Please make sure you read the forum guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions before contributing to WordPress support, both when asking for and giving support, this helps maintain a friendly and welcoming atmosphere for all involved.
If you use a commercial theme or plugin and need support, please prioritize using their official support channels. In order to be good stewards of the WordPress community, and encourage innovation and progress, the support team feels it’s important to direct people to those official locations. Doing this will provide the developer with the income they need to make WordPress awesome, and ensure you as the user gets the best help possible.
Asking for support
Before posting, make sure it’s about a self hosted WordPress.org site and not a WordPress.com site (See WordPress.com vs WordPress.org to be sure).
Post your question in the appropriate forum, but don’t worry if you’re unsure about which one to use, we’ll help you regardless, and may even move it to the right forum for you if there’s a better place for it. Feel free to make a new topic, even though your issue might appear similar to other topics, most sites are unique and it’s rarely the same issue.
Remember to check the box for receiving email notifications from replies, this way you know when someone has answered your question, or might be requesting more information.
If you don’t feel entirely comfortable posting in the international forums, we’ve created a list of localized forums where you may also get help.
Once you’ve tried some solutions from someone helping you, it’s always a good idea to return to the topic and let people know what worked and what didn’t work, this can also help others in the future who might be searching having the same question you had.
Providing support
Find an area that interests you and look at what topics have gone unanswered. The list of unanswered topics from across the forums is a great starting point if you’re not quite sure where to begin. Check out the Support Handbook for tips on providing forum support.
If a problem interests you, but you don’t already know the answer, view it as a great opportunity to learn along with the user asking, you can share how you research it and help each other learn and grow!
Remember to check the box for receiving email notifications when someone posts to a topic you participate in. This way you know if the one seeking help has provided feedback (did the issue get resolved, did something else happen and they have new information and so forth).
Reporting security vulnerabilities
It happens that someone discovers a vulnerability in a plugin, theme, or even WordPress it self from time to time. WordPress.org hosts many plugins, and often receive such reports.
If you suspect you may have discovered a security vulnerability, please read our page on reporting vulnerabilities responsibly, and please do not post them on public forums.