The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) system in JoomHelpDesk lets you build a self-service knowledge resource for your customers. By organizing common questions and answers into categories, you can reduce ticket volume and help users find answers on their own.
This guide covers everything from creating your first FAQ category to fine-tuning how questions appear on the frontend.
Table of Contents
- Overview
- Managing FAQ Categories
- Creating and Editing FAQ Items
- Frontend FAQ Display
- Settings Reference
- Tips and Best Practices
1. Overview
The FAQ system is made up of three layers:
- FAQ Categories -- groupings that organize your questions by topic (e.g., "Billing", "Shipping", "Account Setup").
- FAQ Items -- individual question-and-answer pairs that live inside categories.
- Frontend View -- the public-facing page where visitors browse categories, search questions, filter by tags, and read answers.
All FAQ management (creating categories and items) happens in the Joomla administrator backend under Components > JoomHelpDesk. The display settings that control how FAQs appear to visitors are configured through View Settings in the same backend area.
2. Managing FAQ Categories
FAQ categories provide the top-level structure for your questions. Every FAQ item must belong to exactly one category.
Viewing the Category List
Navigate to Components > JoomHelpDesk > FAQ Categories in the Joomla admin panel. The list shows:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | The category name. Click it to edit. |
| Image | A thumbnail preview of the category image, if one has been set. |
| Published | Whether the category (and its FAQs) are visible on the frontend. Click the icon to toggle. |
| Order | The display order. Use the up/down arrows or type a number to rearrange categories. |
You can filter the list by published status and search by title using the toolbar at the top of the list.
Creating or Editing a Category
Click New in the toolbar to create a category, or click an existing title to edit it. The form contains:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | The name shown to visitors (e.g., "Getting Started", "Billing Questions"). Required. |
| Alias | A URL-friendly slug auto-generated from the title. You can override it for cleaner URLs. |
| Image | An optional image displayed alongside the category on the frontend. Use the media picker to select an image from your Joomla media library. A square image of at least 64x64 pixels works well. |
| Description | An optional rich-text description shown when a visitor enters the category. Use this to provide context, such as "Find answers about invoices, payments, and refunds." |
After filling in the fields, click Save or Save & Close in the toolbar.
Publishing and Ordering
- Unpublishing a category hides it and all its FAQs from the frontend. The FAQs are not deleted and will reappear when you republish.
- Ordering controls the sequence categories appear in on the frontend. Lower numbers appear first. To reorder, sort the list by the Order column, then use the arrows or change the numeric values and click the save-order icon.
3. Creating and Editing FAQ Items
Viewing the FAQ List
Navigate to Components > JoomHelpDesk > FAQs in the Joomla admin panel. The list shows:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Question | The FAQ question text. Click it to edit. |
| Category | Which category the FAQ belongs to. |
| Featured | Whether the FAQ is marked as featured. Click the star icon to toggle. |
| Published | Whether the FAQ is visible on the frontend. Click the icon to toggle. |
| Order | The display order within the FAQ listing. |
The toolbar provides filters to narrow the list:
- Search box -- type part of a question to find it quickly.
- Category filter -- show only FAQs from a specific category.
- Published filter -- show only published, unpublished, or all items.
Creating or Editing an FAQ
Click New in the toolbar to create an FAQ, or click an existing question to edit it. The form contains the following fields:
Category
Select the category this FAQ belongs to from the dropdown. Every FAQ must be assigned to a category.
Question
Enter the question text. Write it as your customers would ask it, for example: "How do I reset my password?" rather than "Password Reset Procedure." The question field is a plain-text area (no HTML formatting).
Answer
Enter the answer using the Joomla WYSIWYG editor. You have full rich-text formatting available: bold, italic, lists, links, images, and so on.
Read More separator: You can insert a Read More break (the <hr id="system-readmore" /> divider) in the editor to split the answer into a short preview and a full answer. Content before the break is stored as the short answer, and content after it becomes the extended answer. Both parts are shown when a visitor opens the FAQ, but display modes like "Question with Tooltip" will only show the short part in the preview.
Tags
Tags let you cross-reference FAQs across categories. Enter one tag per line in the text area. For example:
billing
refund
payment
Tags appear as clickable links on the frontend. When a visitor clicks a tag, they see all FAQs sharing that tag, regardless of category.
