I have a serious problem with DNN. I've been building a website locally and the host menu has just randomly disappeared. This happened early enough the first time that I could just install a new version of DNN. Now I'm just about done with the site and the Host menu is gone! The host page loads but none of the menu options appear and the area is surrounded with a red box that says "Visible By Administrators Only". I am logged in with the host superuser account. Why does this keep happening and does anyone know how to fix the issue?

Thanks in advance...

Did you do an upgrade just prior to this happening?

The good news is that this most likely can be repaired. I did it about a month ago for another DNNCreative subscriber. The actual solution requires getting into the database's Tabs table and editing some entires. The process is more easily done than written about.

If you like, I could take a look at your site, assuming that is is available to my browser. And, you'd have to give me host privileges. If you're brave enough to do that, contact me using the contact page a http://patapscorg.com and I'll see what I can do.

If not, you will want to compare your Tabs table with the Tabs table from a site that has the host entry and children visible. You'll want to make YOUR Tabs table look like that good one. In particular, you will want to look at these columns: TabID, TabOrder, PortalID, TabName, IsVisible, ParentId, Level. You can do what you need to do via the SQL page, which exists, even though you cannot see it. Browse to http://yoursite.comHost/SQL.aspx.

Also, note that menu entries probably are cached, you after changing the Tabs table, you will want to clear the cache and restart the application (both of these on the Host Settings page: http://yoursite.com/Host/Host%20Settings.aspx.

Oh, there may be a simpler solution. Clear the cache and restart the application. If that doesn't work, recycling the AppPool may fix this. If not that, then rebooting the server might do the trick.

If not, surgery on the Tabs table may be the solution.

If you opt for surgery, make a database backup before starting so that you can go back if you really mess it up.

Joseph,

The IsVisible for the host page was set to 0. I changed it to 1 and the host menu is back. Thanks for your help. Do you know how this happens in the first place?

Thanks!!

I did not do an upgrade prior to this happening. The other solutions did not work. Editing the tabs table was the only fix...

Did you do an upgrade?
Did you make any other changes?

The problem happened again. This time I can't reverse it by editing the tabs table. It seems that when I uncheck the "display in menu" box for the host page the menu disappears. Very Very Frustrating...

Which version of DotNetNuke are you using?

Is there any chance that I could look at the site?

I'm using 05.06.01. The site is just running locally on my computer. I don't have hosting for it yet.

This is NOT normal behavior for DotNetNuke.

Can you browse to the Host pages by name, even though they aren't visible except perhaps in the Tabs table. The TabPath column will give you most of the URL. Prefix with the domain name and add .aspx at the end.

Yes that works. I just can't go to the host page and click on a menu item because they don't exist anymore. Very strange behavior but it has happened to me on two different installs numerous times now.

Oh ... IsVisible is only the setting that causes the page to disappear from the menu.

If you go to the Host page, you should see icons on that page for the other pages. Do you see them.

That is something that can be fixed by editing the Tabs table. As I said, compare it to one that works.

Also check IsSecure.

After comparing the working tabs table and repeating what I think was causing the issue I have figured out The cause. When I uncheck the display in menu box for the host page, DNN enters a value of 0 into the PortalID for the host page. This value causes the host menu and icons to disappear on the host page. To fix I went to the SQL page by TabPath (because the host menu was not giving me this option) and entered:

update Tabs set PortalID = Null where TabID = 7

Then you need to clear cache, restart dnn environment and the menu should come back.

There is still a red administrator box surrounding the menu which was not there originally. But I can live with that.

Thank you very much for your help Joseph!!

This looks like a bug, and it happens in 5.6.2 also.

If you look at the module settings for the Host Settings module, check the Hide Admin Box setting and that red border will disappear.

I have got the same problem. Menu does not show up if you are not loged in. I have checked everything for five times. All pages and all modules are visible for all users. I checked Tabs table in database and everything seems ok. I use DNN 08.00.03 (5).
Has anybody solved this problem successfuly? Thank you!

Are you using a custom skin?

If so, switch the site, or a test page to a "standard" skin like XCillion and see if the problem exists there.