Create a WordPress Helpdesk [Guide+Plugins+Themes] – 2023

Looking for a way to build a great customer support Helpdesk from your WordPress website? No idea where to start?

In this article, I will take you through the must-have features and some advanced features that can be a powerful asset to have in a WordPress Helpdesk plugin.

And then, I will review a few WordPress Helpdesk plugins that match our criteria, at-least those that are closest.
You probably know what a Helpdesk is, but just for standardization, let me clearly define a Helpdesk in the context of popular use.

What’s a Helpdesk?

A Helpdesk is a portal/website/part of a website which your users can get help from.
If you are selling products on your website, your customers would most definitely expect support for those products.

In fact, you can have a Helpdesk for any product or service that you sell.
A Helpdesk / Help center / Live Help / Customer Support or whatever you call it, should ultimately be about providing customer support.

WordPress Helpdesk Plugins

Before we start, let me define a few terms from the context of the WordPress plugins ecosystem:

A WordPress Helpdesk plugin is supposed to be a plugin with the entire feature set of Support Ticketing, Knowledge Base and also a little more ( keep reading to see what other features a WP Helpdesk might have ).

But, most plugins called WordPress Help desk plugin have either Support Ticket or Knowledge Base features but not both.

• A WordPress Help center plugin is the same as Helpdesk, and this term is commonly used by WordPress Support Ticket plugins.
• A WordPress Customer Support system is the same as Helpdesk / Help center.
• A WordPress Support Ticket system plugin is just as it says, just the Support Ticketing features in a plugin. Also to note that,  WordPress Ticket System could also mean an event ticket system. So, beware.
• A WordPress Knowledge Base Wiki plugin is a plugin that can be used to create a self-help portal/product documentation section as part of your Helpdesk. It could also be used to create a public/private Knowledge Base for varied purposes or a Wiki website.
• A WordPress Product Documentation plugin is almost similar to a Knowledge Base plugin with mostly the same features, maybe lesser features. But, used with product documentation in mind. You can even use a Knowledge Base plugin to create product documentation as mentioned.
• A WordPress Support plugin usually means a support ticketing system plugin.

If you are interested in any of these, you are in the right place.

Keep this in mind:

In terms of functionality, a Helpdesk should typically consist of a minimum of

• Support Ticketing system
• Knowledge Base / Documentation system

And there could also be

• FAQ section
• Forums
• Live Support / Help Chat

Now that we have clearly established what a Helpdesk is, let me go through each part in detail.

KNOWLEDGE BASE:

A Knowledge Base is a part of any good Helpdesk system. You can use it as a self-help portal for your customers.
If you want a Knowledge Base as part of your Helpdesk, you will find this article on WordPress Knowledge Base plugins useful.

SUPPORT TICKET SYSTEM:

Now, we can talk about the Support Ticketing part of the Helpdesk.
The support ticket system is a mission-critical component of your customer support, and so you need a good set of criteria for choosing a WordPress Support Ticket plugin.

Who needs a Support Ticket System?

Woocommerce website owners:

If you have a Woocommerce website and you sell products, then you definitely need a support ticket system.
Your customer might have issues with payment, delivery or the product itself.

And there’s no better way to handle, track and resolve all your customer’s needs than using a solid WordPress support ticket plugin.

Tech Support for digital products:

If you sell digital products, you can also use a WordPress Support Ticket to provide tech support/basic customer support for your digital products.

This is great for people selling WordPress, Joomla, Drupal or any other themes or plugins.

There are many other digital products which you may be selling, but the bottom-line is if you have a WordPress website, you can use one of the awesome support ticket plugins to provide tech support.

Others who might want a support ticket system:

• Customer care agencies
• Support outsourcing/handling agencies
• Call centers

Have I missed anyone? Let me know in the comments if you are looking for a support ticket solution that falls in any other use case.

HelpieKB – Helpdesk WordPress Plugin:

I can wholeheartedly recommend HelpieKB plugin for your Knowledge Base part of the Helpdesk. Not just because it’s ours, but it’s something we have built with the consideration of what a Knowledge Base plugin should be like. HelpieKB works with any properly WordPress theme and definitely, the ones mentioned below. Here are HelpieKB’s features.

Helpdesk Features of HelpieKB:

1. Article organization as topics, sub-topics
2. Powerful search which has keyword weighed algorithm
3. Integration with Elementor Page Builder
4. Classic and Emoticon voting
5. Insights on searches, page views, voting
6. Dynamic Capabilities to restrict who can view, edit, publish, approve articles
7. Drag and Drop Template and listing controls

and more. You can check out our features and try Helpie for free. Spend less time doing support and let customers discover features, find solutions and even troubleshoot themselves.

