Matt Cromwell PRO
Matt Cromwell is COO at Impress.org, makers of GiveWP -- the best way to fundraise online with WordPress.
Best Practices on Providing Free Support
for your Plugin or Theme
WordCamp Los Angeles 2018
Presented by: Matt Cromwell
@learnwithmattc
What are we here for?
The Outline
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Getting to Know the Forums
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Rules of the Forums
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Monitoring Your Threads
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User Roles
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Tips and Tricks
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C.R.E.W. -- the Tone Guide
Getting to know the
WP Support Forums
Getting to know the
WP Support Forums
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A Forum for every aspect of WP
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Also Plugins
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Also Themes
Navigating the Forums
Getting to know the
WP Support Forums
Getting to know the
Forum Rules
Getting to Know the
Forum Rules
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Do not post sensitive information
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Do not post test credentials to a live site
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Never offer to login to a users site...ever.
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Don't provide support for your Pro version
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Don't drop affiliate links
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Don't at-mention moderators, instead, use the "modlook" tag
All the Ways to
Monitor Your Threads
All the Ways to
Monitor Your Threads
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Authors, Contributors are auto-subscribed
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Otherwise, click that button
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RSS Feed:
What the Forum Provides
wordpress.org/support/plugin/{plugin-slug}/feed
How to
Leverage User Roles
How to
Leverage User Roles
Types of User Roles
How to
Leverage User Roles
How to Add Plugin Support Roles
Going Beyond What the Forum Supplies
With Tips & Tricks
Going Beyond What the Forum Supplies
With Tips & Tricks
Gmail Filter
Going Beyond What the Forum Supplies
With Tips & Tricks
RSS --> Slack
Going Beyond What the Forum Supplies
With Tips & Tricks
Prevent Duplicate Replies (link)
Going Beyond What the Forum Supplies
With Tips & Tricks
Rich Content in your Replies
- Slideshare (Slides)
- Vimeo & Youtube (Video)
- Soundcloud (Audio)
- Cloudup (Images)
Going Beyond What the Forum Supplies
With Tips & Tricks
WP Slack Notifications
Add a list of key terms that you want to get notified about in WordPress Slack. This is great for when someone mentions your plugin in a different forum.
Your Tone Guide:
C.R.E.W.
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Confident, not Apologetic
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Results Oriented, not Argumentative
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Educational, not Haughty or Overly Technical
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Welcoming, not Thankful
Matt Cromwell
Head of Support at GiveWP.com
Community Consultant for Media Temple
@learnwithmattc
Best Practices on Providing Free Support for your Plugin or Theme
By Matt Cromwell
Best Practices on Providing Free Support for your Plugin or Theme
If you are a WordPress plugin or theme author, you probably have mixed feelings about the WordPress Support Forums. For many, they are a necessary evil of the WordPress product developer experience. While they are limited, the advantages they offer far outweigh the disadvantages when tackled well. I’ve been providing support on the WP.org support forums for over 5 years for a wide variety of plugins. I’ll share my experiences and provide insight and tools that will make you a believer both in free support and in the value the .org support forums can provide to you and your business. Attendees will gain a deeper knowledge of all the resources the WP.org Support Forums offer. They will also learn of new tools at their disposal to offer more effective technical support for their users on the .org forums.
