62 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown

# Answer: Q&A Knowledge Base Platform
Answer is a self-hosted, open-source Q&A platform designed to help teams and communities build a shared knowledge base. Users can ask questions, provide answers, and vote on the best solutions, creating an organized and searchable repository of information.
## Key Features
* **Question & Answer Format**: Familiar Stack Overflow-like interface.
* **Voting System**: Users can upvote or downvote questions and answers to highlight the best content.
* **Tagging**: Organize questions with tags for easy filtering and discovery.
* **Search Functionality**: Powerful search to find existing answers quickly.
* **User Reputation**: (Often a feature in Q&A platforms) Users can earn reputation for helpful contributions.
* **Markdown Support**: Write questions and answers using Markdown.
* **Self-Hosted**: Full control over your data and platform.
## Documentation
For more detailed information about Answer, visit the [official documentation](https://answer.apache.org/docs/).
## Getting Started with Answer
### Accessing Answer
1. **URL**: Access Answer locally via `http://localhost:9080/` (or your configured external URL).
2. **Account Creation/Login**: You will likely need to create an account or log in to participate (ask questions, answer, vote). The first user might be an admin.
### Basic Usage
1. **Asking a Question**:
* Look for a button like "Ask Question."
* Write a clear and concise title for your question.
* Provide detailed context and information in the body of the question using Markdown.
* Add relevant tags to help categorize your question.
2. **Answering a Question**:
* Browse or search for questions you can help with.
* Write your answer in the provided text area, using Markdown for formatting.
* Submit your answer.
3. **Voting and Commenting**:
* Upvote helpful questions and answers to increase their visibility.
* Downvote incorrect or unhelpful content.
* Leave comments to ask for clarification or provide additional information without writing a full answer.
4. **Searching for Information**: Use the search bar to find if your question has already been asked and answered.
5. **Managing Content (Admins/Moderators)**:
* Admins can typically manage users, tags, and content (e.g., edit or delete inappropriate posts).
## Use Cases within Changemaker
* **Internal Team Support**: Create a knowledge base for your team to ask and answer questions about processes, tools, or projects.
* **Public FAQs**: Set up a public-facing Q&A site for your campaign or organization where supporters can find answers to common questions.
* **Community Forum**: Foster a community where users can help each other and share knowledge related to your cause or Changemaker itself.
* **Documentation Supplement**: Use it alongside your main MkDocs site to handle dynamic questions that arise from users.
## Editing the Site
Answer is a platform for building a Q&A knowledge base. It is not used for editing this main documentation site (the one you are reading). Site editing is done via **Code Server**.
## Further Information
* **Answer Official Website & Documentation**: [https://answer.dev/](https://answer.dev/) and [https://answer.dev/docs](https://answer.dev/docs)