Ian Stewart will lead customer experience at WordPress.com, utilizing his 14 years of experience on the WordPress.com team and a passion for themes.
WORDPRESS
9 Best FAQ WordPress Plugins (Expert Pick)
Are you looking for WordPress FAQ plugins to use on your website?
Using FAQ plugins can improve the customer experience by making it easier for users to find answers to their questions without leaving your website. It can also boost your search engine rankings and help more people find your content.
In this article, we will share some of the best WordPress FAQ plugins that can help add an attractive FAQ section to your website.
Why Use a WordPress FAQ Plugin?
FAQ plugins create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section on your WordPress website with a list of some commonly asked questions and their answers.
This helps build trust and credibility with your customers by letting them know that you understand their questions and worries. FAQs can even increase conversion rates.
FAQs also allow users to find an answer to their questions without needing to contact customer service. This saves time and enables your customer support team to focus on other issues.
Additionally, using these plugins can also improve your search engine rankings because most FAQs often contain long-tail keywords that users commonly search for using search engines.
That being said, let’s look at some of the best WordPress FAQ plugins that can help improve user experience on your website.
1. All in One SEO for WordPress
All in One SEO is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market. It allows you to easily optimize your website to improve search engine rankings.
The plugin comes with an FAQ block that helps you create an attractive FAQ section in the block editor. Within the block, you can enter questions and answers for your FAQ section.
You can also customize your FAQ section from the block panel, including its text color, background color, typography, and title wrapper.
Moreover, All in One SEO even allows you to add FAQ schema to your WordPress website. This schema markup can increase your visibility on Google and bring more traffic to your website.
Note: The AIOSEO free version comes with an FAQ block. However, you will need to buy the Pro version of the plugin to unlock the FAQ schema feature.
To activate the FAQ schema, you need to scroll down to the AIOSEO section in the block editor and switch to the ‘Schema’ tab.
After that, click the ‘Generate Schema’ button to open up a prompt.
Once the Schema Generator opens up, click on the ‘FAQ’ option to add the schema.
Next, you can add questions and answers to the schema template. For more detailed instructions, please see our tutorial on how to add FAQ schema in WordPress.
Apart from FAQs, AIOSEO has custom sitemaps, advanced redirects, SEO titles and descriptions, multiple keyphrases, and more. These features make it the ultimate toolkit for improving SEO on your website.
2. Heroic FAQs
Heroic FAQs is a premium WordPress plugin that comes with a drag-and-drop interface to organize, reorder, or group related questions together.
It offers 5 pre-designed FAQ templates and a visual editor that lets you insert images, blockquotes, lists, videos, and more into your FAQ content.
You can display the FAQs in accordion or toggle format. You are also able to choose from 15 different FAQ icon styles to match your website’s design.
Using the Heroic FAQs plugin can also improve your website visibility and search engine rankings because it has a built-in FAQ schema.
Some of its other features include fast loading, FAQ search, analytics reports, mobile responsiveness, and page builder integrations. It is the perfect solution if you are looking for an all-in-one FAQs management kit.
3. SeedProd
SeedProd is the best WordPress landing page builder on the market. It makes it super easy to create landing pages and custom themes in WordPress without using any code.
It also comes with an Accordion block that lets you create FAQs by adding text sections that expand and collapse to any part of your page.
First, you will need to choose a template and start building your page with SeedProd. For detailed instructions, you may want to see our guide on how to create a landing page in WordPress.
Then, you can drag and drop the ‘Accordion’ block onto the landing page from the block panel on the left side of the screen.
You can now add a question and an answer in the text box to start creating an FAQ section.
After that, you can also customize the font size, icon image, typography, text color, and background color for your FAQs.
You can even add custom CSS and animation effects to your FAQs.
SeedProd also comes with built-in SEO features that will allow you to optimize your landing pages for search engines and increase visibility.
4. Thrive Architect
Thrive Architect is another powerful drag-and-drop page builder that helps you easily create custom landing pages, layouts, and content for your WordPress site.
