WordPress has no telephone support, nor a plugin to install and fix trouble issues instantly. Due to the fact that mastering the platform you can and inevitably encounter some problems – you’ll be searching for help. Let’s see how and where.
WordPress is an amazingly stable platform as compared to similar open-source CMSes. However, it has to happen at least once in a career – you’re facing an issue on your website. Fortunately, this piece of software especially shines in its active and welcoming community of developers and enthusiasts who are always ready to give you a hand in case you got stuck. Therefore, we’ve decided to put together a solid resource for those folks searching for good WordPress help. Interested yet? Read on!
The Right Manner
Before creating a support ticket, you need to understand that WordPress is an open-source piece of software. It comes loaded with tons of themes, plugins, etc. that has been developed by enthusiasts and developers in their free time and they have no money from it. Therefore, the more respectful and thankful that you are, the more inclined they will be to help you out for little or no charge.
Be Polite
If you write in a flippant, rude and accusatory tone – chances are that you will come off as an A$$ and never receive any help either. Don’t use capitalization or any expressions like “Please it’s urgent“. You’ve got to remember that you are asking an expert to spend their valuable time and answer your question absolutely for free, out of their own generosity.
Be Clear and Concise
Make sure to include all the troubleshooting done by you so far, write the version number of the plugins or themes you’re having troubles with, and indicate whether you’re using a single site or Multisite. If there are some errors – include them to help the support staff diagnose the problem.
A wrong example would be:
“Hey you, my CMS’s not working, fix it immediately or blame for yourself!”
The right way of asking the question would be:
“Hello WP team, unfortunately, I’ve faced some troubles with my CMS, would you be so kind to fix them as soon as possible?”
Be Patient
Once the support thread is created, you may try to politely tweet to the expert or volunteer in order to increase the chances of getting a faster response. An example tweet would be:
“Would you be so kind to answer as soon as it’s possible? We’d be very honored to have our problem fixedin a while. Waiting for your reply!”
Keep in mind that there are many more people searching for help then there are moderators, so don’t expect your question to be answered right away. You know anything what their current timezone is or what their work schedule looks like. Therefore, it is recommended to wait at least 24 hours before knocking back.
Include Screenshots
Unfortunately the support staff couldn’t read minds yet – take screenshots to visually show the problem you’re facing to.
The Right Place
Before turning to WordPress support forums for help, it’s best to make a quick google search of the problem to see if someone else has answered it already. Try to plug any question into the search bar and you’ll get a useful answer. Truth be told, almost any problem you may have encountered, had already been encountered by someone else.
WordPress Codex
The WordPress Codex is the online manual for WordPress users that has been specifically developed to take them through everything from installation to customization. It’s also a living manual with lots of new articles and information being added and updated all the time. WordPress newbies will definitely find the Getting Started with WordPress area extremely useful as there are tons of find useful tutorials and how-to guides, including WordPress installation guide.
WordPress.org Support Forums
For those who are new to WordPress – the support forums is the first place to search for help. There is a huge team of enthusiasts on hand who are always ready to answer any kind of questions. However, it is recommended to firstly research if your issues have already been addressed and resolved by someone. Note: do not expect any support topics you create to be answered in a timely fashion.
WordPress TV
To better understand how the WordPress-related things work, turn to one of the most forgotten places – the how-to’s section at WordPress TV. It comes loaded with a bunch of useful tutorials about major WordPress features. Though the material provided here covers basic knowledge – those at the very beginning of their WordPress path would benefit from it.
Where do you go for help when you experience a WordPress related issue? Please share with us your go-to places in the comment area below.
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