Are you looking for an easy way to get help and support for your WordPress website?
As a busy website owner, it’s impossible to know how to fix every issue that comes your way. Plus, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the information available online. Therefore, at times you’ll have no choice but to ask for help.
We were all WordPress beginners once, so in this article, we’ll show you how to ask for and get the WordPress support you need.
But first, there are a few things you should understand before you ask for WordPress support.
Before Asking for WordPress Support
Before you ask for WordPress help or support for a specific WordPress plugin or theme, It’s important to understand that WordPress is an open-source community project. That means anyone can create a plugin or theme, suggest bug fixes, and contribute for free.
Many of the free theme and plugin authors are not part of the core WordPress team. Often they create free WordPress plugins, etc., for personal use, freelance projects, or clients. Therefore, unless they’re selling the plugin, it’s best to assume they’re not making money from it.
While most developers are happy to help with a few small tasks regarding their free themes and plugins, each will have different points at which they’ll expect payment for the extra support. As such, the more respectful you are when asking for WordPress support, the more likely they’ll be to help you for little or no fee.
After all, you pay nothing for a free WordPress plugin or theme, so the least you can pay a developer is a little gratitude and respect.
How to Get WordPress Help For Beginners
Getting the WordPress support you need depends on whether you’re using a free or paid tool or service. Each WordPress product has different channels for seeking support, so knowing where to go and how to ask will help you get an answer more quickly.
Below we’ll detail how to get WordPress support for free and premium themes and plugins, and more.
Support for Free WordPress Plugins and Themes
As a beginner, the best place to get WordPress support for free plugins is in the WordPress support forum.
The support forums are relatively easy to find. Just head to the specific plugin page on the WordPress repository and click the Support tab.
Before creating your support thread, take a moment to look through the FAQ page to ensure you haven’t missed anything. It’s also worth Googling the problem to see if someone has already found the solution.
In your support thread, keep your question clear, respectful, and to-the-point.
Here’s an example of the wrong approach:
This @#$1 plugin sucks. Why create *&%^ if it doesn’t work? I wasted X hours on this stupid thing. Care to help? Anyone there?
If you word your question in this way, developers might ignore you in favor of threads that take the time to ask in a less accusatory manner.
One of the best ways to help developers answer your questions is to list the things you’ve tried up to that point to find a solution. This shows that you don’t want others to do all the hard work for free and that you’ve tried your best to help yourself.
Here’s an example of the right way to phrase your question:
Thank you for creating your awesome XYZ plugin. I can't get it to work right, and I’d really appreciate some help. I’m using WordPress version: Plugin Name version: I did this: I expected the plugin to do this: Instead, it did this: My site is hosted with: I have tried the following solutions: I tried the issue in the following browsers: Thanks for taking the time to help. It’s super appreciated.
With a support question like the one above, you’re addressing everything a developer might need to answer it. Sometimes, they might get back to you asking for your website’s URL and a list of the plugins or themes you have installed and activated.
After posting your support message, you should wait for around 24 hours for a response. The plugin author could be in a different time zone or have a busy work schedule that prevents them from answering right away.
Try to be patient, and do not call them, even if their number is listed on their website. You don’t want to spam them with messages, which can be annoying.
Support for Commercial WordPress Plugins and Themes
If you’re using a paid-for plugin or theme, the best place to get WordPress support is through their official support channels.
The majority of commercial plugins like WPForms, MonsterInsights, All in One SEO, etc., have specific support areas.
If you ask support questions outside of those areas, it’s unlikely you’ll get much help.
For example, if you were to ask WPBeginner for SeedProd support like the user below did in the WPBeginner Engage Facebook Group, they’d tell you to ask in the appropriate channels.
This isn’t because they want to be rude. They simply want to do the right thing. That’s because when you purchase a premium WordPress theme or plugin, it comes with support.
That said, the group is a goldmine of free help, information, and resources for people looking for WordPress support.
Support for Nulled Plugins
If you downloaded a commercial theme or plugin and didn’t pay for it, for instance, through a torrent site, you’re not eligible for support from the developer. This is because you didn’t pay for the privilege of getting support from the experts.
We strongly recommend avoiding SeedProd nulled and other nulled WordPress plugins as they can pose a serious risk to your website.
Support for WordPress Hosting
There may be times when the WordPress support you need is unrelated to a plugin or theme issue.
Managed WordPress hosting services likes WP Engine and Cloudways come with things like scheduled backups, managed caching, CDNs, and automatic updates to your WordPress core. Some will even include automatic updates to your plugins.
So if something goes wrong with one of these services, it’s best to contact your hosting provider through their dedicated support channels.
For example, WP Engine has 24/7/365 support access, a support center, and live chat dedicated to solving your most challenging WordPress questions.
WordPress Support Services
Another option for website owners with less time on their hands is to get help from a WordPress support company like WP Buffs.
A WordPress support company offers services like:
- Assisting with website optimization to help your pages load faster
- Securing your website with regular malware scans and protecting from brute force attacks
- Editing your website and making changes to your themes
- Improving your site by finding and installing the best plugin
Since they’re WordPress experts, they can identify and fix any WordPress problems as they arise, without you having to find the solution on your own.
As mentioned above, this solution is a good choice for larger websites that need round-the-clock support and maintenance.
Troubleshooting WordPress Issues
If you’d prefer to help yourself get WordPress support, it’s worth troubleshooting some of the more common WordPress problems.
One of the easiest ways to find conflicts between WordPress plugins is to deactivate all your plugins and reactivate them one by one.
To help you troubleshoot, we’ve actually written a guide on the most common WordPress issues and how to fix them.
That’s it!
We hope this article helped you learn how to get WordPress support for your website. Remember, it’s always important to be respectful when asking for support.
If one of your issues is you’re stuck in WordPress maintenance mode, this guide will help you fix it.
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