Gilgamesh Solutions. ColdFusion Tags: DynamicPDF DynamicMS

PowerFAQ 1.0

Description
Requirements
Set Up Your FAQ Application
Syntax
Included In Your Purchase
Test It!
FAQ About PowerFAQ 1.0
Optional Features

Description Purchase it

PowerFAQ 1.0 is a powerful custom tag that lets you create a front-end frequently asked questions application without using any JavaScript, or ColdFusion knowledge. There is no installation or server alterations needed to get your application up and running. Using this application, you will be able to:

Create a friendly interface to list all your questions in a "Next M Questions", "Previous M Questions" format. You get to choose how many questions displayed per page. Default is 10.
Give your users a search interface that will enable them to search questions and answers using a keyword. Your users can also select a category that all the relevant questions fall into.
Give your users the ability to sort the questions in alphabetic, date of creation, or weight order.
Give your users the ability to click on a question to view the answer, without losing the searched questions, or the browsing order!
Let your users decide how useful the answer was by ranking it.
You will also have the ability to modify questions and answers, disable them, rank them, modify their categories, etc. in an easy to use and friendly back-end admin interface.

This application will come with a custom tag called PowerFAQAdmin which will give you the ability to create, update, and delete questions and answers from your database tables.

Requirements Top Purchase it

PowerFAQ 1.0 requires the following environment to run successfully:

ColdFusion Server 4.0+ (best results on 6.0 and 6.1 MX).
JavaScript needs to be enabled (JavaScript is enabled by default on all browsers. Please make sure you did not disable it or have a security software that would disable it).
A valid Data Source registered with ColdFusion Server Administrator Interface to your database tables. With your purchase, you will receive a file that will automatically create the data source for you. You will also find an Access database attached to your purchase that is ready to use.
No installation or software set up is required! Just place the tag in your custom tag directory, and start generating your application!

Set Up Your FAQ Application Top Purchase it

You will need to perform the following before generating your FAQ application (support on every step below is included in your purchase):

Extract all the files from the ZIP file into ONE directory.
Establish a datasource to the Access database attached in your purchase.
You can then use PowerFAQAdmin custom tag (which comes with PowerFAQ 1.0) to add new questions and answers, update and/or delete existing ones. You will have the ability to enable questions for online display, or disable them from front-end users.

You can populate your questions and answers using PowerFAQAdmin using this syntax:

<cf_PowerFAQAdmin
   DataSource="GilgaDSN"
   Category_Table="FAQ_Category"
   Question_Table="FAQ_Questions"
   Answer_Table="FAQ_Answers"
   QA_Table="FAQ_Question_Answer"
   rowCount="15">
   StyleSheet="style.css">
</cf_PowerFAQAdmin>

You do not even have to change the code above because all the tables, datasource, and stylesheet are all included in the ZIP file you get with your purhcase! So, just place the code in any file, and access it using an Internet Explorer, and you will be able to populate your tables in an easy to use and friendly environment.
Place PowerFAQ 1.0 in your custom tag directory, and start using it! (syntax explanation below).

Syntax   Top       Purchase it

You generate the front-end of your FAQ application simply by using the following syntax:

<cf_PowerFAQ
    DataSource="gilgamesh"
    Category_Table="FAQ_Category"
    Question_Table="FAQ_Questions"
    Answer_Table="FAQ_Answers"
    QA_Table="FAQ_Question_Answer"
    Encryption_Key="somekey"
    DisplayRows="10"
    BgColor="lightblue"
    CurrentPage="test.cfm">

Category_Table	Name of Category table in the database.
Question_Table	Name of Question table in the database.
Answer_Table	Name of Answer table in the database.
QA_Table	Name of table the links Question table and Answer table.
DataSource	Data source to your database.
Encryption_Key	Encryption key you can use to encrypt and decrypt your data.
DisplayRows	How many questions displayed per page. Default is 10.
BgColor	Background color. You have to send double ## when specifying hexidecimal.
CurrentPage	Name of the page that is calling the tag (for example: faq.cfm).

You can add/update/delete questions, answers, categories, online display, ranking, etc. using PowerFAQAdmin custom tag (which comes with PowerFAQ 1.0). This admin tool will be generated using the syntax:

<cf_PowerFAQAdmin
   DataSource="powerfaq"
   Category_Table="FAQ_Category"
   Question_Table="FAQ_Questions"
   Answer_Table="FAQ_Answers"
   QA_Table="FAQ_Question_Answer"
   rowCount="15">
   StyleSheet="/css/style1.css">
</cf_PowerFAQAdmin>

See what PowerFAQAdmin application looks like.

Included In Your Purchase   Top       Purchase it

PowerFAQ 1.0: This is the custom tag you will use to present your FAQ application to your users online.
PowerFAQAdmin: This is the custom tag you will use to populate and manage your questions and answers in the back-end.
Style.css: This is a suggested style sheet file you will use in your PowerFAQAdmin page formatting.
Choosedatasource: This is a file you will access in order to create a data source programmatically without dealing with System DSN procedures.
Createdatasource: This is a custom tag that will be called from Choosedatasource file above in order to create your data source.
README: This is a documentation and a copy right file.
An Access Database that has 4 tables you will need in order to store your questions and answers:
1. Question Table: this table will have the following fields:
  - Question_id: This is primary key.
  - Name: This is the actual question.
  - EntryDate: This is the date the question was generated.
  - Category_id: This is the category which the question is associated with. Category could mean anything depending on your business.
  - Rank: This is the ranking or weight of the question.
  - Disable: 0/1 to represent whether the question should be displayed online or not.
2. Answer Table: this table will have the following fields:
  - Answer_id: This is primary key.
  - Name: This is the actual answer.
3. Question_Answer Table: this table will link each question to an answer. This table will have the following fields:
  - Question_id: This is primary key.
  - Answer_id: This is the answer id.
4. Category Table: this table will represent the categories, products, classifications, etc. which will group different questions in your database. This table will have the following fields:
  - Category_id: This is primary key.
  - name: This is the category name.
3 month support and warranty to assist you set up and debug the application until it is running on your production server.

