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By mikeschinkel on
I just installed a new Drupal 5.1 installation. I created a new menu and then went to the Block admin page but it says the menu is disabled. I've looked everywhere and can't figure out how to enable it. Thanks in advance for any help on this issue.
Comments
You should be using Drupal
You should be using Drupal 5.2 not Drupal 5.1, 5.2 includes security fixes not available in 5.1
menus are handled in administer -> menus
>> menus are handled in
>> menus are handled in administer -> menus
Thanks, but I've scoured that admin menus and cannot find anywhere that allows me to "enable" a menu. I'm sure it's right in front of my eyes and I'm missing it, but I still can't find it. Anything more specific? Could you indicate the URL that I would use?
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could you be more specific in what menu item ? is disabled ?
in yoursite.com/admin/build/menu
you have a list of menus, and menu items associated with those menus.
to the right of each of these, is an enable, disable link
it would help greatly, if you took the time, to describe, what exactly you've done and how you've done it.
in case it helps, here is the documentation on the menu.module see: http://drupal.org/handbook/modules/menu
It's the Menu that's disabled, not the Menu Items
I'm sorry. I honestly thought I had described it sufficiently.
So let me give me details. At the URL
/admin/build/block/I see the following:Note the bolded section entitled "Disabled" and all the blocks below it. The "About Us" block is the menu I'm trying to activate but I can't find anywhere to activate it.
Does this explaination help?
My problem is enabling a Menu, not enabling a Menu Item. I see the "disable" links for menu items but not for menus.
Yes thanks. However, be comforted to know that I do always research the help and the forums before I ask to make sure there isn't an easily locatable answer to my question.
Ted Murphy
You drag the menu block (ie "Who's New") into one of the areas of a page (ie Footer). Then hit save.
I actually had the same problem, figuring out how to enable a block.
Curiouser and Curiouser!
Interesting. I just went directly into the database and updated
blocks->statusto a value of1and it enabled my "About Us" menu.Next, I tried moving the Navigation menu from the left sidebar to the right sidebar yet the change wouldn't take. That tells me the way to enable a menu block is simply to give it a Region other than '<none>.' So my problem appears not to have been how to enable a menu but the fact that for some reason clicking the Submit button on
/admin/build/block/is not saving my changes!Any idea why it won't save my changes? It does not report an error, it just simply reverts my changes back to what they were before I made the changes, i.e. it doesn't update the table. I've checked an the MySQL users I'm using has all rights to access the Drupal database. Ideas?
FYI, I have other Drupal installs where this is not a problem.
blocks in drupal
the block thing just doesn't work. I had to delete all my stuff on Bluehost (server) because I thought I had a corupt file. No one ansered my querries. I guess ths is wat happens when yu try to use open source. Drupal is just plain buggy and the "team" is leaving us out here helpless.
If 5.1 has this block problem, it never shoujld have been rleased.
I just checked and the version on Bluehost is 5.1.
So, what od I do now? Ask Bluehost to udate? I guess.
Donz
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You should install Drupal 5.2 on your own and not use the fantastico system, specifically for the reason you see now. They have not updated to 5.2
lastly, I checked your issue query, and the question that you asked about, is a contributed module, not about Drupal core. Core blocks work fine.
your issue that got no replies here: http://drupal.org/node/166698 has nothing to do with the conversation in this thread. In your issue you do not supply nearly enough information on your issue to diagnose the problem you could be having. Thus the team did not leave you stranded and Drupal is not buggy. for example, what version of PHP ? what version of MySQL ? When filing an issue or a forum thread asking for help, you must help us help you, by providing as MUCH information as possible about your system.
SO .,.. what you do now is .... learn to install Drupal 5.2 on your own instead of relying on a one button installation provided by your host. This way you get support from others who have installed the same exact way you have and you can eliminate fantastico as a problem.
enabling blocks
i guess you don't really "enable" blocks; just "place" it in the slot where you want it to show up. the drop-list should give you the left/right/top/bottom/content option, no? if not, then there is another problem. after you place it (and optionally give it "weight"), the block will show up when appropriate content is available.
terminology and nomenclature :p
Yes, I know that now...
@tm: Thanks for the comments. However, read my last comment just above yours for my current understanding of the problem.
yeah, sorry
got lost somewhere between eye and brain... hmm, would you be able to replicate the issue if you duped the installation to another host/localhost? i have actually re-run update.php on dev sites to bring things back (don't know why it worked, or if that is advisable); maybe on a backup copy?
in the troubleshooting faq, there is a mention of putting in the devel module to help troubleshooting. i am not at that level, but it could help. if the problem is duplicated on a backup copy, maybe install it there.
good luck
I hope I don't have to go to
I hope I don't have to go to that trouble, but I am now running into Drupal not letting me login on one machine, and not letting me make other admin changes on another machine, i.e. I click submit and the page returns with the prior values still set.
Anyone else seen this problem before?
Same challenge but an easy solution
I had the same problem with upgrading from 4.6.to 5.1 and then to 5.2.
There was old menu blocks that I couldn't activate (get displayed in any manner) or delete. The easiest to identify them was that they had not a delete link at the top of the menu block only an edit and add item link on the page admin/build/menu page.
I created another NEW menu blocks there and edited all the old items to be children of the new menu blocks.
