Tip #1: Before you even start to look for help, create a WordPress Support account by going to http://wordpress.org/support/ and clicking on “register” in the top left corner. This gives you a profile on the support forum where you can go and track your threads and replies and other users can learn a little more about you. Another nice feature is the RSS feed for your thread so you can track responses from your Google homepage or Netvibes or what have you.

Tip #2: Now that you have a Support username and login, you can start your search. First, enter your search keywords into the upper left corner where it says: “Search WordPress.org”. This is just to make sure the answer you seek isn’t already in the Codex or Support forums. If your answer doesn’t turn up, then focus your search in the Support Forums by typing your search terms into the search box in the lower right of the page. It’s a good idea to make as thorough a search as possible before posting a new topic. If you don’t, not only will you be gumming up the forum with yet another question that’s been answered before, but the forum users who tend to respond with helpful answers will chide you in their answer for not being more thorough, if they answer you at all.

Tip #3: So, once you’ve gone through the first two steps, now it’s time to try Hot Topics. This is a tag cloud located underneath the search support forum box. Find a tag that’s the closest keyword to your issue and click on it. This takes you to a page that lists all the posts that have been tagged with that keyword. You’ll probably notice that some tags have hundreds of pages of threads to wade through. This is most likely because those who came before you didn’t do a thorough search, but you are a different breed!

Tip #4: OK, here’s the nitty gritty. If you clicked on a Hot Topics keyword, you’ll see that when you go to the page for that topic, the keyword is shown at the top right of the page and next to it is a link that says “Add New”. Click that, or scroll down to the bottom of the page. Eureka! There’s a window where you can add a new topic!
(This is also the reason that the WordPress team doesn’t create a link on the support home page that says something like “post a new topic”. They want you to do your homework first.)

Tip #5: If you need to post a new topic, make sure you make your post title as descriptive as possible. “WP Newbie Help!” won’t cut it, but “URL for RSS feed not working in address bar” might. Make sure you know which version of WordPress you are using. You can find out by going to the link in the upper right corner of your admin page where it says: “Dashboard”. If you have any special configuration for your WP install, such as in a subfolder of your site, make sure you mention that as well. Provide a link to your site so people can see the issue if they need to. Make sure you enter Tags (keywords used to find your topic) and choose a Section as well.

Tip #6: Keep checking back for responses to your post by signing into the forum and going to your Profile. If you manage to solve your issue, then make sure you change the status of your topic to “Resolved” this will “pay it forward” to other WP users. Good luck!