FAQ Style Guide
Guidelines for how to write content for FAQ section
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Guidelines for how to write content for FAQ section
Last updated
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Our FAQ sections exist, to address common queries often asked by investors. These queries are so common, that instead of covering these as part of their dedicated series; we chose to group them under a dedicated series of its own.
These are available in our Discord #faqs channel. And on top of that, it'd be available as a bot command - when someone asks a common query whose answer is already in our wiki, another community member can have a bot fetch that for the member right away.
Given how ingrained FAQs are, there are clear needs for FAQs to be well-structured.
Start by reading the general content guidelines. FAQ entries must follow all guidelines present in this following write up
In addition to these, we've a few specific guidelines for FAQs.
Keep the query in mind, when writing the entry
Any off-topic content, that does anything but directly answer the query, doesn't belong in that FAQ.
Say, the FAQ is How do I invest in US markets? Should I use a US broker, or India-domiciled mutual fund that invests in US markets? Which one's better option?
The answer to this query should focus on cost aspects of various options around investing in US markets.
Any discussion about investing in US markets, correlation with world markets, allocation in world indices etc. are off-topic, and doesn't belong in the FAQ itself.
Any single line that doesn't help a typical investor understand the problem / solution better, is not something that belongs in that FAQ. It might belong in a different series or article of its own, but not in that FAQ.
Do not accept the premise of the question, if you don't think it's correct. A query can be loaded with assumption, that's not past debate. It's not correct just because it's commonly / frequently asked. It's your job to point that out, help the reader with pointers on what the real underlying query is. If the question is What's the best time to buy an LIC policy, the answer must point out that user should avoid buying LIC policies or ULIPs, and give reasoning as to why.
Don't write detailed take, like a research paper or a due diligence.
Some reasoning is ok, but FAQ is not a chapter in wiki. Brevity is desired.
Eventually, we'd have enough content in both wiki and FAQ, that we'd be able to refer FAQ readers to relevant wiki articles. This also creates a better experience through self-segmenting users.
User with shorter attention span would want to get the answer up front. The link to more resources, would only take users there, who've the time and interest to pursue that further. We should help both segments of users, to the best of our abilities.
Provide a crisp summary for the FAQ, in 1-2 sentences. This shows up in thumbnail when shared as link. Someone who's not willing to visit a webpage, and happy to see a thumbnail in Discord / Slack / Whatsapp / Twitter etc., should be able to get a 1-2 sentence answer to their query.