I could easily use/activate the new menu blocks for roles etc in the block page!
Finally I had to use phpadmin and delete the items from the table itself since there was no way to delete them otherwise. All is working fine now.
Hope this helps
enabling blocks
I have the same problem. I can't enable blocks,or even find a check box to do so.
I had other block positioning problems but wrote them off to ignorance (my newbie status).
Now I find that the cause is management neglect. No QC.
I have spent a month looking for block check boxes that don't exist. And for a place to enable blocks.
This is a sad state of affairs.
Donz
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Drupal core block system can be found at administer -> blocks. The theme you use determines where blocks can be used as some themes do not support both left and ride side blocks.
There is plenty of QC on Drupal, what Drupal can't control is users not grasping the concept, nor explaining themselves in a way that others can diagnose the problem.
Drupal also cannot control a user installing an older release of Drupal through their host that has been replaced with a more recent version. Drupal takes all of 5 minutes to install using the new web installer. relying on your host or fantastico to have the proper version of Drupal and to not have botched the integration is your choice, not core developers. Your problem is also related to a contributed module and NOT to core Drupal per the issue you have filed.
Users errors are not user's fault, they are fault of UI designer
Among professional human factors and software usability specialists there's a creed that one never blame the user for misunderstanding how to correctly perform tasks. Instead, software designers should always take full responsibility for suboptimal usability when users have difficulty using their software correctly. Just ask Jakob Neilsen if you don't believe me.
FWIW.
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I personally would like to help you fix the problem. If we can't understand the problem you are having, we can't fix it. Us understanding your problem, requires you to be clear on multiple levels. You must state the module you are having a problem with and what you are seeing. We can't see your screen, we can't know what modules you are using, until you tell us. There is no mind reading module for drupal. ........ yet.
Taking one sentence out of my post and disecting it the way you have, all while not addressing the actual problem you are having makes it seem to me like you aren't all that interested in fixing the problem and more interested in making negative statements. Regardless of what Jakob Neilsen says.
Thus the question is now back to you, the user. Would you like your problem/situation fixed ? or would you prefer to debate, things that have nothing to do with your problem ?
Read the thread in chronologic order (*not* in Drupal order '-)
And I greatly appreciate that. OTOH, if Drupal's discussion forums were more usable you'd probably have realized I solved my own problem and posted the resolution quite a while ago. At this moment, my post about the resolution is the very last message in the thread. It's logical why you would not have noticed it, being that it is at the bottom, and it's problems like that why I frequently advocate vBulletin over Drupal for forums.
And I respectfully appreciate that too. But that wasn't the crux of your reply to donricha which I tried to as politely as possible to make commentary on. In your reply you said the following:
That bothered me because your response came across as defensive because Drupal concepts can definitely be made easier for users to grasp. And this defensiveness seems epidemic to me on Drupal.org and discussed on this blog post. If we as the Drupal community can't acknowledge when and where Drupal could stand to be be improved it will be very difficult for it ever to be improved while other CMS with more open minded communities eventually eclipse Drupal. IMO helping users grasp Drupal's concepts is probably the #1 thing that Drupal needs right now. And as a side regarding usability professionals, blaming users for usability problems doesn't rest the blame on the proper shoulders.
FYI, regarding my recent Drupal-related client projects I have been dealing with ungrasped concept issues on the parts of the clients and the parts of the would-be Drupal developers that have come before me. If I continue to work in Drupal, which is my plan, I expect I will help people grasp Drupal concepts in part by blogging information and in part by contributing modules. At least that's my current plan.
BTW, I've come a loooong way in understanding Drupal since I started this thread. :)
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Actually, I mistook your reply for donricha's, as my desire was to fix that users problem. Which has much more to do with the fact that I was answering the post in a hurry while at work then it did with Drupal forums being less usable than a dedicated forum product. I could have easily made the same mistake, speaking directly to someone and calling them the wrong name.
Secondly, I didn't blame the user for a usability problem, My comments were directed toward the comment about QC or lack of QC in this case. Which at least in my eyes, even rereading this at this hour, is clear. That being said, the crux of my reply, was indeed the FULL sentence, not just the part of the sentence you scalpeled out in order to try and use my words to bolster your point.
Either way, the use of "epidemic" is uneeded hyperbole. This of course can be your opinion and you are entitled to it, just as others are entitled to their own opinon. Including me : )
Good luck in your endeavors.
We all have hot button
We all have hot button issues and we expose them on forums probably more often than we would face-to-face. That said, in context your points are well taken.
Travel well.
Ah, I found part of it...
Ah, it was something I did that was unrelated. I had added the following to my .htaccess file to redirect paths of the form "
/foo" to "/foo/"; this is what I added:RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(\.|/$)RewriteRule (.*) http://www.newclarity.net/$1/ [R=301,L]That lead me to inspect the HTML code at both "
/" and "/admin". Here's what I found the form action to be for each:For "/":
action="/node/8?destination=node%2F8"For "/admin":
action="/?destination=admin"Of course "
node/8" is my front page, which is what is loaded for the path "/", but why would Drupal expose what node the front page uses? Isn't this a bit of a bug? I don't want "node/8" published externally anywhere on my website.Anyway, any idea how to fix this mod_rewrite directs so they will let me login?