It comes with a Toggle element that lets you add an FAQ section in an accordion style to your landing pages. Once you drag and drop the Toggle onto your page, its settings will open up in the settings menu on the left.
You can now add content to the toggle headlines. To expand the toggle and add an answer to the question, click the ‘Expand’ button in the block toolbar above each toggle.
You are able to customize the FAQ section by adjusting the columns, width, vertical space, and dropdown animations.
With Thrive Architect, you can also further customize the FAQs section by changing the icons, typography, layout, background color, borders, adding HMTL attributes, and more.
For more details on how to use Thrive Architect, you can see our guide on how to create a custom page in WordPress.
5. YITH WooCommerce Questions And Answers
YITH WooCommerce Questions And Answers is not your typical FAQs plugin because it is specifically designed for WooCommerce.
It allows you to create an FAQ section for your product pages and also enables customers to submit their own questions that can be answered by the support team.
This can help increase user engagement in your WooCommerce store and provide a better customer experience.
It is a highly customizable plugin with a category filter and search feature to make it easier for users to find the answers to their questions.
With YITH WooCommerce Questions and Answers, you can even implement a voting system, activate the email notification process, hide inappropriate questions, and encourage users to post their own answers in the FAQs section.
6. Ultimate FAQ
Ultimate FAQ is a popular WordPress plugin that provides shortcodes and blocks in the Gutenberg editor to add an FAQ section to your website.
It comes with unlimited support for categories and tags and even lets you add an unlimited number of FAQs to a single section.
By default, the plugin comes with accordion and toggle styles. However, you can also use custom CSS to style your FAQs according to your liking.
Other than that, it lets you import FAQs in bulk by using Google Sheets and even offers a search and filtering feature that customers can use to find the answers to their questions.
The plugin is super easy to use and helps create SEO-friendly FAQs to improve your search engine rankings.
Moreover, Ultimate FAQ also integrates with WooCommerce, so you can easily add an FAQ section for your online store.
Some of its other features include email support, social sharing, custom fields, multiple FAQ layouts, video/image support, and more.
7. Easy Accordion
Easy Accordion is a powerful FAQ builder plugin that provides a drag-and-drop interface to create an accordion-style FAQ section.
It’s lightweight, fast, and SEO-friendly, helping you quickly optimize your website content for search engines.
The plugin offers more than 16 pre-designed templates and other customization options, including typography, icon sets, font colors, themes, animation effects, padding, color schemes, and more.
This makes it the perfect choice if you want to create a highly customizable FAQ section.
Besides that, Easy Accordion has a responsive layout that works on various devices, including mobile phones, iPads, desktops, and tablets.
8. Helpie FAQ
Helpie FAQ comes with a user-friendly interface that allows you to easily create and manage FAQ pages.
It also offers a built-in FAQ schema that increases your search visibility and can improve your website rankings.
The plugin provides you with complete flexibility to add an FAQ section to your pages, posts, or WordPress sidebar.
Some of the other features of Helpie FAQ include an AJAX search feature, basic sorting, color themes, import/export, user submissions, and more.
You can also integrate this plugin with WooCommerce to create an FAQ section for your online store.
9. WP Responsive FAQ With Category
WP Responsive FAQ with Category is a simple WordPress plugin that uses shortcodes to add FAQ sections to your pages or posts.
If you are looking for a beginner-friendly and easy-to-use solution to create FAQs, then this plugin is for you.
It comes with a drag-and-drop interface and 15+ pre-designed templates that will help you create an aesthetically-pleasing FAQ section for your website.
Other than that, WP Responsive FAQ also offers WooCommerce support and makes it super easy for you to display an FAQ section in your online store.
Some of its other features include image/video support, customization settings, accordion animation adjustments, and more.
Which Is the Best WordPress FAQ Plugin?
In our expert opinion, All in One SEO is the best WordPress FAQ plugin because it allows you to easily add FAQ sections and schema to your pages and posts.
