How to build an FAQ in Confluence Cloud (3 ways that work)

1. One FAQ page with an expand per question

The quickest FAQ needs nothing extra. Create a page called FAQ. For each question, type /expand in the editor, use the question as the title of the expand, and write the answer inside it. Readers see a short list of questions and open only the one they need (Atlassian: Insert the expand macro, Add elements to a page or live doc).

• Works well for up to about 20 questions that one person or one team owns.
• The catch. Nobody can add a question except in a comment, and one person ends up keeping the page up to date. Confluence search takes you to the page, not to the one question you were looking for.

2. A page per question, collected with labels

When the list grows, give every question its own page: the question as the page title, the answer as the body. Then tie the pages together with a label.

• Label each page. Give every FAQ page the same label, for example faq. In Confluence Cloud, select the Details icon in the floating action bar at the bottom right of the page, then + next to Labels. Labels can't contain spaces (Atlassian: Use labels to organize content and attachments).
• Make the label automatic. Create a template for FAQ pages and add the label to the template. Every page created from it gets the label (Atlassian: Create a template).
• List them on one page. On your FAQ overview page, type /filterbylabel to add the Filter by label macro, choose the faq label, add a Space filter if you only want this space, and sort by title. It shows 15 items by default and up to 500 (Atlassian: Insert the filter by label macro). Older documentation and Confluence Data Center call this macro Content by Label.

• Works well for dozens or hundreds of questions, written by several people.
• The catch. Each answer is one page by one author. Colleagues can comment or edit, but there are no competing answers, no votes and no built-in way to mark a question as answered. Asking a new question still means writing a page yourself.

3. A Q&A app, so people ask their own questions

The first two ways depend on someone writing the questions down. A Q&A app turns that around: people ask in their own words, colleagues answer, and the answer that worked is marked. The FAQ grows from real questions instead of guesses. Atlassian's own Questions for Confluence is one such app; Q&A in Confluence Cloud: your options compares the choices.

Full disclosure: I build AskSpace at Dortus. In AskSpace:

• Per space. A space admin turns Q&A on in the spaces that need it and chooses who may ask and who may answer.
• Answers from colleagues. Answers get up and down votes, and the person who asked, or a moderator, marks the best answer.
• Search that includes answers. Search looks in the questions and in the answers. Similar questions show up while someone types a new one, so the same question gets asked less often.
• On your FAQ page. The AskSpace questions block shows the latest questions of the space on a page, or only the unanswered or solved ones, 3, 5 or 10 at a time, optionally for one tag.

AskSpace is on the Atlassian Marketplace. Getting started with AskSpace walks through the setup.

• Works well for teams where questions keep coming and more than one person knows the answers.
• The catch. It is one more app on your site, and someone should keep an eye on the unanswered questions.

Which one should you pick?

	One page with expands	Pages with a label	Q&A app
Questions	Up to about 20	Dozens to hundreds	Keeps growing
Who asks	The page owner picks them	Whoever writes a page	Anyone allowed to ask
Who answers	The page owner	The page author	Colleagues; best answer marked
Upkeep	One person edits one page	Keep the label on every page	Watch the unanswered questions

Not sure? Start with one page of expands. When it gets long, or when the same few people keep answering the same questions in chat, move to labels or a Q&A app.

Questions

Spotted something wrong on this page, or a way we missed? Email support@dortus.com.