Additional Fields (Content Editor)
When FAQs are managed through the frontend content editor (by administrators with edit permissions), additional fields are available:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Featured | Marks the FAQ as featured. Featured FAQs can be displayed in a dedicated tab on the frontend. |
| Language | Assigns the FAQ to a specific language in multilingual sites. Only visible when Joomla multilingual support is enabled. |
| Access | Controls which Joomla access levels can see this FAQ (e.g., Public, Registered, Special). Defaults to Public. |
4. Frontend FAQ Display
The FAQ page presents visitors with a navigation bar, category browsing, search, and multiple ways to read answers.
Navigation Tabs
The top of the FAQ page shows a tab bar with up to four tabs (depending on your View Settings):
| Tab | Description |
|---|---|
| All Categories | The default landing view. Shows all published FAQ categories. |
| All FAQs | A flat list of every published FAQ across all categories, with search support. Hidden if the "Hide All FAQs" view setting is enabled. |
| Featured FAQs | Shows only FAQs marked as featured. Only visible if the "Show Featured" view setting is enabled. |
| Tags | Displays all tags used across FAQs. Visitors can click a tag to see related FAQs. Hidden if the "Hide Tags" view setting is enabled or no tags exist. |
Search
A search bar appears at the top of the FAQ page (unless hidden via View Settings). Visitors type a keyword and press Search to find matching FAQs. The search looks through both questions and answers.
Note: FAQ search requires at least 4 published FAQ items to function properly with the default search engine. If you have fewer than 4 FAQs, enable the "Search: Support non-latin text" setting under the component settings to allow searching with fewer items.
Browsing by Category
When a visitor is on the "All Categories" view, the categories display according to the Category View Mode setting:
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| List | Each category appears as a clickable link. Clicking it opens a new page listing that category's FAQs. Supports multi-column layout (1 to 4 columns). |
| Inline | Categories are displayed as cards with their description and image. FAQs belonging to each category are listed directly below the category header, so everything is visible on one page. |
| Accordion | Categories appear as collapsible panels. Click a category header to expand it and reveal its FAQs. Only one category is open at a time. |
| Popup | Categories are listed, but currently renders as a minimal layout (placeholder for future popup behavior). |
When using "Inline" or "Accordion" category modes, the FAQs within each category are rendered using the In-Category FAQ View Mode setting, which controls how individual questions display inside the category.
FAQ Item Display Modes
When viewing FAQs (either inside a category or on the All FAQs page), the display depends on the FAQ View Mode setting:
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| All on One Page | Each FAQ is shown as a card with the question in the header and the full answer visible in the body. No clicking required. |
| Accordion | Questions appear as collapsible cards. Click a question to expand it and read the answer. Collapsed by default. |
| Question with Popup | Questions appear as a list. Clicking a question opens the answer in a Bootstrap modal dialog. |
| Question with Link | Questions appear as a list. Clicking a question navigates to a dedicated page showing the full answer. |
| Question with Tooltip | Questions appear as a list. Hovering over a question shows the short answer in a Bootstrap tooltip. |
| Question with New Window | Questions appear as a list. Clicking a question opens the answer in a new browser popup window. The window size is controlled by the Popup Width and Popup Height settings. |
Tags Display
If tags are enabled, each FAQ item shows its tags below the answer. Tags are clickable links. Clicking a tag navigates to a filtered view showing all FAQs that share that tag across all categories.
The Tags tab in the navigation bar shows all available tags as a browsable list.
Breadcrumb Navigation
The FAQ system integrates with Joomla's breadcrumb pathway. As visitors drill into categories or individual FAQs, the breadcrumb trail updates to show their location, allowing easy back-navigation.
Pagination
When the "Enable Pages" view setting is turned on and the number of FAQs exceeds the "FAQs Per Page" setting, pagination controls appear at the bottom of the FAQ list.
5. Settings Reference
FAQ settings are split into two areas: Component Settings (global behavior) and View Settings (display options).
Component Settings
Found under Components > JoomHelpDesk > Settings > FAQ Settings.
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| FAQs Popup Width | (pixels) | Width of the popup window when using the "Question with New Window" display mode. |
| FAQs Popup Height | (pixels) | Height of the popup window when using the "Question with New Window" display mode. |
| FAQ Use Content Plugins | Off | When enabled, Joomla content plugins are applied to the FAQ answer when viewing a single FAQ. This allows plugins like code highlighters or embedded media to process the answer content. |
| FAQ Use Content Plugins (List) | Off | When enabled, Joomla content plugins are applied to FAQ answers when displayed in list views (category listings, All FAQs page). Enabling this on a page with many FAQs may impact performance since every answer is processed. |
| FAQs Per Page | (number) | Maximum number of FAQs to show per page before pagination kicks in. Only effective when pagination is enabled in View Settings. |
| Multi Column Responsive Layout | Off | Enables an experimental responsive layout with additional styles for multi-column category listings. |
View Settings
Found under Components > JoomHelpDesk > View Settings > FAQs.
