Alex king launches WordPress HelpCenter

[conorp]

Ryan,

I must say that its not that hard to work it out. All i did was google "time converter or something similar and i got the time. EG: I know that WordPress weekly is at 12:00Am on Saturday here

[Ryan]

Yes, and I do that, but it doesn't mean that someone who is lukewarm on bothering to work it out will. Posting it in UTC would make a lot more sense though since that is international and I don't need to use Google to work out the equivalent time in my own country as I generally know what the conversion is and if not my phone can work it out for me.

[Jeffro]

Heh, I recently wrote a review including my experience I had giving the helpcenter a call. It's been published on WPCandy.com
http://wpcandy.com/articles/one-more...ress-help.html

[Leland]

I think it's a really interesting idea, actually. While I personally wouldn't use it, I'm sure a lot of people just starting out with WordPress would find value in it. I'd imagine they would rather just phone someone up, rather than waiting around for a response in the official support forums.

Like some people mentioned, including Jeff in the WPCandy post, WordPress is used internationally, so they are missing out on a large portion of the market by offering English-only services. Hopefully in the future though, it will branch out to be more "international-friendly."

[conorp]

Just out of interest does anyone know how this would work. Like is it skype or something that gives the automated voice and send you to an operator?

it will branch out to be more "international-friendly."

Intresting point. Does anyone know that stats of non-english speaking wordpress users?

[Ryan]

Intresting point. Does anyone know that stats of non-english speaking wordpress users?

I find that about 15% of my paid support subscribers are not fluent, but can type English well enough to communicate with no problems at all. About 5% struggle to explain what they want, or if they do it takes a while for me to figure them out. And about 1% don't speak English at all (Google Translator comes in handy then).

Those approximate stats are for an English only website though, so not likely to be the most accurate source of information on the issue.


Random factoid for the day: Approximately 30% of my subscribers are from Christian based church groups in the southern United States.

[Jeffro]

As was mentioned in the previous episode of WordPress Weekly, I think the helpcenter overall is a good idea. They have aimed it to be an ADDITIONAL area of support, not a replacement for the others which is a good idea. Also, when I gave them a call it was refreshing to hear them speak good English and they are based in the U.S.

I had a good experience with them and I hope it continues. If the service starts to roll down hill, I would have to wonder how long Alex King would keep his name tied to the service considering his good reputation.

[conorp]

Any chance we could get Alex King on wp weekly?

[bradgillap]

That would be interesting.

[Jeffro]

Yeah, I could probably get him on although WPWeekly is booked for the next few weeks. However, maybe I can do a special episode.