Of course, this most likely will also be true for many many other forums, in which help is sought/given. However I’m ranting from my view when going through the Wordpress.org forums, so it’s obviously Wordpress based, and maybe also biased

Wordpress Forums offer a few subforums, such as How-To and Troubleshooting, Plugins and Hacks, WP-Advanced, and more. These three are those I browse, with preference in the Plugins and Hacks forum, to keep an eye on updates or issues with plugins I use. It is fairly well visited, while How-To and Troubleshooting is the most frequented forum of all, judging by the amount of topics in there (almost three times as much as the 2nd largest forum, Plugins and Hacks, ca. 141k topics vs. 55.7k topics at the time of writing).

As with many other public forums, you do get your special people there. I often wonder what goes through their minds when they actually write the stuff they do and even really mean it. Surely that might be an interesting study for some research group, “Psychological insights into the mindset of a forum troll and other special users”.

e.g. one user, say “User A”, started a thread about why a certain plugin needs to be enabled every time there’s an update. Fair enough, might be annoying, but it’s just a simple step, for something, which is free. So also thinks User B. Then User A complains that it might be ok if there weren’t every time a new version of that plugin, and User C agrees with User A.

So, we have here two users who think that the plugin shouldn’t be updated that often, because it’s annoying, one user thinking it’s fine, it’s not a hassle, and the author of the plugin posting a link to a poll on his site in regards to how often his plugin should be updated. It’s clear who those special users are here, the two annoyed-by-updates user.

One of them, the thread creator, even states that he expected more from a “Senior Wordpress Developer”. What exactly does he expect though? A promise that a plugin will be updated only when he, User A, grants it? An update once a month or once every 3 month? Disregarding any updates to Wordpress, or maybe fixing a security issue in the plugin? Does he expect that the dev, who usually, but not always, creates a plugin in his spare time, out of his free will, jumps to the whim of one user who can’t be bothered to click his mouse button couple times? Does he expect a “Senior Wordpress Developer” to disregard his software?

Seriously, User A, you can use the plugin for free, created by someone who was nice enough to make it available for free under a licence which even allows you to modify it if you wish to do so. Wanting less updates from the dev because you’re a lazy twat is irresponsible towards the dev as well as any other user, who appreciate the plugin and it’s often updates.
Also, as I also mention in that particular thread, there’s something called a changelog, or version history, where you can see the changes done. If it’s no security update, you can decide if you want to update it or not. No one forces you. If it’s a security update and you don’t update though, don’t come whining to forums that someone exploited the security issue which has been fixed in a newer version.

Alternatively, you’re free to use a different plugin, or create your own one.

Some users, such as User D interprete errors they receive as them being hacked, some even getting hysterical, without reading the actual error message and simply fixing it.
One user wants to report a plugin that apparently hacked his site, and then goes on to list 7 plugins he uses, followed by the error message “Forbidden. You don’t have permission to accesss … on this server.”

Most likely just incorrect attributes for the folder, more not.

However User D is so panicked that after 11 minutes of his thread creation no one replied yet, so he had to bump the thread again.

Dear User D: You’re not the only user on the forum, and other people are not there just waiting for you to create a thread to immediately reply to.
Further, READ the error message and try to fix it. Step 1, check attributes. Step 2, check .htaccess. Step 3, disable all plugins/themes and test manually through each.
Of course there can be problems which are caused by bad programming, which is not obvious to the regular john doe user, but problems such as this are trivial.
Turns out at some point later during writing, at least according to him, that his .htaccess prevented it from working, also with subdomains, and so he deleted it. Now “looking forward” to his threads that all his permalinks are gone.

Ironically the same user, User D, posted in someone else’s thread totally Off topic if User E, creator of the other thread, can help User D with his hacked problem. More ironic is, that User E seemed to also have not set his directories to the appropriate rwx level. Even though User E also bumped thread in a short time, he’s not crying someone’s hacking him, but describing his problem in a more appropriate way, therefore deserving a solution.
un is, that hysterical User D is continuing to post in E’s thread, without much knowledge from the looks, and instead inviting for yahoo chat, where he will help him. Ah right, if that’s so, post it in the forums, twat. Then followed by telling my that I’m the best followed by a frown smiley (for whatever reason he says that, maybe because I thwarted his yahoo session?) followed requests to help him. Seems to be a very special user.

Dear User E: Don’t bump your thread in a short succession. If there are no replies after several hours or days, then yes, bump it, but not directly after a few minutes.
Dear User D, again: Read what your error is, and stick to your own thread, don’t spam other people’s thread with your rubbish.

So, those were couple special cases, which I’ve come across in the same subforum (Plugins) separated by about 1 or 2 hours. Imagine the overall amount of special people like that through all the threads.

Of course you also have other specials in there, demanding that the plugin dev help them here and now, forgetting everything else and only focus on that user. Dear demanding User X: Shut up.

Understandably there are people whose primary language isn’t English. That happens, there are school classes and evening courses for that Nonetheless, trying to explain a problem with “u”, “r” “their” when they’re or there is meant, or all sorts of other defilement of the English language in this style, you might just as well shut up and go.

Another point I don’t understand is, do people think that all other users can read his mind? State the bloody problem in full detail in your own thread with proper wording! A thread titled “Help” and content such as “I think my site has been hacked. What happened?” is extremely helpful. Not!
Apart from if you really genuinely believe that your site has been hacked, here, This site exists for a reason. RTFM

Same as people posting problems with their WP installation, even though their WP version is absolutely outdated already. There’s a good reason as to why things like this here are repeated often enough, and the warning to always be up to date. If you don’t keep your WP up to date, especially concerning security features, don’t come whining. You had the option to keep it secure, you botched it, tough luck, your problem, not mine.

Some say, some plugins only work till a certain version, hence they’re reluctant to update. Yes, but have you tried it? Or just repeating what someone else said or possibly written on the plugin page? Most plugins work easily with a version higher than what is stated on the plugin page.

Again, some say they tested it and it “destroyed” their page.
Well, a) before you test something, there’s this thing called backup. No backup, your fault. b) You obviously tested it locally on your machine first before going to the live site. You didn’t? Your fault, tough luck.

As with any other forum or any other place as well, if you want help, be friendly, describe your problem in details, be specifc, and be reasonable. If not, don’t be surprised if you’re ignored.

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