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9 Places to Go When I Need Help with My WordPress Site

Travis Smith

Probably one of the best things about WordPress is its community. Yes, there are some in the community that are not so friendly, some that may treat a nobe or newbie as dumb or 1990's-ish, some that may simply ignore you. Those people exist in any community. However, for the most part, WordPress developers or designers are very friendly and very helpful. And most who use WordPress are self-taught and learned from someone(s) who took five or ten minutes to help someone with a very specific issue. Enough cannot be said for initiative and passion; however, sometimes we just don't know where to go to get help. So where do I go?

There are nine general places that I go. Here is what I do.

  1. Google & WordPress Forums/Codex <- Always First
  2. WordPress Books
  3. A friend
  4. WordPress.org Forums
  5. Specific WordPress Theme/Plugin Forums
  6. Social Media Sites (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)
  7. WordPress IRC
  8. WordCamp
  9. WordPress.tv

Google & WordPress Forums/Codex

Always, always search Google, Bing or whatever your preferred search engine first. Most issues can be resolved fairly quickly by simply Googling issues. Sites like mine, WPBeginner.com, WPEngineer.com, etc, exist to help people with frequent problems, questions, and issues.

WordPress Books

Buy Me!

It is important to be reading, learning, and growing. I’ve learned so much from these books and they serve as a general reference about some things. Due to the rate that WordPress is growing, some of these topics in the books can become outdated fairly quickly. However, WordPress books that are core to one's development ability are from WebDevStudios. Brad Williams has co-authored two: Professional WordPress, Professional WordPress Plugin Development. And Lisa Sabin-Wilson has authored four: WordPress for Dummies, WordPress Design for Dummies, WordPress All-in-One for Dummies, and BuddyPress for Dummies.

So ebooks with free updates are always good. So Digging into WordPress is a fantastic book that promises lifetime updates via PDF, even if you purchase the actual book.

Ask a Friend

Do you know someone with a website or a WordPress blog? Why not ask them? Sometimes and over time, you will become that friend that people ask. I didn’t believe this at first, but now I do as it has happened to me.

WordPress.org Forums

First, if you have a site on WordPress.com, use the WordPress.com forums. However, if you have a self-hosted site, you must use the WordPress.org support forums. To register, simply click on the Register button. Fill in all the required fields (only two: name and email) and optional fields that you want. A funky password will be generated for you and emailed to you. Login with that password. To change your password to something you can remember (which I highly recommend), after login, simply click on View Your Profile. Then click Edit to the right. Scroll to the bottom and change your password. Then click update password.

Always search the forums before posting to the forums. Many times you will find your issue already discussed or being discussed. WordPress developers and moderators do watch these forums and reply fairly quickly (though for the impatient, not quick enough). Just remember there are probably a few hundred thousand users. Furthermore, forum posts can be marked as resolved by the original author of the post. This will add [resolved] to the front of the topic and helps users like you and me.

Specific WordPress Theme/Plugin Forums

For some issues, this should be the first place you go. Check your theme/plugin for a place for comments or discussion. For example, if you have a problem with Genesis, then StudioPress Support Forum has some great help. If you have a problem with Thesis, then DIY Forums. If you have an issue with Gravity Forms, then go to the Gravity Forms Support site. Etc. Etc. Most developers, if they haven’t stopped supporting their plugin for whatever reason, are very helpful and want their plugin to work on your site.

Social Media Sites

WordPress users and developers love to use Twitter. Many, and dare I say most, are on Twitter. While you should not expect them to follow you, do follow them. Ping them with questions. Use the #wordpress hashtag. While #wordpress is typically haunted by marketers as well, also consider using other hashtags. For example, Thesis uses #thesiswp, Genesis uses #genesiswp, PluginBuddy’s BackupBuddy plugin uses #backupbuddy, Gravity Forms uses #gravityforms, etc. So just search Twitter to find the hashtag.

WordPress IRC

IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. It’s an old school method of communication but one that is alive and well. There are many that are downloadable and cost; however, there are also free options like Freenode IRC. Channels include:

Be sure to read the Channel Guidelines. There are a couple things to note here. First, most of these guys are volunteers and freelancers. So if they are helping you be appreciative. Accept that some of them have no interpersonal skills and that chats are not the best at reading emotions and etc. So take what is said with a grain of salt and expect some degree of sarcasm and jest. However, that being said, the WordPress IRC Channel is a rich resource of immediate help.

WordCamp

You might not have even known there was such a thing; however, there are conferences all over the world that focus on everything WordPress. WordCamps are informal, community-organized events open to any and all. And NO, this isn’t just for developers. Many who attend these WordCamps are power users, people who want to know how to integrate WordPress in their business as their social platform, business owners, even kids!

One of the great things about WordCamp is the use of the Genius Bar where anyone can ask a WordPress Expert; however, not every WordCamp has a Genius Bar. Regardless depending on the WordCamp there will be tracks for people to take which usually are some combination of Beginner, Power User, Designer, and Developer. Sometimes they have themes that determine the tracks and other times there aren’t any tracks. So look for a WordCamp near you.

WordPress.tv

WordPress.tv has a plethora of videos and presentation slides from various WordCamps. So if you miss WordCamp, no problem. While it is not as social as I'd like it to be it's a great place for those who hate reading and would prefer to watch someone to learn. Other sites like WPTavern.com, BitWireMedia's WordCast, PluginsPodcast, and the WordPress Podcast offer WordPress podcasts that are very interesting.

Other

There are some other places that you may consider such as email lists (which are only one way) and News Sites like WPTavern.com, WPVibe.com, Planet WordPress and WordPress Planet (yes, the last two are two different places; the first is run and operated by Ozh Richard, @ozh which aggregates various WordPress feeds; the second is also an aggregated feed by WordPress.org of Core contributors and very active community members. The second appears on everyone's dashboard, unless you've removed it in Screen Options).