Check these before you install HelpDesk WP.
Minimum requirements
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| WordPress | 6.0 or later |
| PHP | 7.4 or later |
| Your site must be able to send email. An SMTP plugin is recommended. | |
| Email Piping extension | The PHP IMAP extension on your server |
Themes and page builders
HelpDesk WP adds its customer screens with shortcodes, so it works with any theme or page builder that can show a shortcode, including the WordPress block editor (use a Shortcode block) and builders with a shortcode element. See "Setting up your support pages with shortcodes".
Hosting
- Any normal WordPress host will do.
- Several features run on WordPress cron: Email Piping checks your mailbox every 5 minutes, and the SLA, Workflows, Webhooks and Paid Support extensions also use scheduled tasks. WordPress cron only runs when someone visits your site, so on a quiet site these can run late. A real server cron job that calls WordPress cron every 5 minutes (or sooner) makes them reliable. Your host can set this up.
- Ask your host to enable PHP IMAP if you plan to use Email Piping. Without it the Email Piping settings page tells you the extension is not available and the enable box is greyed out.
HelpDesk WP sends all its notifications through your site's normal email system. Install an SMTP plugin or use your host's mail service so messages reach inboxes, then run the email health check. See "Email notifications, From address and the email health check".
Accessibility and mobile
The customer screens are designed to be accessible and mobile friendly, with 16 px text and 44 px tap targets on mobile.
Moving from another help desk
There is no importer. You can bring data in with the REST API, and take tickets out with CSV export. Keep in mind that every ticket created through the API goes through the normal flow: it gets the status Open, today's date, auto-assignment, and a confirmation email to the customer. You cannot set historical dates. See "Developer guide: REST API, hooks and events".
Still stuck? Open a ticket on the support page on ABC and a real person will help.
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