidebar, click Q&A, pick a knowledge base, and click Add Q&A.
2

Fill it in

Write the Question the way a reader would ask it, and the Answer in Markdown. Under Other ways this gets asked, add other phrasings of the same question.
3

Save

Click Add answer. It is indexed right away. Ask the question in the knowledge base’s Playground to check.
You can also start from Coverage Gaps: Answer this opens the same form with the question filled in. See Find and fix knowledge gaps. Adding, editing and deleting answers needs the Sources permission on the knowledge base. See Roles & Permissions.

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Fields

FieldLimitNotes
Question3–500 charactersAlso the answer’s title in citations.
Answer20,000 charactersMarkdown. Can’t be saved while it still contains a [[NEEDS INPUT: …]] placeholder.
Other ways this gets asked10 phrasingsOptional. Duplicates of the question are dropped.
Answer with thisonTurn off to stop using the answer without deleting it. The row shows Not answering.
SourceShown when the knowledge base has more than one Q&A source. Picks which one the answer belongs to.

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How it works

  • Your first answer creates a source called Curated Q&A in the knowledge base. You don’t add it yourself.
  • Each knowledge base can hold one answer per question. A second answer to the same question is refused.
  • An answer gets no ranking boost. It competes with your other pages on relevance. If a wrong page keeps winning, fix that page too.
  • A citation of a written answer shows as text, since there is no page to link to.
  • There is no Sync Now. The answer is re-indexed every time you save it.

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Separate sets of answers

To keep some answers apart, for example internal answers and public ones, add another Q&A source: click Add source on the knowledge base and pick Custom Answers. Put each source in its own source group, and pick the Source when you write an answer. A widget or client key scoped to one group then sees only that group’s answers. Each Q&A source’s Answers tab lists and adds the answers filed on it.

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Where answers come from

Each row on the Q&A page has a badge, and the page filters on the same three:
BadgeMeaning
From Knowledge MaintenanceDrafted by Knowledge Maintenance and accepted by a person.
From a knowledge gapWritten from Coverage Gaps with Answer this. That gap then shows as Answered.
Added manuallyTyped on the Q&A page.

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Troubleshooting

  • The answer isn’t used. Check Answer with this is on. Ask the exact question in the Playground. If another page wins, add more phrasings or fix that page.
  • “already has an answer for that question”. Edit the existing answer instead, or add your wording to its Other ways this gets asked.
  • Similar questions show up separately in gaps. Put them on one answer as other phrasings.