Weblog Tools Collection: WordPress Forum User Guide

A recent discussion has popped up on the WordPress Testers mailing list revolving around using the list as an area to receive support. Over the past few weeks, users have been publishing support questions which in many aspects, would be better served in the WordPress.org support forums. The problem with that is, the testers list is maintained and operated by people who have a knowledgeable background with the WordPress software, there are less users, and receiving answers is typically a speedier process.

With this in mind, I’ve decided to whip up a guide on how to maximize the use of the WordPress.org forum. It’s not exactly as cut and dry as you would think. This list of steps was comprised mostly by Michael E. Hancock with additional tips provided by Otto and myself.

1. A new user may want to read the Forum Rules

2. Report inappropriate posts/threads by adding the ‘modlook‘ tag to that thread

3. Link to Codex article by using the wiki code of two beginning and ending brackets. [[Template Hierarchy]] will create a link to that article in Codex.

4. Try to place your question in the correct Forum–if it is related to Plugins use the Plugins and Hacks Forum.

5. If needing to put a large code example in your thread, paste the code in a pastebin and put the link to that code in the thread.

6. Click on View Your Profile to see all your threads. Note: Currently the Threads Started feature is broken.

7. You can initiate a forum topic from a particular plugin at the WordPress Extend Plugins site. At the bottom of each plugin page there is a “Write a new topic” link that displays a form to enter the topic and automatically creates a tag related to that specific plugin and automatically selects the Plugins and Hacks Forum.

8. A new topic is started by first selecting(entering)the particular Forum (e.g. Installation) and at the bottom of the screen, the New Topic form is displayed.

9. Use the Version box when starting a new topic. If the Version isn’t listed, select Other and then type the Version in the box.

10. A tip from LesBessant - You can hide the tag cloud in Firefox by adding the file usercontent.css to the …\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxx.default\chrome folder. Put this in the file:

.frontpageheatmap, #hottags {
display: none;
}

11. Use the Report a Site Bug link at the bottom of the screen to report bugs with the forum software.

12. When creating a new topic, make the topic be descriptive and brief. “Help me now” is a poor topic.

13. If asking a question about a plugin or theme provide a link to download the plugin/theme.

14. Use meaningful tags. Using the same tags as the topic isn’t very useful, but using keywords from the topic is good.

15. Make use of the search before starting a new topic. Also a Google search such as “wordpress plugin cforms” will return a good list of info about the Cforms plugin.

Here is a tip provided by Otto42 - DON’T BUMP. Bumping makes your threads have a reply, which makes them not show up on the “threads without replies” list any more. Meaning that bumping actually decreases the chances of you getting any help.

Here is a tip from me to you. If you end up resolving your problem, be sure to edit the post and mark it as resolved. I’ve forgotten to do this step several times but the good news is, you can always go back to those posts via your user profile and edit them.

Conclusion:

As has been discussed on the Testers mailing list, there are many things that can be done to improve the forum experience that are out of the control of end users. For example, an improved search. Based on what I’ve heard, the search for the Codex as well as the Forum and Plugin Repository has a good shot at being implemented before the release of WordPress 2.8. While on the subject of search, I think it would be nice if the forum search provided a set of Advanced options so that I could search the forum in all threads that have been marked as resolved.

While BBPress is decent forum software (for now as Sam continues to work on version 1.0) I wonder if it’s the software of choice that meets the needs of the WordPress.org support forum. There is no private messaging, distinct thread/post filtering, etc. Not that every feature found within PHPBB3 or other forum software needs to be integrated into BBPress but I feel there is quite a bit missing at this point to provide a sound experience on the forum.

With that said, I ask you, the community how we and the powers that be can improve the WordPress.org forum. I ask that you do not take this opportunity to vent your frustrations with particular users but instead, provide feedback and ideas on how to improve the system.