SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base System Requirements

Before installing SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base, it is worth checking that your WordPress website meets the minimum requirements.

The plugin is designed to work with modern WordPress websites and does not require a particular WordPress theme or page builder.

Minimum system requirements

To use SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base, your website should have:

• WordPress 6.0 or later
• PHP 7.4 or later
• Permission to install and activate WordPress plugins
• A WordPress administrator account
• An active SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base Monthly or Yearly licence
• An internet connection for licence activation and validation
• JavaScript enabled in the visitor’s browser

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base version 2.6.9 has been tested with WordPress up to version 6.8.

The plugin may continue to work with newer WordPress versions, but you should always keep SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base updated so that you receive the latest compatibility improvements and fixes.

WordPress requirements

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base requires WordPress 6.0 or later.

Your WordPress installation must allow third-party plugins to be uploaded and activated. This normally includes self-hosted WordPress websites and hosting plans that support custom plugins.

You will also need access to the WordPress dashboard.

Most plugin settings, licence controls and analytics pages require an administrator account with the manage_options permission.

Users who are allowed to edit knowledge base articles may still be able to create and update content, depending on the roles and permissions configured on your website.

PHP requirements

Your web server must use PHP 7.4 or later.

PHP is the server-side programming language used by WordPress and SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base.

Although PHP 7.4 is the minimum supported version, using a newer PHP version supported by your hosting provider is recommended for improved security and performance.

Before changing your PHP version, check that your WordPress theme and other installed plugins also support the version you intend to use.

You can normally find your current PHP version by opening:

WordPress Dashboard > Tools > Site Health > Info > Server

Your web hosting control panel may also show the current PHP version.

WordPress administrator access

You will need a WordPress administrator account to complete the initial setup.

Administrator access is required to:

• Install and activate the plugin
• Activate the SoftwareRoad licence
• Change knowledge base settings
• View knowledge base analytics
• Change article and category URL settings
• Configure SEO and privacy options
• Remove or replace the saved licence

If someone else manages your WordPress website, they may need to install and activate the plugin for you.

Active Monthly or Yearly licence

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base requires an active Monthly or Yearly subscription.

During activation, you will need:

• The email address used when purchasing the plugin
• Your SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base product key
• An active subscription linked to those details

The website must be able to connect securely to the SoftwareRoad licence server.

The plugin checks the licence during activation and performs automatic licence checks while the subscription remains active.

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base does not currently offer a free version or free trial.

Keeping your subscription active provides continued access to the public knowledge base, plugin settings, analytics, updates, compatibility improvements and SoftwareRoad support.

Internet connection and outgoing HTTPS requests

Your WordPress website must be able to make outgoing HTTPS requests.

These requests are used to:

• Activate the product key
• Verify the licence status
• Perform automatic licence checks
• Load Bootstrap Icons used by the plugin
• Access SoftwareRoad documentation and support links

Some security plugins, firewalls, managed hosting platforms or server configurations can block outgoing requests.

If the licence server cannot be reached, you may see a connection or activation error.

Your hosting provider may need to allow connections to: https://softwareroad.com

The licence connection uses secure HTTPS verification.

WordPress scheduled tasks

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base uses WordPress scheduled tasks to perform automatic daily licence checks.

WordPress normally runs these tasks automatically through WP-Cron.

If WP-Cron has been disabled on your website, your hosting provider or developer should configure a real server cron job to run WordPress scheduled tasks.

A missing or incorrectly configured cron system may prevent automatic checks from running at the expected time.

Database permissions

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base stores its settings using the normal WordPress database system.

The plugin also creates a small database table for grouped knowledge base search analytics.

Your WordPress database user should have permission to create and update database tables during plugin activation.

Most standard WordPress hosting accounts already provide the required permissions.

If search analytics do not work after installation, restricted database permissions may be one possible cause.

WordPress permalink support

WordPress permalinks should be working correctly before creating your knowledge base.

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base uses dedicated URLs for articles and categories.

Example article URL:

example.com/knowledge-base/article-name/

Example category URL:

example.com/kb-category/getting-started/

The exact URL structure can be changed in the plugin settings.

