Once you have purchased a license for ASP Playground forum software, you are entitled to technical support and free updates for the duration of your support period.
Accessing the Support Forum
All licensed customers gain access to the private support forums. To activate your access:
- Register an account on this community site.
- Post your order ID in the APG vNext Support forum.
- Your account will be upgraded to a licensed member within 24 hours.
Downloading Updates
Software updates are made available through the member download area. You will receive a notification post in the support forum whenever a new version is released.
Support Channels
- Community Forum: Post your questions in the APG vNext Support forum for community and staff assistance.
- Email Support: Use the Contact page to reach us directly for licensing or billing issues.
- Knowledge Base: Browse the knowledge base for common issues and how-to guides.
Support Period
Your license includes 12 months of support and updates. After your support period expires, you may renew at a discounted rate to continue receiving updates and priority support.
How Support Access Works After Purchase
When you purchase an APG vNext licence, your account is automatically granted access to the private customer support forum within 24 hours of payment confirmation. The support forum is a separate, gated section of the ASP Playground community that is not visible to trial users or guests — only to customers with an active licence. The development team monitors the private support forum daily and typically responds to questions within one business day. For urgent production issues, mark your post as high priority in the subject line to flag it for faster attention.
What the Support Period Covers
During the support period (typically one year from purchase), the entitlement includes unlimited technical support questions via the private forum, access to all software updates and security patches, and priority email escalation for critical issues. Questions can cover installation, configuration, upgrades, integrations with third-party systems, performance tuning, and general how-to guidance for APG vNext features. The support period does not include custom development work — if you need the APG team to build a custom feature or integration for your specific environment, this is handled separately through the professional consultation service.
Receiving Update Notifications
Subscribe to the release announcements thread in the public community forum to receive email notifications whenever a new APG vNext version is released. Each release announcement post includes the version number, release date, a summary of new features and bug fixes, and a download link. You can also monitor the customer portal download page directly — the latest available version is always listed at the top with the release date, making it easy to compare against your currently installed version number shown in Admin Panel → System → About.
Downloading Updates from the Customer Portal
Log in to the customer portal at aspplayground.net and navigate to Account → Downloads to access all software packages available under your licence. The download list shows each release version with its release date and file size. Download the full package for major version upgrades (which include new application files, SQL migration scripts, and updated documentation), or download the patch package for minor updates (which contains only the changed files for faster deployment). Both packages include a README with detailed deployment instructions specific to that release.
Applying Updates to a Live Forum
Before applying any update, back up the database and the application files. Use SQL Server Management Studio or a scheduled SQL Server Agent job to take a full database backup before starting the update procedure. For the application files, copy the current deployment to a backup folder. Place the IIS maintenance file (app_offline.htm) in the forum root to show a maintenance page while the update is applied. Copy the new application files into the deployment folder, run the SQL migration script against the database if included in the update, verify the admin panel loads correctly, then remove the maintenance file to restore access. This procedure ensures clean rollback capability if the update causes unexpected issues.
Related Resources
Support Best Practices for Faster Resolutions
When posting a support question in the private forum, providing complete diagnostic information in the first message significantly reduces the back-and-forth needed to identify the root cause. Include the APG vNext version and build number, the Windows Server and IIS version, the SQL Server version and edition, the specific error message verbatim (copy from the APG error log rather than paraphrasing), the steps to reproduce the issue, and what you have already tried. Screenshots of configuration settings or error screens attached directly to the post are especially helpful for layout, UI, or permission-related issues. The more complete the initial report, the faster the support team can identify the cause and provide a resolution without requesting additional information.