RCAAV – Custom FAQ Plugin

Project Overview

RCAAV required a custom FAQ system for their WordPress-based support platform that could automatically populate categorized product questions and answers based on model selection.
Rather than creating new database tables, I architected a plugin that harnessed WordPress’s native C.R.U.D. capabilities, ensuring long-term compatibility, scalability, and security.

This approach minimized maintenance overhead and provided RCAAV with an intuitive backend interface for managing FAQs without disrupting the core WordPress ecosystem.

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Technical Approach

WordPress-Native Architecture

Instead of using custom database tables, the FAQ plugin leverages:

• Custom Post Types for storing question-and-answer entries
• Taxonomies for organizing content by product model and category
• Parent–child relationships to link models to their corresponding FAQs

This architecture ensures full compatibility with WordPress updates, plugins, and data import/export tools.

Backend Interface

• Designed a custom admin dashboard within the WordPress backend
• Implemented input fields for question, answer, and model association
• Enabled bulk import/export via standard WordPress data tools
• Configured user-friendly search and filtering within the dashboard

Frontend Features

• Developed custom shortcodes and templates for embedding FAQs dynamically
• Implemented jQuery-based interactions for:
  • Model selection
  • Search filtering
  • Expand/collapse question display
• Responsive styling to match RCAAV’s existing design system

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Implementation Highlights

• Each product model acts as a parent category, with questions grouped accordingly
• The plugin supports unlimited FAQ entries per product
• Compatible with caching systems and multilingual support
• Modular architecture allows for easy feature expansion (e.g., export, ratings, user feedback)

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Business Impact

The plugin significantly reduced RCAAV’s customer support load by enabling users to find answers based on product models instantly.
It also improved internal efficiency, allowing the support team to update or extend FAQs without developer assistance.

“Anton is always willing to go above and beyond to make sure everything is right. Thanks!”
— Michael Honeycutt, RCAAV

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Key Results

• 100% WordPress-native – no extra database maintenance
• Dynamic FAQ filtering based on model selection
• Faster support resolution and reduced inbound queries
• Stable, upgrade-safe implementation with long-term maintainability

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Legacy Context

The RCAAV Custom FAQ Plugin marks one of the transitional projects in Anton’s career — where traditional WordPress development began evolving into modular, API-driven thinking.
The same architectural discipline later influenced his microservice and Node.js API design approach at Villiers Vision Works.