However, if you want to create an FAQ section on a landing page, then you can also use SeedProd or Thrive Architect. They are the best WordPress page builders on the market that come with built-in features to help create an attractive FAQ section.
You can also use the Heroic FAQs plugin if you are looking for an all-in-one solution. Its user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface allows you to easily build FAQs and FAQ schema.
If you have an online store, then we recommend using YITH WooCommerce Questions and Answers or the Ultimate FAQ plugin because they are designed to integrate with WooCommerce.
We hope this article helped you find the best WordPress FAQ plugins for your website. You may also want to see our beginner’s guide on how to choose the best domain registrar in WordPress and our top picks for the best accordion plugins.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
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What is PHP? A Thorough Explanation for Absolute Beginners – WordPress.com News
If you find yourself diving deeper into the topic of WordPress, content management systems, and websites, a term you will quickly stumble upon is “PHP.” You will likely hear how crucial PHP is for the Internet and that it is what’s powering WordPress websites.
However, what exactly is PHP, and why is it so important?
The short answer is that it’s a general-purpose, server-side scripting language. That said, unless you are already knowledgeable in programming and web development, that probably doesn’t make things much clearer.
In order to help you better understand this topic, we’ll cover PHP in detail below. You’ll learn what PHP is, why it matters, and how it relates to WordPress and pretty much everything you do online. We promise you’ll be surprised to hear how much you likely rely on PHP every day.
- What is PHP? History, features, and benefits
- How PHP works: Creating dynamic web content
- PHP and WordPress: The CMS’ heart and soul
- PHP in everyday life: You rely on it more often than you think
- What is PHP? It is the web’s backbone
What is PHP? History, features, and benefits
The original developer of PHP was a Danish-Canadian programmer named Rasmus Lerdorf. He first created the language in the mid 1990s to build tools for his own website; that’s why PHP originally stood for “Personal Home Page.” Today, it stands for the recursive acronym “Hypertext Preprocessor” and development and support has been taken over by the PHP Group.
PHP features
PHP has some notable features, many of which are applicable to the way WordPress works:
Open Source: The first thing that is important to note is that, like WordPress, PHP is open source. That means it does not belong to any one business entity. It also means that it’s free to download and use for any purpose.
Also like WordPress, PHP is maintained by a number of volunteers around the world. The next major release, 8.4, will be available November 21, 2024.
Finally, both WordPress and PHP are community-funded––while WordPress has the WordPress Foundation, The PHP Foundation’s mission is to “ensure the long-term prosperity of the PHP language.” Automattic is a proud Platinum Sponsor of The PHP Foundation.
Server Side: PHP is a server-side language, which means it executes on the server and not in the user’s browser.
For example, PHP’s most frequent application is for creating HTML documents for websites. Even though there are PHP files on the server, the browser does not receive the PHP code; instead, it receives the finished HTML documents for display. This is different from client-side languages like JavaScript where the processing happens directly in the user’s browser after downloading the JavaScript files.
To make things clearer, server-side languages are a bit like going to a restaurant. You send an order to the kitchen, they prepare the meal, and it arrives at your table ready to eat. Client-side languages, on the other hand, are like meal-delivery services. While they provide you with all the necessary ingredients, you still have to put them together in your own kitchen.
General Purpose: PHP is also a general-purpose programming language. You can use it for command-line scripting, creating desktop applications, and more. However, its primary application is in web development.
Ubiquitous: According to W3Techs, the language is present on 75.7% of all websites. That includes some famous ones, as you will see below.
In addition, it forms the backbone of many content management systems like Drupal, Joomla!, and—the most popular of them all—WordPress.
PHP is one of the biggest open source success stories, as much of the modern Internet depends on it to work.
Benefits of PHP
You might be asking yourself why the usage of PHP is so widespread. There are many good reasons for that, but here are just a few:
- Beginner-Friendly: PHP is relatively easy for beginners to learn due to its intuitive syntax. There are also plenty of tools and frameworks available to make coding easier.
