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Re: Knowledge Base Vs. FAQsThe Tech Pubs team in my office is trying to spread their wings into other areas. We are looking into creating FAQs or a Knowledge Base for our clients. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the two? What are the plusses and minuses of each? I'm not sure what software or database we are going to use for this, so if anyone has any suggestions about software and databases I'm open for suggestions about that too. Hi, Judy. Frequently Asked Questions are just what they sound like: a list of commonly asked questions and their answers. Knowledge bases are larger, less concise, and usually require some kind of searching functionality. Knowledge bases, in my experience, tend to be somewhat more poorly implemented (due to their complexity). FAQs shouldn't require any real software, outside of the authoring tools needed to create and update it. Depending on the application of your knowledge base, borrowing a Google site search (site:<web address> <query>) may be sufficient; in this case, no real software is needed either, outside of the authoring software for knowledge base articles and so on. If you need a knowledge base from the bottom up, you'll probably need to have a database (Oracle, Postgres, MySQL are all popular; the latter two are free software) and a custom search form. An example knowledge base: http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1 An example FAQ: http://www.videolan.org/doc/faq/en/index.html#id239188 I just grabbed these from links I've got--obviously your mileage and implementation of both might vary. Best, Ethan (uppertank.net/ethanm/) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or printed documentation. Features include single source authoring, team authoring, Web-based technology, and PDF output. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList Now shipping: Help & Manual 4 with RoboHelp(r) import! New editor, full Unicode support. Create help files, web-based help and PDF in up to 106 languages with Help & Manual: http://www.helpandmanual.com --- You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot- To unsubscribe send a blank email to techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40infoinfocus.com To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info. References:
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