Where to ask
The WordPress.org support forum is the main channel:
https://wordpress.org/support/theme/rural-blog/
It is public, which means the next person with your question finds the answer instead of asking it again. That is worth a great deal on a free theme.
Before you post
Two minutes here usually saves a day of back-and-forth:
- Read Common issues — it covers the things that look like bugs and are usually a setting.
- Deactivate your plugins and see whether the problem persists. If it goes away, reactivate them one at a time; you will find the culprit in a few minutes and can go to the right support forum.
- Switch to Twenty Twenty-Five briefly. If the problem is still there, it is not the theme.
What to include
- The URL of a page showing the problem. This is the single most useful thing. A screenshot is second best; a description is a distant third.
- WordPress version and theme version — both on Dashboard → Updates.
- What you expected, and what you got. In that order.
- Browser and device, if it is a display problem.
- Any custom CSS or child theme you have added. Say so even if you are confident it is unrelated.
What is in scope
| Bugs in the theme | ✅ |
| “How do I…” about a theme feature | ✅ |
| The theme conflicting with a plugin | ✅ — worth reporting even if the fix belongs elsewhere |
| Custom CSS requests | Sometimes, and gladly if it is short |
| Building a custom feature for you | ❌ |
| Plugin problems, host problems, general WordPress | ❌ — but say so and you will usually be pointed somewhere useful |
RTL and translation reports
Both are genuinely useful and both are under-reported. If you run the theme in an RTL locale or in a translation, a screenshot with the element that is wrong is enough to get it fixed.
Feature requests
Welcome, on the same forum. The theme is opinionated on purpose — a request that would make it a page builder will politely not happen — but a well-argued case for a setting that is genuinely missing is exactly how the option list has grown.
Elsewhere
- Documentation: https://owldraft.com/docs/rural-blog/
- Theme page and changelog: https://owldraft.com/themes/rural-blog
- Live demo: https://rural-blog.themepreview.site/
- Theme directory: https://wordpress.org/themes/rural-blog/
Reviews
If the theme is working for you, a review on the theme directory helps more than anything else. It is a free theme from a new studio; word of mouth is the entire distribution strategy.