Try Helpie – WordPress Helpdesk Plugin for Free!

SupportCandy – Helpdesk & Support Ticket Plugin

SupportCandy Helpdesk & Support Ticket WordPress is a plugin that adds to WordPress the features of a complete helpdesk ticket system. It is one of the oldest and most dependable WordPress support ticket plugins.

There are also some premium add-ons that offer more features such as email piping, WooCommerce integration, canned reply, assign agent rules, SLA, satisfaction survey, automatic close tickets, usergroup, agent group and schedule tickets.

Helpdesk Features of SupportCandy Plugin

Some of its help desk features are:

• Unlimited number of tickets and agents
• Advanced custom filter and search functionality for customers and agents
•  Provides you with private notes for internal support agent communication
• 16+ Custom field types for ticket fields, agent-only fields and customer fields
• Guest tickets and OTP Login for guests
• Email notifications
• Google reCaptcha integration
• GDPR Compatible and Terms & Conditions checkbox in the ticket form

Download SupportCandy – Helpdesk & Support Ticket Plugin!

JS Help Desk – HelpDesk & Support Plugin

JS Help Desk & Support plugin is a professional, simple, easy to use way to create a complete customer support system using WordPress.

It is one of the best help desk plugins for WordPress and comes with premium add-ons that offer more features such as agents, FAQ’s, auto close, private note, canned response, export, merge tickets, email piping, time tracking and more.

Helpdesk Features of JS Help Desk Support Plugin

• Front-end tickets and visitor/guest tickets
• Multiple attachments with size and type control
• Powerful filters and sorting for tickets
• Priorities, departments and ticket status with different colors
• Edit ticket and create ticket for users
• Registration and login form

Download JS Help Desk – HelpDesk & Support Plugin!

Fluent Support – WordPress Helpdesk & Support Ticket Plugin

The Fluent Support Ticket plugin adds to WordPress the features of a professional, simple, easy to use and complete customer support system. It is the ultimate support ticket management plugin for WordPress.

Helpdesk Features of Fluent Support Helpdesk Plugin

• Multi-channel support ticketing system with email, contact form, support form and remote website.
• Super fast and rich filter based ticket management with priorities, products, tags and channels.
• Customer portal for logged-in and public users to view and respond to tickets.
• Ticket segmentation and reporting with detailed stats of agents and customers.
• Integrations with WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, LearnDash, LifterLMS and more.
• Custom fields, canned responses, internal notes, email notifications and more.

Download Fluent Support Ticket Helpdesk Plugin!

Best Helpdesk Themes for Knowledge Base:

KnowHow – Helpdesk Theme:

KnowHow is a Helpdesk WordPress Theme by Herothemes, and it has over 5,065 sales. If you just need a basic theme for your Helpdesk, you can use this.

Helpdesk Features of KnowHow WordPress Theme:

• Live Ajax search: KnowHow WordPress Theme has a sleek live search like the other themes from Herothemes.
• Sidebar Navigation: The KnowHow Theme has a sidebar with the Knowledge Base categories and makes for an easy navigation of your entire Knowledge Base.
• Multilingual Support: The KnowHow Theme has multilingual support and is compatible with WPML Multilingual Plugin.
• FAQ: You also get the option to add an FAQ page to your website with KnowHow theme’s FAQ feature.

Also, you can reorder FAQ items, add a sidebar for FAQ a live search the FAQ items as well.

Buy KnowHow – Helpiedesk Theme Now!

Best Support Ticketing Plugins:

Awesome Support WordPress Plugin:

Awesome Support is one of the most popular WordPress Support Ticket plugins currently and is used on 10,000+ websites. It’s a free plugin with a lot of paid pro-extensions.

Pros of Awesome Support for Helpdesk:

• Email: It has some good email support features that let your customers submit tickets via email. Reply to emails by your agents and your clients is also possible.
• Custom Fields: You also have the option to add custom fields to the ticket submission form. This is a real plus.
• Sorting and Filtering: There are some nice sorting and filtering options that help you find those tickets that you are looking for.

See all features and try the free version here >>

WSDesk – WordPress Help desk  Plugin:

WSDesk is another freemium plugin with amazing premium features. The premium version of the plugin is definitely among the best in terms of features. The plugin is also updated frequently with new features and bug fixes.

Pros of WSDesk for Helpdesk:

• Triggers and Automation (aka Macros): This is one of the best features of WSDesk which is somewhat lacking in the other plugins. It saves a lot of your time and energy and lets you sit back while you automate most important aspects of your customer support.
• Auto Suggestion System: Autosuggestion system helps you reduce support time by redirecting users to your knowledge base articles.

