Top authors: how much does it take to provide daily support in average?

Recently I started developing for WP and I was wondering about what I could expect from support requests.

Thanks for any reply

No top authors yet, so I’ll chime in (I’m doing WP support for 2 Elite authors here).

As far as time spent is concerned, I spend about 1-2 hrs / day supporting 8 themes. This is excluding weekends.

What I’ve learned you can expect:

- some people will expect that customizations are included in their purchase; and those will always think it’s very easy to do
- many never read the docs; they prefer asking support
- video tutorials are extremely helpful. The more complex a theme, the more helpful they are
- Even with the increased complexity of WP themes, I have rarely encountered rude buyers. We have a saying in Romanian about being nice to people, right? (vorba dulce…) Nevertheless, if you’re building a dedicated support site, take your time to think about some forum rules, just in case
- you will probably sign yourself a lot, when answering Q’s on a dedicated support site. Use that signature to link to social networks and video tutorials / docs, helps a lot. And use either Texter on Windows or DashExpander on Mac
—with the above tools, have canned responses; you will find yourself asking for WP admin logins and links to their sites, a lot
- Regenerate Thumbnails and Post Thumbnail Editor are your best friends in terms of plugins
- always have this link handy, it’s crazy how often that happens.

That gold paw makes me sure you’re familiar with many points made above. Just wanted to share my experience, since I’m in this business close to one year now.

digitalimpact said

What I’ve learned you can expect:

- some people will expect that customizations are included in their purchase; and those will always think it’s very easy to do
- many never read the docs; they prefer asking support
- video tutorials are extremely helpful. The more complex a theme, the more helpful they are
—with the above tools, have canned responses; you will find yourself asking for WP admin logins and links to their sites, a lot
- always have this link handy, it’s crazy how often that happens.

+ http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-database-reset/ is your best friend if you’re supporting WordPress

half-2 hours a day, depending on the day for 25 themes

dnp_theme said
Recently I started developing for WP and I was wondering about what I could expect from support requests. Thanks for any reply

OrganicBeeMedia said

digitalimpact said

What I’ve learned you can expect:

- some people will expect that customizations are included in their purchase; and those will always think it’s very easy to do
- many never read the docs; they prefer asking support
- video tutorials are extremely helpful. The more complex a theme, the more helpful they are
—with the above tools, have canned responses; you will find yourself asking for WP admin logins and links to their sites, a lot
- always have this link handy, it’s crazy how often that happens.

+ http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-database-reset/ is your best friend if you’re supporting WordPress

half-2 hours a day, depending on the day for 25 themes

What is the point to post a plugin link??? He didn’t ask for any help about plugin!

digitalimpact said
That gold paw makes me sure you’re familiar with many points made above. Just wanted to share my experience, since I’m in this business close to one year now.

Yea I know, that is why the BIG info on my profile page, and that is only a part.

I thank you for sharing your experience. I have done video tutorials before, the way I do it would take waaay to much so I prefer to have a very very detailed documentation and I don’t care about users not reading documentation, there is no time to teach them things.. They have to install and get WP or Joomla basics from source, as most support I’ve had was related to server incompatibility issues and most basics stuff.

dmsumon said

dnp_theme said
Recently I started developing for WP and I was wondering about what I could expect from support requests. Thanks for any reply

So finally you jumped for WP Best of luck friend….. You are one of my most favorite designer+developer

Thanks mate, you’re alright

One or two hours a day, five days a week (but with two themes only), more if someone finds a bug and I need to fix it, less if they only need to be pointed to the right direction. I think it depends on the clients you have.

dmsumon said

OrganicBeeMedia said

digitalimpact said

What I’ve learned you can expect:

- some people will expect that customizations are included in their purchase; and those will always think it’s very easy to do
- many never read the docs; they prefer asking support
- video tutorials are extremely helpful. The more complex a theme, the more helpful they are
—with the above tools, have canned responses; you will find yourself asking for WP admin logins and links to their sites, a lot
- always have this link handy, it’s crazy how often that happens.

+ http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-database-reset/ is your best friend if you’re supporting WordPress

half-2 hours a day, depending on the day for 25 themes

What is the point to post a plugin link??? He didn’t ask for any help about plugin!

whats the point to complain about it?

he asked what he could expect supporting WordPress, that plugins helps him solve a lot of issues without needing server details

sorry I offered a helpful tip, Ill go back and hide in my corner again

dnp_theme said

digitalimpact said
That gold paw makes me sure you’re familiar with many points made above. Just wanted to share my experience, since I’m in this business close to one year now.

Yea I know, that is why the BIG info on my profile page, and that is only a part.

I thank you for sharing your experience. I have done video tutorials before, the way I do it would take waaay to much so I prefer to have a very very detailed documentation and I don’t care about users not reading documentation, there is no time to teach them things.. They have to install and get WP or Joomla basics from source, as most support I’ve had was related to server incompatibility issues and most basics stuff.

Oh, definitely – I didn’t mean to say not to create a solid documentation. That is very important. For me, many is <40%.

And obviously, if something is covered in the docs, I always point them to that, theme support isn’t for teaching basics (even though I sometimes do it when I have time)