Questions & Answers

Let your customers ask pre-purchase questions right on the product page — and get answers from you (or other customers) before they buy.

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What Q&A Is (and Isn’t)

Q&A is separate from reviews. Reviews are for people who’ve already bought the product. Q&A is for people who are thinking about buying — they’ve got a question about sizing, compatibility, materials, shipping, whatever — and they want an answer before they commit.

Think of it like the questions section on Amazon. Someone asks “Does this fit a standard AU power outlet?” and the store (or another customer) answers. That answer doesn’t just help one person — it helps every future visitor who had the same question.

And here’s the bonus: Q&A generates structured data (schema markup) that Google can pick up and display directly in search results. Your product pages become more useful and more visible.

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Enabling Q&A

1. Go to Tracksies > Settings > Features (or Trustie > Settings > Features if running standalone)
2. Find the Questions & Answers toggle under the Trustie module
3. Turn it on and save

Once enabled, a Questions tab appears on your product pages alongside the existing Reviews tab.

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How Customers Submit Questions

When a visitor lands on a product page, they’ll see the Q&A section below the product description (or in a tab, depending on your theme). Here’s the flow:

1. Customer clicks Ask a Question
2. A form appears with fields for their name, email, and question
3. They submit the question
4. The question goes into your moderation queue (unless you’ve enabled auto-approve)
5. Once approved, the question appears on the product page for everyone to see

Logged-in customers have their name and email pre-filled. Guests need to enter their details manually — but they don’t need an account to ask a question.

Questions are tied to a specific product, so they always appear in the right context. A question about shoe sizing shows up on that shoe’s page, not across your entire store.

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Moderating Questions

New questions land in Trustie > Q&A in your WordPress admin. You’ll see a list of pending questions with:

• The customer’s name and email
• Which product the question is about
• The question text
• When it was submitted

For each question, you can:

Auto-Approve

If you’d rather not moderate every question manually, you can enable auto-approve in Trustie > Settings > Q&A. Questions will appear on the product page immediately after submission.

We’d recommend keeping moderation on at first — it only takes a moment to approve genuine questions, and it keeps spam and irrelevant posts off your product pages.

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Answering Questions

This is where the real value lives. When you answer a question, you’re not just helping one customer — you’re creating content that helps every future visitor.

Answering as the Store Owner

1. Go to Trustie > Q&A
2. Find the question you want to answer
3. Click Answer
4. Write your reply
5. Click Submit Answer

Your answer appears below the question on the product page, clearly labelled as a response from the store. This “official answer” badge builds trust — customers know they’re getting information straight from the source.

Multiple Answers

A single question can have multiple answers. If you enable customer answers (in Trustie > Settings > Q&A), other customers can also reply to questions. This is brilliant for community-driven stores where experienced customers help newcomers.

Store owner answers are always pinned to the top and marked with a badge, so they stand out from community answers.

Email Notifications

When you answer a question, Trustie automatically emails the customer who asked it. The email includes your answer and a link back to the product page. This brings people back to your store at the exact moment they’re ready to buy.

You can also get notified when new questions come in — enable this in Trustie > Settings > Q&A > Email Notifications.

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Schema Markup for SEO

Here’s something that works quietly in the background: Trustie automatically generates FAQPage schema markup for your Q&A content.

What This Means

When Google crawls your product page and finds properly structured Q&A data, it can display those questions and answers directly in search results as a rich snippet. Instead of just your page title and description, searchers might see:

> Your Product Name
> yourstore.com.au/product/widget
>
> Q: Does this fit a standard AU power outlet?
> A: Yes — it fits all standard Australian and New Zealand outlets…
>
> Q: What’s the warranty period?
> A: We offer a 2-year manufacturer warranty…

This makes your listing bigger, more informative, and more clickable. More clicks from search results, more potential customers on your product pages.

Requirements for Rich Results

Google doesn’t guarantee rich results, but you improve your chances by:

• Having genuine questions and answers (not self-written marketing copy)
• Keeping answers clear and helpful
• Having more than one Q&A pair per product
• Making sure questions are answered promptly

You can test your pages with Google’s Rich Results Test to verify the schema is being picked up correctly.

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Q&A Settings

All Q&A settings live in Trustie > Settings > Q&A:

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Display Options

Q&A appears on product pages in a collapsible section. You can control:

• Tab or inline — Show Q&A in its own tab (alongside Reviews) or inline below the product description
• Sort order — Newest first, oldest first, or most helpful first
• Empty state — What to show when a product has no questions yet (customisable message + “Ask a Question” button)

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Tips for Great Q&A

1. Answer quickly — A prompt answer shows you’re attentive and builds confidence. Aim for same-day responses.
2. Be thorough — Don’t just answer the surface question. If someone asks “Does this come in blue?”, mention all available colours.
3. Seed common questions — If you get the same questions via email or live chat, add them to Q&A proactively. Future customers will thank you.
4. Keep it professional — Even if a question seems silly, answer it kindly. Other customers are watching.
5. Use it for SEO — Naturally include relevant keywords in your answers. “Yes, this 100% merino wool beanie fits all adult head sizes” is better than just “Yes.”

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Common Questions

Is Q&A available on Trustie Free?
No — Q&A is a Trustie Pro feature. Trustie Free handles product reviews, testimonials, and Google reviews.

Can I disable Q&A for specific products?
Not individually, but you can disable Q&A globally if it’s not right for your store. We’re considering per-product and per-category controls for a future release.

Do Q&A submissions count toward spam rate limits?
Yes — Q&A questions and answers are covered by the same rate limiting that protects reviews and testimonials. See Spam Protection for details.

Can customers vote on questions or answers?
Yes — visitors can mark questions as helpful, which pushes popular questions to the top. This works the same way as the helpful/unhelpful voting on reviews.

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If Something’s Not Working

Q&A tab not showing on product pages:

• Check that Q&A is enabled in Settings > Features
• Make sure your theme supports WooCommerce product tabs (most do)
• Try switching to a default theme (like Storefront) to rule out theme conflicts

Questions not appearing after approval:

• Clear any caching plugin you’re using
• Check that the question is marked as “Approved” in Trustie > Q&A

Schema not showing in Rich Results Test:

• Questions need at least one answer before schema is generated
• Make sure the question is approved and visible on the product page

Still stuck? Drop us a line at support@tracksies.com and we’ll sort it out.