Here’s a list of the other premium features of WSDesk as well:

• Unlimited Agents with Agents Reports & Agents Management
• Import Zendesk Tickets
• Ticket Custom Views & Customizable Ticket Fields
• Customizable Support Form
• Email Support System with Attachment support
• Reporting and Analyzing Tool
• Auto Tagging And Assigning
• Auto Suggestion System
• Triggers & Automation with Automated Emails
• Customer Feedback Survey and Agent’s Satisfaction Rating
• WooCommerce Fields & Reports
• One Year Support & Updates

Try WSDesk WordPress Support plugin now!

Apart from these standout support ticketing plugins for WordPress, I have to mention some other notable plugins.

Sola Support Tickets:

Sola Support Tickets is a relatively new WordPress Support Tickets plugin but has a couple of interesting features in the pro version that you might like. The pro version is also relatively cheaper than Awesome Support’s or WP Support Plus’ pro versions.

Pros of Sola Support Tickets for Helpdesk:

• Macros: Using Sola’s macros, you can create custom responses to your customer’s tickets. This is a standout feature in the Sola Support Tickets. But this is a premium feature.
• Departments: Sola WordPress Support Ticket plugin gives you the ability to assign tickets to different departments and its agents. This is also a premium feature.

See all features and try the free version here >>

Other Notable WordPress Support Ticket Plugins:

• KB Support – WordPress Help Desk Plugin
• WPHelpDesk Plugin
• Freshdesk for WordPress
• Zendesk for WordPress

Best Support Ticketing Themes:

These are currently the most promising WordPress Support Ticket themes.

One point to note is that most of the themes in this category promote themselves as WordPress Helpdesk theme, but only a few are truly that.

Helpdesk by JanStudio

To clarify, Helpdesk here is the name of the theme. Helpdesk calls itself the WordPress Support Center theme. It’s a premium theme as well.

Pros of Helpdesk WordPress Theme:

• BBPress Compatible: Helpdesk Theme is compatible with BBPress, that makes it easier for you to integrate an entirely new facet of customer support.
• You now have Ticketing + Forums.
• Envato Integration: If you sell products on Envato, then this theme can help you verify your customers with the Envato purchase code validation API.

Important Note:
The reviewed features are just the unique and important aspects that caught our eyes. Please read the products’ documentation or try their demo to get a full view of the product.

If this article was helpful or if you have any questions or something to share, please comment below.

Bonus: Get a free demo of Helpie Knowledge Base plugin now 

Using a WordPress Contact Form Plugin for Customer Support:

A support ticket system is only needed when you handle many support tickets in a day.
A simple contact form on your support page customized for customer support can do the trick.

Kali Forms Plugin

Kali Forms is a powerful & user-friendly WordPress contact form plugin. It gives you a drag & drop form builder so that you can build your own custom support form specific for your support needs.

Get Kali Forms Plugin Now!

(Discontinued) WP Support Plus Responsive Ticket System:

WP Support Plus is being used on over 6,000+ websites currently, and it’s easily the most popular plugin on WordPress.org.

Pros of WP Support Plus for Helpdesk:

• Frontend Ticket Management: WP Support has a better frontend ticket management than the Awesome Support plugin. The filtering, sorting, etc. are much better too.
• User Roles: The WP Support Plus WordPress plugin has a supervisor role (aka Support Manager role ) for managing the agents.
• Advanced Filtering: With the WP Support Plus plugin, you can do advanced filtering and also save the filtering options.

So the next time you login in, your favorite filter is already set.

(Discontinued) SupportEzzy – WordPress Ticket System:

SupportEzzy is the only premium plugin in this list, but its very affordable and gives you good value for your money.

Pros of SupportEzzy Helpdesk Ticket System:

Vue.js App: What this means for you is that your frontend where your customers manage the plugin is a pretty robust ‘app’ in its own right.

It’s a dynamic frontend app that updates and works without the need to refresh the page. Vue.js is the javascript frontend framework technology that’s increasingly preferred by standalone app developers.

Integrations: Another thing that sets SupportEzzy apart is its integration with other platforms/plugins that you could be using,

• Envato
• Gumroad
• Woocommerce
• Skype

(Discontinued) TicketLab by BigBangThemes

TicketLab is a premium WordPress Support Ticket / Helpdesk theme that lets you run a support ticket website by yourself.

Pros of Ticketlab WordPress Theme for Helpdesk:

• Clean Interface: TicketLab has a clean interface for your customer support portal. Both your clients and your agents have access to the frontend dashboard.
• This is a much better experience for everyone.
• Integrations: TicketLab has a couple of very useful integrations, Trello and Github.

This is excellent for support teams that use Trello to track bugs and issues. And also the development teams that use Github to develop, track issues, commit and manage releases.

There are also integrations with Envato, Zendesk and Visual Composer that might be worth looking into.