How to Activate SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base
How to Activate SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base
SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base requires an active licence before you can create and publish your WordPress knowledge base.
You can activate the plugin using the purchase email address and product key supplied with your SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base Monthly or Yearly subscription.
Before you begin
You will need:
- SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base installed and activated in WordPress
- A WordPress administrator account
- An active Monthly or Yearly subscription
- The email address used when purchasing the plugin
- Your SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base product key
- An internet connection from your WordPress website
Your website must be able to connect securely to SoftwareRoad so the licence details can be verified.
Where can I find my product key?
Your SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base product key is supplied with your order.
The key should use a format similar to:
SRKB-ABCD-EFGH-JKLM
Copy the complete product key, including each section.
You must also use the same email address that was entered when the subscription was purchased. Using another email address will prevent the licence from being recognised, even when the product key is correct.
Open the licence activation screen
When SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base is activated for the first time, WordPress should automatically redirect you to the licence activation screen.
You can also open it manually:
- Sign in to your WordPress dashboard.
- Find Knowledge Base in the dashboard menu.
- Select Activate Licence.
You can also open the WordPress Plugins page and select Activate underneath SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base.
Enter your licence details
On the activation screen, you will see two fields:
- Purchase email address
- Product key
Enter the email address used when purchasing SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base.
Next, enter or paste your complete product key.
The product key is case-insensitive, so it can be entered using uppercase or lowercase letters. The plugin will automatically remove spaces and convert the key to uppercase before checking it.
For the best results, copy and paste the key directly from your order information.
Activate the licence
After entering your details:
- Check that the purchase email address is correct.
- Check that the full product key has been entered.
- Select Activate Licence.
- Wait while the details are checked with SoftwareRoad.
The plugin automatically checks whether the product key belongs to a Monthly or Yearly SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base subscription. You do not need to select your plan manually.
Do not close or refresh the page while the licence check is taking place.
What happens after successful activation?
When the licence is accepted, you will be redirected to the SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base settings.
A successful activation makes the protected plugin features available, including:
- Knowledge base articles
- Knowledge base categories
- Plugin settings
- Knowledge base analytics
- Live article search
- Helpful article voting
- Article view tracking
- SEO features
- Knowledge base templates
- Public shortcode output
You can then begin configuring the plugin and creating your first knowledge base articles.
Check your licence status
To check the saved licence:
- Open the WordPress dashboard.
- Select Knowledge Base > Licence.
When the licence is active, the page will display:
- Licence active
- Licensed email address
- Masked product key
- Licence plan
- A link to open the plugin settings
The full product key is not displayed on the active licence screen. Most of the key is hidden to prevent it from being exposed to other people viewing the WordPress dashboard.
How does licence verification work?
When you select Activate Licence, the plugin sends the following information securely to SoftwareRoad:
- Purchase email address
- Product key
- SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base product name
These details are used only to check whether the product key belongs to an active and eligible subscription.
The plugin does not send your WordPress password, article content, customer information or general WordPress settings as part of the licence check.
After successful activation, the licence details and detected plan are saved in your WordPress database.
Automatic licence checks
SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base performs automatic licence checks after activation.
Successful licence checks are temporarily cached so the plugin does not need to contact the SoftwareRoad server on every page load.
The plugin also schedules an automatic daily check using the WordPress scheduled task system.
These checks confirm that the saved subscription remains active and that protected knowledge base features can continue to operate.
You do not normally need to check the licence manually.
Why is an active subscription required?
SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base is available through a Monthly or Yearly subscription.
Keeping the subscription active provides continued access to:
- The public knowledge base
- Article and category management
- Knowledge base search
- Visitor feedback
- Built-in analytics
- Plugin settings
- Future updates
- WordPress compatibility improvements
- New features
- SoftwareRoad support
If the subscription becomes inactive, the public knowledge base and protected plugin areas may become unavailable until an eligible licence is activated again.
Fix “Please enter a valid email address”
This message means the email address entered on the activation form is missing or is not recognised as a valid email format.