- Wide Community: The language has a vast and active community of developers worldwide. This means there are loads of online resources, forums, and other places where users can seek help and find ready-made solutions to common problems.
- Cross-Platform Compatibility: PHP is compatible with popular operating systems, including Windows, MacOS, Linux, and Unix. It also works on various web servers such as Apache, NGINX, and Microsoft IIS.
- Database Connectivity: In addition, it works with a number of different database formats, such as MySQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Oracle, and more. PHP can execute SQL queries, retrieve, update and delete data, and handle database connections and transactions.
- Cost-Effective: As we have already learned, the programming language is free to use, distribute, and modify. That eliminates the need for expensive licensing fees and reduces development costs, making it an economical choice for web development projects.
- Scalability: PHP is capable of handling high traffic loads and can easily scale. You can use it together with caching techniques and other optimization strategies to enhance performance. Plus, it’s generally faster than some other programming languages, such as Python.
How PHP works: Creating dynamic web content
One of the main reasons why PHP is so popular for web development is that it seamlessly integrates with various technologies and services commonly used in this area. Examples include HTTP, POP3, IMAP, and more.
One of its main advantages is that it is highly compatible with HTML, the main language used to create and display websites. In fact, it’s possible to use PHP code in HTML files and vice versa.
Above you can see how both languages appear in the same file. The PHP markup is delineated by opening and closing brackets ( and ?>) so that the server knows where it ends and begins. However, the PHP code itself is inside an HTML element. The _e function is a WordPress function used for localization, which allows for easy translations across the WordPress software.
The main benefit of this is that using PHP allows web developers to display dynamic content in otherwise static web pages. For example, PHP is able to pull content directly from databases, making it great for templating. You can create a fixed layout for all web pages but then display different content depending on the page a user is on.
This is vastly different from pure HTML, where the content needs to be hard-coded in the page file in order for the browser to show it. PHP, on the other hand, can add it on the fly as needed. That’s one of the main benefits of this programming language—the ability to dynamically combine and display content from different sources and of different kinds according to what the user requests.
PHP and WordPress: The CMS’ heart and soul
As a WordPress user, PHP is especially important. The programming language forms the basis of much of what WordPress can do. It’s what allows you to create, edit, and delete pages, posts, media, and other content. That’s why you see that a lot of files that end in .php when you look in the directory of any WordPress installation.
It’s also why, when installing WordPress on a server, the system requirements insist that PHP be present. In recent years JavaScript has been playing a bigger and bigger role in the WordPress ecosystem, mainly because of the adoption of the Gutenberg editor. That said, PHP is still the main workhorse in the background.
Powering themes and plugins
What are some of WordPress’ main tasks powered by PHP? Before the advent of block themes, WordPress themes were all written mostly in PHP, especially page template files. In fact, if you look at the template hierarchy, you can see that WordPress has PHP files for pretty much all pages and theme components.
Why? So we have the ability to create a single layout for one type of content and then dynamically display what’s saved in the database for a particular piece of content.
That way, if you have 300 pages of the same kind on your site, you don’t need a file for each as you would on a pure HTML website. Instead, you just need one single page template file; PHP can then populate each individual page with its specific content.
PHP also makes it easy to compartmentalize different parts of your theme. For example, it’s very common to not have the markup for a footer in each file. Instead you can create a separate footer.php file and call it into your templates where needed. That way, if you want to modify the footer layout, you only have to make changes in a singular place—the footer.php file.
The same is true for plugins, aka collections of PHP files that contain the necessary markup for adding extra functionality to your WordPress site. When you activate a plugin, it gets added to the rest of your website code and can provide the functionality you are looking for.
Without PHP, there would be no WordPress
All of the above is only made possible by the flexibility that PHP offers. Besides the benefits we have discussed before, this is the main reason why WordPress relies on PHP to the extent that it does; PHP offers a ton of flexible functionality specifically for web development. PHP’s capabilities in content management, working with databases, and its modularity all make it a perfect candidate for powering the most popular website builder there is.
