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# 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.

## 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/ and https://answer.dev/docs