When Showing List of Categories
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Hide All FAQs | Off | Hides the "All FAQs" tab from the navigation bar. |
| Hide Tags | Off | Hides the "Tags" tab from the navigation bar. Tags are also auto-hidden when no tags exist in the system. |
| Hide Search | Off | Hides the search bar from the FAQ page. |
| Show Featured | Off | Shows a "Featured FAQs" tab in the navigation bar, giving visitors a dedicated view of FAQs marked as featured. |
| Number of Category Columns | 1 | How many columns to use when displaying categories in List mode (1, 2, 3, or 4). Only applies when Category View Mode is set to "List." |
| Category View Mode | List | How categories are displayed: List, Inline, Accordion, or Popup. See the Browsing by Category section for details on each mode. |
| In-Category FAQ View Mode | List | How FAQ items are displayed within an expanded Inline or Accordion category. Options: All on One Page, Accordion, Question with Tooltip, Question with Link, Question with Popup, Question with New Window. |
When Showing List of FAQs
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| FAQ View Mode | Question with Popup | How FAQ items are displayed when browsing a category or the All FAQs page. Options: All on One Page, Accordion, Question with Tooltip, Question with Link, Question with Popup, Question with New Window. |
| Enable Pages | On | Enables pagination for FAQ lists. When disabled, all matching FAQs are shown on a single page. |
6. Tips and Best Practices
Organizing Categories
- Keep categories broad but meaningful. Five to ten categories is usually the right range. Too many categories make it hard for visitors to find the right one; too few make each category overwhelming.
- Use descriptive category names that match how your customers think, not your internal terminology. "Billing and Payments" is better than "Finance Department."
- Add category descriptions to help visitors confirm they are in the right place. A one-sentence summary is usually enough.
- Add category images for visual appeal. Consistent icon-style images work well, especially in multi-column layouts.
Writing Good FAQs
- Write questions in the customer's voice. Use "How do I..." and "Why does..." rather than formal headings.
- Keep answers concise but complete. Use the Read More separator if you need to provide a short answer plus detailed steps.
- Use formatting in answers. Numbered lists for step-by-step instructions, bold for emphasis, and links to relevant pages all improve readability.
- Use tags generously. Tags let visitors discover related FAQs across categories. A question about "refund policy" in the Billing category might share a "refund" tag with a "return process" FAQ in the Shipping category.
Choosing Display Modes
- Accordion is the most popular choice for FAQ pages. It keeps the page compact and lets visitors scan questions quickly, expanding only what they need.
- All on One Page works well when you have few FAQs per category (under 10) and want visitors to read everything without extra clicks.
- Question with Popup is a good middle ground when you want a clean question list without navigating away from the page.
- Question with Link is best when your answers are long and benefit from a dedicated full-width page.
- Question with Tooltip suits very short answers (one or two sentences). It is the fastest way for visitors to get answers but does not work well with long or formatted content.
Performance Considerations
- Content Plugins in list views can slow down pages with many FAQs because each answer is processed by all active content plugins. Enable this only if you need plugin processing in list views. The single-FAQ content plugin setting is generally safe to leave on.
- Pagination helps performance on categories with many FAQs. Showing 20 FAQs per page is a reasonable default.
- Inline and Accordion category modes load all FAQs for all categories on a single page. If you have hundreds of FAQs, consider using the List category mode instead so FAQs load per-category.
Multilingual Sites
- Assign each FAQ and its tags to the appropriate language when running a multilingual Joomla site. The language column and filter appear automatically when Joomla's language filter plugin is enabled.
- Tags are filtered by language on the frontend, so visitors only see tags relevant to their active language.
Access Control
- Use the Access level field on individual FAQs to restrict visibility. For example, set an FAQ to "Registered" so only logged-in users can see it, or create a "VIP" access level for premium support content.
- Category publishing controls visibility at a broader level. Unpublishing a category hides all its FAQs, regardless of their individual published state.
Frontend Editing
- Administrators with edit permissions can publish, unpublish, and edit FAQs directly from the frontend FAQ page without going to the backend. An edit panel appears next to each FAQ item when you are logged in with the appropriate permissions.