This also means that if you know PHP, it opens up a lot more possibilities to modify your WordPress website. You can write custom plugins, make changes to (non-block) themes and page templates, introduce functionality to functions.php, and so much more. So, if you want to improve your WordPress skill set, learning PHP is not a bad place to start.
PHP in everyday life: You rely on it more often than you think
Besides WordPress, you might actually be unaware how much of your general everyday online interactions are enabled by PHP. There are a number of very well-known websites that use PHP to run and many common processes that the programming language performs online:
- Facebook: The largest social network in existence was initially built using PHP. While they have moved away from the programming language over time, it still plays a significant role in their infrastructure.
- Wikipedia: The world’s biggest online encyclopedia also relies heavily on PHP for its back end operations, content management, and user interactions.
- Tumblr: This microblogging and social networking platform employs PHP to power its vast network of user-generated content and social interactions. We’re actually in the process of migrating Tumblr’s backend to run on WordPress; if you’re interested in being a part of this exciting project, leave your information here.
- Slack: This widely-used team collaboration and communication platform utilizes PHP for its back-end operations, real-time messaging, and API integrations.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are countless other examples of well-known web staples that exist in part because of PHP.
Other abilities of PHP
Up until this point, we’ve mostly talked about PHP in the context of creating and outputting HTML markup; however, the programming language is involved in a lot more that you probably take advantage of on a daily basis:
- Form Processing: PHP can process and validate data submitted by users via forms. It’s also capable of performing actions such as storing data in a database, sending email notifications, or generating dynamic responses based on user input. Plus, it comes with encryption to keep the submitted data safe.
- User Authentication: It can also handle user authentication by verifying login credentials. PHP allows you to implement user registration and login/logout functionality, and it can control access to different areas of your website or application. For example: user roles.
- Session Management: PHP can also manage user sessions, store session data, and track user activity. Among other things, this allows you to save user preferences. PHP can also set cookies and receive cookie data.
- File Manipulation: The programming language provides a wide range of functions for file manipulation, such as reading and writing files, uploading files from forms, creating directories, and modifying file permissions. This comes in handy for managing files on the server through other applications (like WordPress).
- Email Handling: PHP comes with functions to send emails from a server. This allows you to build features like contact forms, email notifications, and automated email responses.
- Third-Party Communication: With PHP you can interact with external APIs and web services. It makes it possible to integrate with other applications, retrieve data from remote servers, and perform actions like posting to social media platforms.
What is PHP? It is the web’s backbone
If you’re an everyday WordPress user or non-developer, you probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how much of your online experience is possible thanks to the humble PHP. However, the more you dive into this topic, the more you’ll realize how much you rely on it.
Who knew an open source solution was at the heart of what makes the World Wide Web tick? From the largest content management system in the world to well-known web entities, so much of what we take for granted exists because of it.
There are good reasons why it’s so widespread; from its powerful capabilities over its wide support system to ongoing development and support, there is a lot that speaks for PHP as the go-to solution for web projects.
Since it’s also beginner friendly, learning some PHP skills is definitely a good place to start if you want to dive deeper into the technical aspects of WordPress and web development.
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Ian Stewart to Lead WordPress.com – WordPress.com News
We are pleased to announce that Ian Stewart (blog, LinkedIn, GitHub, X) has been chosen to lead end-to-end customer experience for WordPress.com as its Artistic Director and product lead.
In a nod to LVMH’s organizational structure, Ian will lead in the style of a maison head, ensuring that every part of WordPress.com remains the best managed WordPress experience available. He has been a part of the WordPress.com team for over 14 years, and we’re excited to see what changes he will implement on WordPress.com in this new role.
