XClose

Student and Registry Services

Menu

Are your FAQs Start of Session ready?

2 June 2021

Information, tips and best practice for reviewing and updating your FAQs.

We have increasingly found that having more information filled FAQs has lessened the need for the student to Log an Enquiry to ask a follow-up question, resulting in a reduction of the volume of enquiries overall. 

If your FAQ contains a recommendation that the student needs to contact another team or department for further information, we suggest including contact details and links to relevant UCL webpages, for example: 

Tips, hints and best practice for reviewing and updating FAQs

  • Read the Wiki guide to: Reporting on most viewed FAQs attached to your team. 
  • Have the FAQ homepage open on more than one tab for reference purposes.
  • Note the FAQ number: in the event, you need to refer back to an FAQ saved in Draft, click on Advanced Search under the blue Search button and input the FAQ number in the Code box. 
  • To avoid getting timed out, take a note of the FAQ number, Save to Draft and follow the above point to retrieve your FAQ. 
  • From the FAQ homepage, click on the red top level category to view all FAQs for your team, then for each FAQ, check: 
    • Title and the Question boxes: these should mirror each other, adjust text if necessary.
    • Answer box: 
      • When importing text from another source, paste as plain text (Ctrl+Shift+V or right click and chose the option);
      • Avoid copying titles and headings;
      •  Check for any dates or timeframes that need updating;
      • Click on links to see if they are working and if the webpage contains up to date information; 
      • To add a link to another FAQ, open SID in a new tab, find the FAQ and copy its URL;
      • To accentuate text, use the table icon to add text to a box – for example see FAQ 718 on Exams in the Important section on the FAQ homepage. 
    • Additional Notes box: Staff only information can be stored here; it cannot be viewed by the student. 
    • Category box: 
      • Choose only one category; 
      • Where possible only use the top-level category (highlighted in light blue) if none of the other categories suit your FAQ;
      • To quick search a different category to use, view the FAQ Homepage on your other opened tab; the Category box mirrors the FAQ Homepage from left to right, row by row;
    • Keywords box: try to limit these to five words; a string of words is permitted, eg, exam adjustments.
    • Status box – choose: 
      • Draft - to have your FAQ published;
      • Pending or Needs updating – to store your FAQ, eg, if not relevant for Start of Session; keep your own Pending/Needs updating FAQ lists.
    • Owner and Team boxes: these should mirror each other and show the name of your team. 

Further tips when creating new FAQs

 

Find out if your team holds a separate list of unpublished FAQs, ie, FAQs that are currently held in SID Pending or Needs Updating folders, or contact SIDhelp@ucl.ac.uk to request a list. 

Check there isn’t already a similarly titled FAQ that could be updated, rather than create a new one. 

If there are two FAQs with similar titles, amalgamate into one and save as Draft; choose Obsolete for the other one.  

Follow the tips for reviewing and updating FAQs as you complete the Create New FAQ form. 

For full guidance read the Wiki guide, on How to: Create, Review and Update FAQs.

Further questions, or to request an FAQ Training sessions, contact Angela - A.tran@ucl.ac.uk 

Related News