# Customizing FAQ / Guidelines Pages
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/customizing-faq-guidelines-pages/259351
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [March 25, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/customizing-faq-guidelines-pages/259351 "2023-03-25T00:26:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@shyguy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/shyguy)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/customizing-faq-guidelines-pages/259351/1 "2023-03-25T00:26:44Z")
i didn’t find it documented in detail anywhere, so i thought i’d make some notes about what i found so far and ask some questions. 🙂
Guidelines and FAQ are two separate entities that are combined in the default config.
## `SiteSetting.faq_url = ''` (default):
FAQ:
- routes: `/faq`, `/guidelines`, `/rules`, `/conduct` → a template (or something) populated with content from `SiteSetting.guidelines_topic_id` (`FAQ/Guidelines` topic in the `Staff` category)
- relevant localizations (Admin \> Customize \> Text): `I18n.t('js.faq')`, `I18n.t('js.sidebar.sections.community.links.faq.content')`, etc
- shows up in the sidebar
## `SiteSetting.faq_url = 'foo'`:
even though it says full url, it seems like it can be a relative url like `/t/25`, which is useful.
Guidelines:
- routes: `/guidelines`, `/rules`, `/conduct` → template using content from `SiteSetting.guidelines_topic_id`
- localizations: `I18n.t('js.guidelines')`, etc
FAQ:
- routes: `/faq` → `SiteSetting.faq_url`
- for better or worse, this is a direct link to that URL. it doesn’t pull the content and put it into a template like Guidelines does. it’s intended to give you the option of linking to an external resource.
- localizations: `I18n.t('js.faq')`, `I18n.t('js.sidebar.sections.community.links.faq.content')`, etc
- shows up in the sidebar
* * *
# Questions
i am opting for a separate FAQ, and i am linking it to a FAQ topic.
1. ~~**i can’t figure out how to set the topic title to simply `FAQ`** – not `Faq` or similar. i tried `SiteSetting.title_prettify` and `SiteSetting.min_topic_title_length`. the closest i can get is `Faq` (and it is stored in the db like that). i tried directly editing the db like SQL: `update topics set title = 'FAQ' where id=25;`, but that’s a bad idea, and it didn’t even work anyways. the updated value shows up in the topic edit dialog, but idk how to force a refresh. rebuild HTML didn’t work. i guess i need to do this in rails, but idk how.~~
- here’s how (please tell me if this is wrong):
```ruby
Topic.find(25).update(title: 'FAQ')
```
1. what is the most elegant way to **get Guidelines into the Community section of the sidebar** for all users? can i somehow use the new custom sidebar thing?
2. what’s `I18n.t('guidelines_topic.title')`? is that merely used during initial topic creation when you start fresh?
thanks
---
### Author:  [@twofoursixeight](https://meta.discourse.org/u/twofoursixeight)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/customizing-faq-guidelines-pages/259351/2 "2023-03-25T01:16:03Z")
> [@shyguy](#):
>
> i didn’t find it documented in detail anywhere, so i thought i’d make some notes about what i found so far and ask some questions. 🙂
There is a documentation for frequently asked questions in:
> [@Update the FAQ, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service](https://meta.discourse.org/t/update-the-faq-privacy-policy-and-terms-of-service/18074):
>
> bookmark This guide explains how to update the FAQ, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service pages in Discourse. person_raising_hand Required user level: Administrator Updating the FAQ, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service pages in Discourse can help ensure that your [community guidelines](https://meta.discourse.org/guidelines) and policies are up-to-date and reflect the current standards. Editing the FAQ, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service Topics The FAQ, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service pages are each created as a topic w…