4.3 is throwing an error when I click on member list

This archived support thread addresses 4.3 is throwing an error when I click on member list. The discussion below documents the reported issue and the steps taken to resolve it.

Troubleshooting Steps

When encountering errors in APG vNext, the following steps help diagnose the problem quickly:

• Enable detailed errors: Set customErrors mode="Off" in web.config to see the full error message and stack trace.
• Check the Windows Event Log: Application-level ASP.NET errors are logged in the Windows Event Log under Application.
• Review the APG error log: Admin Panel → Logs → Error Log shows application-level errors with timestamps.
• Verify recent changes: If the error appeared after an upgrade or configuration change, roll back or review what changed.

Common Fixes

• Restart the IIS Application Pool to clear stale state
• Verify database connectivity and run any pending SQL upgrade scripts
• Check that all required .NET assemblies are present in the bin folder
• Clear the ASP.NET temporary files folder (%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\...\Temporary ASP.NET Files)

For further assistance, visit the support forum or review the Knowledge Base.

APG vNext 4.3 Member List Error — Diagnosis and Fix

In APG vNext 4.3, some installations experienced an unhandled exception when navigating to the member list view. The error typically manifested as a blank page, a generic ASP.NET yellow screen of death, or a redirect to the error page depending on the customErrors setting in web.config. This was a regression specific to certain database collation configurations and did not affect all 4.3 installs.

Identifying the Error Type

The first step is to capture the actual exception. Set customErrors mode="Off" temporarily:

<system.web>
  <customErrors mode="Off" />
</system.web>

Then navigate to the member list again. The most common error messages reported in this thread were:

• Invalid column name 'LastActivityDate' — missing column from upgrade script
• Timeout expired. The timeout period elapsed prior to completion of the operation — large member table without index on sort column
• Conversion failed when converting the nvarchar value to data type int — member score data type mismatch post-upgrade

Each of these has a different fix. Identify which error you have before proceeding.

Fixes by Error Type

Fix 1 — Missing Column (LastActivityDate)

This occurs when the 4.3 SQL upgrade script was run partially or when jumping from 4.1 directly to 4.3 without running the 4.2 script first. Run the following in SQL Server Management Studio against your forum database:

-- Check if column exists
SELECT COLUMN_NAME
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'apg_Users'
  AND COLUMN_NAME = 'LastActivityDate';

-- If empty result, add the column:
ALTER TABLE apg_Users
ADD LastActivityDate DATETIME NULL
    DEFAULT GETDATE();

After adding the column, recycle the IIS Application Pool and test the member list again.

Fix 2 — Query Timeout on Large Member Table

The member list query in APG vNext 4.3 sorts by post count or join date by default. On forums with more than 5,000 members, this sort without an index causes a full table scan. Add a covering index:

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX IX_apg_Users_PostCount
ON apg_Users (PostCount DESC)
INCLUDE (UserName, JoinDate, LastActivityDate, Email);

Additionally, increase the SQL command timeout in web.config if the index alone is insufficient:

<connectionStrings>
  <add name="APGConnection"
       connectionString="Data Source=.;Initial Catalog=YourForumDB;
       Integrated Security=True;Connect Timeout=60;Command Timeout=120"
       providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
</connectionStrings>

Fix 3 — Data Type Mismatch After Upgrade

If the error is a conversion failure in the member score column, the upgrade script changed the Score column type from nvarchar to int, but legacy data contains non-numeric values. Clean up with:

-- Identify bad rows
SELECT UserID, Score FROM apg_Users
WHERE ISNUMERIC(CAST(Score AS NVARCHAR)) = 0;

-- Null out invalid scores before column type change
UPDATE apg_Users SET Score = NULL
WHERE ISNUMERIC(CAST(Score AS NVARCHAR)) = 0;

Then re-run the relevant portion of the 4.3 upgrade SQL script to complete the column type migration.

Prevention and Best Practices

Always Run SQL Scripts in Order

APG vNext upgrade scripts are version-sequential. Skipping from 4.1 to 4.3 without running the 4.2 script will always produce schema gaps. The upgrade guide documents this requirement explicitly — follow it even if a support thread suggests skipping unchanged scripts.

Test Member List After Every Upgrade

Add member list navigation to your post-upgrade checklist: login as a regular member (not admin), navigate to the member list, sort by different columns, and check pagination. These are the exact operations that trigger the queries affected by this class of bug.

Member List Performance Tuning in APG vNext

Beyond fixing the 4.3 error, there are several ongoing optimisations worth applying to the member list to keep it fast as your community grows:

Pagination Configuration

By default, the member list shows 50 members per page. For large communities, reducing this to 25 significantly speeds up each page load. Configure in the admin panel under Members → Member List Settings → Results Per Page. Alternatively, set via web.config:

<add key="APG.MemberList.PageSize"      value="25" />
<add key="APG.MemberList.DefaultSort"   value="PostCount" />
<add key="APG.MemberList.DefaultOrder"  value="DESC" />

Hiding the Member List from Guests

If the member list is publicly accessible, search engine crawlers will paginate through hundreds of pages of it, wasting crawl budget. Restrict it to logged-in members only:

<add key="APG.MemberList.RequireLogin" value="true" />
<!-- Or use location-based auth in web.config: -->
<location path="memberlist.aspx">
  <system.web>
    <authorization>
      <deny users="?" />
    </authorization>
  </system.web>
</location>

This also prevents email scraping bots from harvesting member usernames via the public member directory.

Member Search vs. Member List

Rather than showing all members alphabetically, consider enabling the member search functionality which requires users to enter at least 3 characters before a query runs. This eliminates the performance cost of listing all members while still allowing targeted member lookups. Enable via Admin Panel → Members → Use Member Search Instead of Full Listing.

Related Resources

• Upgrade Guide — sequential upgrade instructions with SQL script order
• APG vNext 4.3 Release Notes
• Knowledge Base — database troubleshooting articles
• Support Forum — post your specific error message for community help

Looking for more help? Browse the support forum or check the Knowledge Base.