Test It! Top Purchase it

You will only be able to test the Admin tool that comes with the tag to insert, update, and delete questions and answers. Here is a few things regarding this demo:

We have provided the syntax that we used to generate this demo at the top of the demo page. This syntax, obviously, will not show up on the real application.
You will be able to go forward with creating new questions, updating and deleting existing questions. However, an actual database interaction will not be real because we wouldn't give everybody online the ability to tamper with our tables. So, upon creation/updating/deletion of questions, you will receive a note at the top of the demo page telling you that the corresponding action was completed successfully.
The coloring of the tables and rows is pulled from a style sheet we are using on our server. However, there is a parameter that you can send to PowerFAQAdmin called StyleSheet, where you can specify a relative path and a name of an existing style sheet file to format the page as you wish.
We did not validate all the fields upon creation, updating, and deletion. This is because it really depends on the application and the client using the tool. Some businesses might want to require submitting an answer with the creation of a question, while some don't. So, we created the parameter JavaScriptValidation. All you have to do is send the names of the fields you would like to see the tag require. For example, JavaScriptValidation="question, answer, rank" will require that all three fields will be required upon updating and creating new questions. The valid values are:

- question.
- answer.
- rank.

Please note that disable and category will always be selected, so there is no need for validation.

You can now test PowerFAQAdmin application

FAQ About PowerFAQ 1.0 Top Purchase it

What does the Encryption Key exactly mean?

The Encryption Key is any string that the application will use to encrypt and decrypt your data passed along using the URL. This will help prevent hackers and users from tampering with the URL to corrupt your data. So, all you have to do is come up with a one-word string, and pass it along to the tag, and the rest will be taken care of automatically. You will not need to remember the Key as long as it is passed to the tag.
How does the ranking of a question increase?

The ranking of a question will increase in the following manner:

- If a user clicks on a question link to view the entire question and the answer, the question's rank will increase by 1.
- If a user votes Excellent for the question, the question's rank will increase by 3.
- If a user votes Good for the question, the question's rank will increase by 2.
- If a user votes Fair for the question, the question's rank will increase by 1.

The idea is the more people that click on a question, the more popular the question and its answer should be ranked.
I represent a small business, so we do not have a large database structure. How can I still use PowerFAQ 1.0?

PowerFAQ 1.0 can be used with individuals, small businesses, and large corporations alike. If you do not have a database in place, we have included an Access database for you to use with your purchase. If you have other preferences, we will help you create one using other famous Database Management Systems. You will be able to create a data source programmatically using the tools we included in your purchase. Please read "Included In Your Purchase" above.
So, what do I get for the $89?

For this small amount you will get all the files mentioned in Included In Your Purchase section above.
I already have tables for my questions and answers on my web site. Do I need to delete all this structure and rebuild it from scratch to be able to use PowerFAQ 1.0?

In most cases, No. You can still create views that will retrieve the relevant fields from the tables you already have established. PowerFAQ 1.0 uses the most basic fields you will need for any FAQ application. So, we assume that even if you have an existing theme for your FAQ application, you should at least have all the fields we mentioned above. Remember, displaying your questions and answers to your users online will not change your database structure or update your questions. This great flexibility will give you the ability to separate your back-end and front-end FAQ applications. PowerFAQ 1.0 is a front-end user-friendly application.
What do you mean by Category?

We came up with this generic name, but it really could mean anything. It could simply refer to your products, classes, divisions, groups, etc. The idea behind Category, is to group the questions you have in your database in such a way that your users can simply select a category, and all the relevant questions will be displayed under that category. For example, on Gilgamesh Solutions FAQ page, selecting "Payment Online" will generate three questions submitted before regarding how to pay for products online.
If I have or want a different database structure than the one included in the purchase file, will you help me set up those 4 tables or views on my database? How much will it cost?

Yes. We will help you set up those 4 tables or views on your database for NO EXTRA CHARGE.
Can I request to have some more search options added? Can I request to have some features removed? Finally, can I ask you to change the layout and the wording of the questions?

Yes. Since it is extremely difficult using this application to find a very generic form, we had to decide on an, what we think would be, acceptable form. However, many things can easily change like the colors of the text and links, the width of the tables (now it adjusts automatically to 100% of the page size), the wording, etc. Just let us know at support@gilgamesh-solutions.com, and we will let you know if it is possible to add your modifications.
Do I need to enable my application session? How do I do that?

Yes. You have to enable your session management. The code to do that is:

<CFAPPLICATION NAME="Gilgamesh Solutions Application"
SESSIONMANAGEMENT="Yes"
SESSIONTIMEOUT="#CreateTimeSpan(0,0,20,0)#">

Include the code above in your application.cfm file, and make sure you did not disable Session management in your ColdFusion Server Administrator Interface. We will help you set this up as well. Please note that the number 20 in the code above means that the session will expire in 20 minutes. You can set this up to be higher or lower depending on how much time you want to give your user before you timeout his session after he is idle for that time.
Is there any licensing restrictions with the purchase of this tag?

Yes. You have to purchase a separate license for every web site you are using the tag to generate an FAQ application for. We do have an ulimited web site license option for only $250.

Optional Features Top Purchase it

Some features could be added to the application upon request including:

Adding more search options.
Taking some features away.
Changing data display on the page.
Adding graphics and images.
Other features that are specific to each client.