“I got involved with WordPress after growing tired of using Blogger for my personal blog,” Ian says. “This quickly led to the demise of my regular blogging habits as I spent most of my time messing around with my theme…My fooling around with WordPress themes quickly became a delightful obsession as I tried to publicly figure out what I thought about them.”
We’re grateful for your obsession with WordPress, Ian, and we certainly know the feeling.
Please join us in welcoming Ian in his new role.
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Automattic sends WP Engine its own cease-and-desist over WordPress trademark infringement
The brouhaha in the WordPress community looks likely to escalate into a legal battle around trademarks.
Just a day after WordPress hosting service WP Engine sent a cease-and-desist notice to Automattic asking its CEO to stop publicly trashing WP Engine, now Automattic has sent its own cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, saying the latter has infringed several trademarks like WordPress and WooCommerce.
This comes after Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic and co-creator of WordPress, last week criticized WP Engine for profiteering off the open source WordPress project, calling it a “cancer to WordPress,” and accused the company of contributing very little to the community.
In its letter dated Monday, Automattic alleged that WP Engine has built a business of over $400 million in revenue based on unauthorized use of its WordPress trademark, which Automattic claims it has the exclusive commercial rights for from the WordPress Foundation. Automattic also said WP Engine has misled consumers into believing that there is a direct affiliation between the two companies.
“Your unauthorized use of our Client’s trademarks infringes on their rights and dilutes their famous and well-known marks. Negative reviews and comments regarding WP Engine and its offerings are imputed to our Client, thereby tarnishing our Client’s brands, harming their reputation, and damaging the goodwill our Client has established in its marks,” the letter read.
“Your unauthorized use of our Client’s intellectual property has enabled WP Engine to compete with our Client unfairly, and has led to unjust enrichment and undue profits,” it added.
Automattic is also demanding compensation for the profits made by WP Engine by using its trademarks and said that if WP Engine doesn’t amicably resolve the matter, the company has the right to file a civil injunction case.
For context, here’s a good summary of the WordPress community by my colleague Paul Sawers:
WordPress powers more than 40% of the web, and while any individual or company is free to take the open source project and run a website themselves, a number of businesses have sprung up to sell hosting services and technical expertise off the back of it. These include Automattic, which Mullenweg set up in 2005 to monetize the project he’d created two years earlier; and WP Engine, a managed WordPress hosting provider that has raised nearly $300 million in funding over its 14-year history, the bulk of which came via a $250 million investment from private equity firm Silver Lake in 2018.
In the cease-and-desist letter WP Engine sent to Automattic on Monday, the company defended its right to use the “WordPress” trademark under fair use laws. The company added that Automattic has “a profound misunderstanding of both trademark law and WordPress Foundation’s trademark policy.”
It also said Mullenweg demanded WP Engine pay Automattic “a significant percentage of its gross revenues — tens of millions of dollars in fact — on an ongoing basis” for a license to use trademarks like “WordPress.”
“When his outrageous financial demands were not met, Mr. Mullenweg carried out his threats by making repeated false claims disparaging WP Engine to its employees, its customers, and the world,” WP Engine’s letter said.
Notably, Automattic’s letter doesn’t mention Mullenweg’s remarks about WP Engine.
In the last week, Mullenweg has accused WP Engine of not contributing enough to the community and offering “a cheap knock-off” version of WordPress. WP Engine pushed back against this characterization and called out Mullenweg for launching a smear campaign against the company, saying it has already affected some of its business.
This might be the start of a long legal tussle between the two entities. A lot of folks also pointed out that this battle might be harmful for providers offering specialized WordPress hosting.
Earlier today, WordPress Foundation changed its Trademark Policy page, and it now calls out WP Engine, alleging the hosting service has confused users.
“The abbreviation ‘WP’ is not covered by the WordPress trademarks, but please don’t use it in a way that confuses people. For example, many people think WP Engine is “WordPress Engine” and officially associated with WordPress, which it’s not. They have never once even donated to the WordPress Foundation, despite making billions of revenue on top of WordPress,” the updated page reads.
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