Question 1

What are Tags in FAQs?

Accepted Answer

Tags are a way of describing your content and allow an alternate way for your customers to browse FAQ's aside from search and categories.

You can add and manage the tags that are attached to each of your FAQs via the "configure" area.

You may also be interested in invisible tags.

Question 2

How do I change my rating elements from percentages (%) to stars?

Accepted Answer

In addition to the default "Did this help you? Yes/No" percentages style of rating you can now alternatively switch to a star rating system where your users can rate content from 1 to 5 stars.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/13xLIdBegJ/screenshot-homelender.malcolm.support-2021.01.15-16_19_22-2.png (Star ratings in Malcolm!)

The system used is set in the Settings section of MyMalcolm under FAQ or Workflows - look for the "Feedback ratings" area. You can switch between the two methods of rating whenever you wish and you can also use different rating systems for FAQs and Workflows.

Because rating content 1 to 5 stars is a bit more linear than a simple yes/no in response to "Did this help you?" we apply some logic behind the scenes when switching between rating styles. A "Did this help you? - No" is equivilent to 2 stars and a "Did this help you? - Yes" is equivilent to 5 stars, which slightly upweights positive feedback.

Don't forget you can change the colours of your rating elements too. See here for more details on how to do this.

Question 3

How do I create a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)?

Accepted Answer

Within MyMalcolm go the FAQ Section and click "Create a FAQ" towards to the top right of the screen.

This will bring up the "compose your question and answer" dialogue. Here you can input the question, an optional brief summary answer (used in search and browse results) and your full answer. For tips on how to write a good FAQ click here.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/FrnZFuskaf/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.07.29-21_44_58.png (Compose FAQ in MyMalcolm)

When composing your FAQ you can use the formating controls in the "full answer" box or directly enter Markdown. Markdown is a great way of quickly adding formatting to textual content. If you've not used it before it can take a minute or two to get used to it but it's very fast to work with once you have got the hang of it. You can click the "Need help with Markdown?" button bottom left anytime for a quick reference Markdown guide.

You can see what your FAQ will look like to your users by pressing the "Preview" button top right. When you have written your content press "Next: Configure" to move onto the configuration options for your FAQ.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/vDpsP666Gj/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.07.29-22_20_03.png (Configure FAQ in MyMalcolm)

In this area you can control various things about your FAQ such as whether an author is shown, what the URL is, your choice of tags, whether the feedback form is enabled and the category or categories the FAQ lives in. You also have various options around whether the FAQ can be seen by search engines, is password protected or not and can be found or not via the Malcolm! search/browse capability. You can even set the FAQ (or versions of it) to publish and un-publish automatically at certain dates and time in the future.

Watch a video guide to creating an FAQ below.

Question 4

Can I collect the email address of a user when they leave feedback on an FAQ or Workflow?

Accepted Answer

It can be very useful to offer the ability for a user to leave their email when giving feedback on an FAQ or Workflows so you can follow up with them.

You can turn this feature on for FAQ's and/or Workflows via Settings --> FAQ --> General or Settings --> Workflow --> General respectively.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/Z202OQgYA3/Screenshot%202021-03-11%20at%2008.25.02.png (Leave Feedback email address option in MyMalcolm)

You can enable it for all feedback or just for negative feedback. The default wording shown to the user is "If you'd like a follow up to this comment please leave your email address" but you can change this wording via the language file - see here for more details.

If the user has left an email address, there will be a "click to email" icon displayed next to the feedback in MyMalcolm.

If you'd prefer a user to complete a Workflow when they rate content see this FAQ.

Question 5

Can I link to a Workflow when a user rates content?

Accepted Answer

When a user rates your FAQ or Workflow you may wish to link to a Workflow from the rating area to collect more detailed, specific information. That Workflow could in turn pass data to your other systems (eg ticketing systems or CRM) via an Integration or Webhook.

This feature can be used in combination with, or as an alternative to, the feedback comments feature.

You can enable this functionality for FAQs and/or Workflows via Settings --> FAQ --> General or Settings --> Workflow --> General respectively.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/VMGzMXACpu/Screenshot%202021-03-11%20at%2008.25.31.png (Post feedback Workflow configuration in MyMalcolm)

Here you can choose the Workflow linked to when the user gives feedback.

The default copy for the link text is "Submit additional feedback" but you can change that via the language file - details on how to do this here.

If you are going to enable this feature it may make sense to turn feedback comments off so all comments are captured in your Workflow. We also recommend you turn off the feedback on the individual Workflow you use for the post Workflow feedback (via the configure tag of the individual Workflow in question). This will avoid the user being asked for feedback on the feedback!

Question 6

How do I add Intro text for Categories, Authors & Tags?

Accepted Answer

You can add introductory text to your Categories, Authors & Tag listings. This is perfect for giving your customers/users added context or information as they browse your content.

In MyMalcolm you'll see the a "Description" field when you add or edit a Category, Author or Tag.

How to add intro text to Categories, Authors or Tags

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/5ut5kRCq4Q/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.11.09-13_11_50.png (Adding intro text in MyMalcolm)

The Description field supports markdown so it's possible to add styling, links and media too. The content you add will appear on your hosted hub as well as our other formats like embeds, overlays and widgets.

Question 7

Can I change meta information and optimise Malcolm! for SEO?

