FAQ template in Markdown: one question, one short answer

An FAQ template gives one project or one team a single Markdown file of answers to the questions people ask more than once. Each entry is a question heading with a short answer under it, and a few topic headings keep related questions together.

Further down sit the template, a word on each part's role, a sample FAQ for a made-up office, and tips that keep answers short. The template is plain text and needs no extra software, so there's no install.

What an FAQ file is for

An FAQ file is one plain .md file that answers the questions people ask about one project or one team more than once. Here the file is named FAQ.md. Each entry holds one question that someone asked and a short answer to it. A question goes in the file after people have asked it twice or more.

A glossary entry gives the meaning of a term the project uses. An FAQ entry answers a question that someone put to you. For terms, the Markdown glossary template pairs each word with a short meaning.

A riddle template is another one-page .md file where you write one invented riddle and set its answer down in plain text below it.

The FAQ template

This post's template sits in the block below. Paste it into a new FAQ.md, then replace each placeholder with your own topics, questions and answers.

# FAQ

One line on which project or team this file covers.

## First topic

### A question, written the way people ask it?

An answer in two or three plain sentences.

Asked on: YYYY-MM-DD

### Another question on the same topic?

An answer in two or three plain sentences.

Asked on: YYYY-MM-DD

## Second topic

### A question, written the way people ask it?

An answer in two or three plain sentences.

Asked on: YYYY-MM-DD

Part by part:

• Title line. A single # heading reading FAQ, so the file names its job on line one.
• Scope line. A sentence right after the title naming the project or team that the file covers.
• Topic headings. A ## heading for each topic. A few topics are enough to group related questions. Keep each topic name short and plain, as with "The building" or "Desks and rooms" in the sample.
• Question headings. One ### heading per question, worded the way people put the question to you and ending in a question mark.
• Answer. Two or three plain sentences under the question. In this template, answers hold no links, so each answer is plain sentences and nothing else.
• Asked on. A date line under the answer, written year first. Set it to the day someone asked the question.

To add a question, copy one question heading, its answer and its date line as a set, then paste the set under the topic it fits. That way every entry in the file keeps the same three parts in the same order.

Sample FAQ for Doe Holdings

Here the template holds answers for a made-up office. Doe Holdings and both people in it are invented for this sample, and the questions come from no real office.

# FAQ

Questions people at Doe Holdings ask about the office.

## The building

### Where can I park?

Staff park in the back lot behind the building. John Doe gives each
new hire a parking pass on the first day. If you lose your pass, ask
John Doe for another one.

Asked on: 2026-10-05

### What hours can I come in?

You can come in between 7 in the morning and 7 at night on weekdays.
Jane Doe opens the front door each weekday morning and locks it each night,
so ask Jane Doe if you need to come in at another time.

Asked on: 2026-10-08

## Desks and rooms

### Who do I ask for a desk key?

Ask Jane Doe, who keeps the desk keys and gives one to each new hire.
When you leave Doe Holdings, hand your key back to Jane Doe.

Asked on: 2026-10-12

### How do I book the meeting room?

Tell John Doe the day, the start time and how long you need the room.
John Doe keeps the bookings and lets you know if someone else
has that time.

Asked on: 2026-10-19

The sample has two topics, "The building" and "Desks and rooms", with two questions under each. All four answers run two or three sentences, and each one names a single person to go to and ends with an Asked on date.

The scope line says who asks these questions: people at Doe Holdings. Each question heading reads the way a person at the office would say it out loud.

Keeping answers short

Short answers are this template's aim, and the three tips below serve that aim:

• One question per heading. Each ### heading in the sample holds a single question, and the answer under it deals with that question only.
• Two or three sentences. Every answer in the sample stops at two or three sentences, the length the template's placeholder asks for.
• The question in the asker's words. Word the heading the way people put the question to you, as with "Who do I ask for a desk key?" in the sample.

Naming FAQ.md and linking to one question

With this template you keep one FAQ.md per project, placed beside the project's other .md files. On names in general, a guide to Markdown file names covers lowercase names, the few capitalized names a folder might keep, such as README.md, and the reasons to leave a file's name alone after links start using it.

To send someone from another file straight to one question, link to that question's ### heading. This walkthrough of Markdown heading links shows how a link can name a file and then a heading inside it, and why heading text should stay put after links aim at it.

Someone who hasn't met a .md file before can start with the .md file explainer, which covers what goes inside one and how to open and create one.

Where Sashmark fits

Sashmark will be one desktop program for reading and editing Markdown, meant for anyone whose .md files arrive from AI agents. The whole project is still in development, with no part out yet. One project folder holding FAQ.md among the rest of its .md files is the sort of collection Sashmark is meant for.

See the planned features, the help pages and the roadmap for where each part stands.

Visit sashmark.com.