EasyAsk&Answer - Version 3

Introduction

A really easy to use and install Q&A script. It was originally made as a replacement for the WAK Ask&Answer script (it is not ‘the MySQL version’, it’s its own script!) but as I learnt more PHP, I added more and more features.

Download

Download EasyAsk&Answer?
View a working example?

Features

  • IP Logging - questions are accompanied by IP addresses.
  • IP Banning - you can ban a visitor from asking any more questions. {Not fool-proof.}
  • Flood Protection - cookies are set when someone submits a question. One question per minute, per user.
  • Mass Delete Questions - you can delete more than one question at a time in the admin panel.
  • Mini Search Engine - to try and prevent people from asking the same question over and over again.
  • Naughty Words Filter - not everyone likes spam or swearing.
  • Link Converter - URLs entered into the question or answer field, are automatically converted to clickable links.
  • Permalinks - link to specific questions.
  • Automatic Acronym Converter - automatically converts acronyms. Example: PHP.
  • Add Questions To FAQ - questions that have been asked more than once can be added to form a FAQ page.
  • Multiple Installs In One Database - you can now have this script installed more than once in a database.
  • Import From Other Q&A Scripts - you can import questions and answers from WAK’s Ask&Answer, FAQtastic and POSED.ORG’s Ask&Answer.
  • RSS Feed - people can now read the questions and answers (from your site) in their feed reader.
  • Spam protection - A common characteristic of spam are multiple URLs, so if a “question” has more than 5 links in it, the question is automatically discarded.
  • “Naughty Words Filter”, “Link Converter”, “Permalinks”, “Automatic Acronym Converter”, “Add Questions To FAQ” and the RSS Feed are all optional features.

Installing, Upgrading and Importing

Step 1

Download the script and unzip the files anywhere on your computer…if you haven’t already done so.
Log into your cPanel and create a MySQL database for this script. (Optional but you WILL need some database information to be able to complete the next step!)

Step 2

Open up config.php and edit the variables to fit your information.

Step 3

Upload all files to your server.

Step 4

Load up install.php in your browser, by going to http://yoursite.com/EasyAsk&Answer/install.php, changing the domain to whatever your site’s URL is. ;)
If the install was successful, you will get a message saying that the tables have been installed. It will tell you to delete install.php - do it; you won’t be able to get any further otherwise. Leaving install.php on the server could be a problem, so it’s best to remove it.

Step 5

Log into the admin panel by going to http://yoursite.com/EasyAsk&Answer/admin/ and entering the username and password you edited in the config.php file.
Answer the question you will have to ensure that the script is working properly…

Step 6

To make the script look like the rest of your site, open ask.php, faq.php, index.php, search.php and single.php and put your header codes above the include and the footer codes below it.
You shouldn’t need to do anything else.

Updates Log

  • Mar/09 (Version 3.4) - Fixed the spam filter, as it had stopped counting how many URLs were in a question and preventing any questions from being asked!
  • Aug/08 (Version 3.3) - Fixed the problem with accented charaters / HTML entities. Also added a secondary spam filter and fixed up the coding in sendask.php.
  • Apr/08 (Version 3.2) - Added more error messages for when people mess with the dynamic URLs and modified the search feature.
  • Mar/08 (Version 3.1) - Fixed the problems people were having with deleting questions. Also fixed some other minor issues.
  • Jul/07 (Version 3) - Optional prefix for database added (allows multiple installs in one database), RSS Feed added and you’re now able to import questions and answers from WAK’s Ask&Answer, FAQtastic and POSED.ORG Ask&Answer.
  • May/07 (Version 2.1) - *FINALLY* got the search form to work with WordPress. *Smug* Also removed a snippet which was causing problems for some people.
  • Jan/07 (Version 2) - Version 2 released.
  • Jan/07 (Version 1.3) - Link converter added, made it easier to integrate into Wordpress Pages & permalink feature added.
  • Nov/06 (Version 1.2) - Naughty words filter added. Fixed some minor issues in the admin panel.
  • Oct/06 (Version 1.1) - WP-friendly version released.
  • Sept/06 (Version 1) - Released.