Alex king launches WordPress HelpCenter

[conorp]

Just saw this blog post:
http://alexking.org/blog/2009/04/13/...ess-helpcenter

And the website:
http://wphelpcenter.com/

Discuss

[Ryan]

Sites like that annoy the heck out of me. It doesn't give the international dialing code, says the time zone used is 'pacific' and doesn't say what currency they're using. Do they realise the internet works outside of their country?

If you want to avoid making money then make your site visitors have to go figure out what time zone you are in, work out what country it is and then find the international dialing code for it.

[conorp]

If you want to avoid making money then make your site visitors have to go figure out what time zone you are in, work out what country it is and then find the international dialing code for it.

I laughed out loud for like 5 minutes at this :)

[Len]

It will be interesting to see how this business model evolves. From time to time I see a thread in the WP forums inquiring about paid assistance but they're few and far between. I haven't actually spent a great deal of time perusing jobs.wordpress.net

[andrea_r]

I think they'll be pretty busy. I'm encountering more and more people who really would rather call someone and get an answer.

[Cais]

I'd have to agree with Ryan on his points; and, I would have wonder do they charge you for the time it will take to manually process your payment? or, did I miss the payment links?

Interesting concept, but it really seems only half-baked ... as in not finished

I would expect more of something branded with the Alex King name.

[Len]

Do they realise the internet works outside of their country?

Interesting thought especially considering the world-wide appeal of WordPress. In fact, although I have no numbers to back me up, I suspect non-USA WordPress users outnumber their US cousins.

I would expect more of something branded with the Alex King name.

heh. I was thinking the same thing. But I'm glad you said it.

[Cais]

... I was thinking the same thing. But I'm glad you said it.

I use Alex King's Twitter Tools plugin and find it very thorough, almost to the point of excess. Thus, my above comment

[Ryan]

I sort of run a similar system, albeit on an adhoc basis. People pay me to have access to me via MSN. It works fine, but it's important to remember that a reasonable proportion of your time is actually spent with administration. 30 mins on MSN can often end up being 50 mins once you take into account checking that PayPal payments have gone through, informing them how much time will be needed to fix/sort out various things etc. etc. Presumably they've factored that into their pricing scheme though.

[Ryan]

Slightly off-topic: My comment about time zones applies to WordPress weekly too. It is quite frustrating having to go workout the time each week, particularly around the time of year when daylight saving kicks in and out for various countries. I've got to wonder how many people just don't bother listening in live because they can't be bothered working out when it starts.