Check that:
- The complete email address has been entered
- There are no spaces before or after it
- The address contains the
@symbol - The domain name is complete
- You have not accidentally pasted other text into the field
You must use the email address connected to the SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base purchase.
Fix “Please enter a valid product key”
This message appears when the product key field is empty or the entered value is too short to be a valid key.
Check that:
- The complete key has been copied
- Every section of the key is present
- The key begins with the correct product prefix
- No part of the key has been replaced with hidden characters
- You have copied the product key rather than an order number or receipt number
A key should resemble:
SRKB-ABCD-EFGH-JKLM
Fix “Licence details not recognised”
This message normally means the purchase email address or product key does not match an active SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base subscription.
Check the following:
- Confirm that you are using the email address entered during purchase.
- Copy the full product key again.
- Make sure you are using a SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base key.
- Check that the subscription is still active.
- Remove any unexpected characters copied with the key.
- Try the activation again.
Product keys are case-insensitive, and spaces are removed automatically. However, all letters, numbers and key sections must still be correct.
If the details continue to be rejected, contact SoftwareRoad support with the purchase email address. Avoid publishing or sending the complete product key anywhere public.
Fix “This licence is not active”
This message means the licence was found, but it is not currently eligible for activation.
The subscription may have:
- Expired
- Been cancelled
- Had a payment fail
- Been suspended
- Been revoked
- Become inactive for another account-related reason
Check the subscription connected to the purchase email address.
Once the subscription is active again, return to Knowledge Base > Activate Licence and submit the licence details again.
Fix “The licence server could not be reached”
This message means your WordPress website could not connect to the SoftwareRoad licence server.
Possible causes include:
- A temporary internet connection problem
- A hosting firewall
- Outgoing HTTPS requests being blocked
- A security rule preventing the request
- A DNS problem
- An outdated server certificate store
- The SoftwareRoad server being temporarily unavailable
Wait a moment and try again.
If the problem continues, ask your hosting provider to confirm that your website can make outgoing HTTPS requests to: https://softwareroad.com
The server must also be able to verify secure SSL certificates.
Fix “The licence server returned an unexpected response”
This message means the website connected to the licence server, but the response could not be processed correctly.
This may be caused by:
- A temporary server problem
- A security system modifying the response
- A caching or proxy service interfering with the request
- An incomplete response
- A hosting connection problem
Try the activation again after a short period.
If the error continues, contact SoftwareRoad support and include the exact error message shown on the activation page.
Do not include your complete product key in a public support message.
The licence is active but the plugin remains locked
If the licence page says the subscription is active but another plugin screen remains unavailable:
- Refresh the WordPress dashboard.
- Sign out of WordPress and sign in again.
- Clear your WordPress cache.
- Clear any server or hosting cache.
- Confirm that the licence still shows as active.
- Check that SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base is still activated on the Plugins page.
You can also open Knowledge Base > Licence and confirm that the licensed email and plan are displayed.
The activation page keeps refreshing
If the form reloads without activating the plugin, check for:
- An expired WordPress login session
- A security plugin blocking form submissions
- A server firewall blocking the request
- A browser extension modifying the page
- A WordPress caching problem
- A connection timeout
Refresh the page, sign in again and retry the activation.
If possible, also test from another current web browser.
Can I change the saved licence?
You can remove the licence details currently saved on the website and activate the plugin again with another eligible licence.
To remove the saved details:
- Open Knowledge Base > Licence.
- Select Remove licence from this website.
- Confirm that you want to remove it.
Removing the saved licence does not delete your knowledge base articles, categories or settings from the WordPress database.
However, protected plugin areas and the public knowledge base may become unavailable until another active licence is entered.
Activation checklist
After activating SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base, confirm that:
- The licence page says Licence active
- The correct email address is displayed
- The correct Monthly or Yearly plan is displayed
- The product key is shown in a masked format
- The Knowledge Base settings can be opened
- The Articles and Categories screens are available
- The Analytics screen is available
- The public knowledge base page loads
- The
SoftwareRoad Documentation
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Your SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base licence is now active and the plugin is ready to configure.