Accepted Answer

Malcolm! offers lots of options to configure your hosted hub for SEO purposes. Below is an overview.

Hosted Hub Homepage

You can set the page title, meta description and keywords for your hosted hub homepage via Settings --> Instance --> Meta Content.

Hosted Hub homepage meta options in MyMalcolm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/1YN7mN8DHC/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.08.09-13_02_55.png (Hosted Hub homepage meta options in MyMalcolm)

Hosted Hub homepage meta options in MyMalcolm

You can configure whether you want search engines to see this page via the visibility tab.

FAQs and Workflows only homepage

If you use the FAQs only and Workflows only homepages, you can set the page title, meta description and keywords for them via Settings --> FAQs --> Meta Content and Settings --> Workflows --> Meta Content respectively.

You can configure whether you want search engines to see these pages via the visibility tab.

Visibility settings in MyMalcolm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/SYnelFDeLl/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.08.09-13_08_05.png (Visibility settings in MyMalcolm)

Visibility settings in MyMalcolm

Authors, Categories & Tags

By default the results pages for Authors, Categories & Tags are not shown to search engines, but you can change this and configure the meta information via the respective Author, Category and Tag in the FAQ section.

Tag configuration in MyMalcolm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/9qAnoZ47Lg/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.08.09-13_04_47.png (Tag configuration in MyMalcolm)

Tag configuration in MyMalcolm

Advanced Settings

You can set much of the above, and some additional title and meta info via the language file which can be found at Settings --> Instance --> Advanced. Click "Show dictionary" to see what can be edited.

Advanced SEO options in MyMalcolm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/SmUzmyq955/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.08.09-13_03_41.png (Advanced SEO options in MyMalcolm)

Advanced SEO options in MyMalcolm

Individual Content

You can edit the meta content and visibility (ie whether a search engine can see it) of an individual FAQ or Workflow via the configure tab of the FAQ or Workflow in question.

Social Images

A social image is the image that will be used when you link to content via services like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.

A default social image is defined in your theme (Brand --> Theme --> edit icon on theme --> General)
That can be overriden by defining a social image in Settings --> Instance --> Meta
For your hosted hub home, the FAQs and Workflows only homepages and the Authors, Categories & Tags results pages the above can be overriden via the respective setting screens mentioned above.
An individual piece of content (ie an FAQ or Workflow) can set their own social image and override the above via the configure tab of the content in question.

Site Map

All published and "visible" pages/content will appear in the sitemap.xml file which can be found at yourhostedhub.com/sitemap.xml where yourhostedhub.com is your actual Malcolm! hosted hub URL.

Schema

We mark up content created in the FAQs section using Schema. This means your content may appear in Google as Rich Results. You can choose between marking content up as FAQPage (perfect for questions and answers) or as a WebPage. See here for more info. In addition if you insert a How-to / Step by Step into your content this is also marked up using Schema. See here for more info.

Question 8

How are Related FAQs determined and can I change this?

Accepted Answer

Related FAQs are auto-generated and by default are FAQs either in the same category or similarly tagged (we combine this pool of FAQs). We take the top 4 results from that pool, based on the sort order defined in the instance. For info on how to change the default sort order see this FAQ.

You can choose to force the Related FAQs to use tags or just the category by updating the setting in MyMalcolm / Settings / FAQs:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/mNimQ1t2R3/Screenshot%202020-03-30%2021.19.11.png (Settings in MyMalcolm)

In this scenario we will then take the top 4 results from just the category or tag pool using the defined sort order.

Question 9

How do I add a Gallery, How-to or Step by Step to my FAQ or other content?

Accepted Answer

You can now add clickthrough or swipe through galleries to your content.

Hit the insert images icon in the markdown editor to begin, and then select the images you want to include from your media gallery.

Insert images in MyMalcolm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/Gp51whKPhC/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.06.09-13_41_40.png (Insert images in MyMalcolm)

You'll then see a dialogue where you can edit the order of the images plus add descriptive text, titles and caption.

Gallery / How-to dialogue in MyMalcolm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/VmGuJfIuRb/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.06.09-13_41_15.png (Gallery / How-to dialogue in MyMalcolm)

You can choose between a traditional image Gallery or a numbered How-to (sometimes called a Step by Step). These are subtly different and will also be marked up differently using Schema which means Google will see them slightly differently.

Choosing a Gallery or How-to in MyMalcolm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/yWFMXqJm9Y/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.06.09-13_42_13.png (Choosing a Gallery or How-to in MyMalcolm)

Once you've set things up as you want the markdown will be generated for your Gallery or How-to. If you want to change things just highlight that block of markdown and hit the insert media icon and you'll be taken back into the edit Gallery or How-to dialogue.

A How-to on a hosted hub page

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/bn4yI4KwR7/screenshot-tom-test-15.malcolm.app-2022.06.09-14_05_27.png (A How-to on a hosted hub page)

Remember, as with all content you put into Malcolm! you can surface your Gallery or How-to's in multiple ways - as well as your hosted hub pages they will work in pop up widgets, drawers, overlays and inline page embeds.

See the below video for a walkthrough:

Question 10

Do you mark content up in Schema?

Accepted Answer

By default we mark up your FAQ hosted hub content using the FAQPage schema. This is useful for search engine results. If your content is more general in nature you may prefer to change the schema used to WebPage. You can also do this from Settings --> FAQs.