If an article or category displays a 404 error after installation, open:

WordPress Dashboard > Settings > Permalinks

You can then select Save Changes without changing any settings. This refreshes the WordPress rewrite rules.

Browser requirements

Visitors should use a modern web browser with JavaScript enabled.

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base uses JavaScript for features including:

• Live search results
• Helpful article voting
• Reading progress bars
• Copy URL sharing
• Privacy policy access gate
• Interactive settings controls

The main article content can still be read without many of these interactive features, but some functionality may not work when JavaScript is disabled.

Current versions of the following browsers are recommended:

• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Edge
• Mozilla Firefox
• Apple Safari
• Mobile Chrome
• Mobile Safari

Very old or unsupported browsers may not display every design feature correctly.

Theme and page builder compatibility

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base does not require a dedicated WordPress knowledge base theme.

It works alongside your existing WordPress theme and displays its own knowledge base layouts for the homepage, categories and articles.

The main knowledge base can be added to a normal WordPress page using:

This shortcode can usually be added through:

• The WordPress block editor
• The Classic Editor
• A shortcode block
• A page builder shortcode or text element

Some themes and page builders may apply their own spacing, typography or content width settings around the knowledge base.

If the layout appears unusually narrow or has unexpected spacing, check the page template and page builder settings first.

A full-width or standard content page template will normally provide the best result.

Plugin compatibility

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base is designed to work alongside normal WordPress plugins.

This can include:

• Caching plugins
• Security plugins
• SEO plugins
• Contact form plugins
• Ecommerce plugins
• Page builders
• Membership plugins

The plugin includes compatibility handling for several popular SEO plugins so that duplicate SEO metadata is less likely to be added.

However, aggressive caching, firewall rules or JavaScript optimisation can occasionally affect features such as:

• Live search
• Helpful voting
• Licence activation
• Search analytics
• Reading progress
• Privacy gate behaviour

If a feature stops working, temporarily excluding the knowledge base scripts and AJAX requests from optimisation can help identify the cause.

Bootstrap Icons

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base uses Bootstrap Icons for category icons, article icons, homepage highlights and parts of the administration area.

The icon stylesheet is loaded from the jsDelivr content delivery network.

Your website and visitors’ browsers must be able to access: https://cdn.jsdelivr.net

If this domain is blocked by a firewall or Content Security Policy, Bootstrap icons may not appear.

You can also upload custom category, article and highlight images where supported by the plugin.

SSL certificate

An SSL certificate is strongly recommended.

Your website should load using HTTPS rather than HTTP.

HTTPS helps protect:

• WordPress administrator logins
• Licence activation requests
• Customer interactions
• Search submissions
• General website traffic

Most modern WordPress hosting providers include a free SSL certificate.

SoftwareRoad licence requests use SSL verification, so the web server must have an up-to-date certificate store and be able to verify secure connections.

Recommended hosting setup

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base does not have unusually high hosting requirements.

A normal WordPress hosting account should be suitable for most small and medium-sized knowledge bases.

For the best experience, we recommend:

• A currently supported PHP version
• An up-to-date WordPress installation
• HTTPS enabled
• Working WP-Cron
• Working outgoing HTTPS connections
• A reliable WordPress database
• Regular website backups
• Sufficient storage for article images
• A caching system suitable for WordPress

Larger knowledge bases with many articles, images or visitors may benefit from stronger hosting resources and server-level caching.

Do I need any other plugins?

No additional plugin is required to create your knowledge base.

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base includes its own:

• Knowledge base article system
• Category system
• Search
• Article view tracking
• Search analytics
• Helpful voting
• Table of contents
• Related and popular articles
• SEO options
• Social sharing
• Privacy gate
• Design controls

You may still choose to use other WordPress plugins for features such as backups, security, caching or contact forms.

Pre-installation checklist

Before installing SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base, check the following:

• WordPress is version 6.0 or later
• PHP is version 7.4 or later
• You have a WordPress administrator account
• Your website allows custom plugin installation
• HTTPS is enabled
• WordPress permalinks are working
• Outgoing HTTPS requests are allowed
• WP-Cron or a server cron job is working
• You have your purchase email and product key
• Your Monthly or Yearly subscription is active
• You have created a recent website backup

Once these requirements have been checked, you can install and activate SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base.