---
title: Why a button or section is missing
url: https://tideswell.xyz/docs/troubleshooting/missing-button
description: Tideswell hides what you cannot use rather than greying it out, so an absent control is usually a module or a permission.
---

> Documentation index: fetch https://tideswell.xyz/llms.txt to discover every page before exploring further.

# Why a button or section is missing



Tideswell generally **hides** what you cannot use rather than showing it disabled. That makes for
a cleaner screen and means an absent control is a setting rather than a bug.

## Is a whole section missing? [#is-a-whole-section-missing]

Then it is a **module**, almost always.

A module switched off is removed from the sidebar and its pages become genuinely unreachable: an
old bookmark gives a not-found page rather than a redirect.

Check **Settings › Modules**, per <Ref to="workspace-admin/modules" />. Common cases:

* **No Store, Suppliers or Purchase orders.** Those are three separate switches.
* **No Documents, Decisions or Customers.** Each has its own.
* **No Automations section at all**, which also removes Workflows.
* **Approvals missing** even though purchase orders work, which rides the Purchase orders
  module and has no switch of its own.

Home, Chat and Tasks can never be switched off.

## Is the section there but one button missing? [#is-the-section-there-but-one-button-missing]

Then it is a **permission**, and the four you will meet most are View, Create, Update and
Archive.

They are separate, so holding one tells you nothing about the others. You can open a list and
have no **New** button, or read a record and have no Save.

Work out which one you are short of before asking an admin, using
<Ref to="concepts/who-can-do-what" />. "I need Update on Repairs" gets fixed; "it is broken" does
not.

## Is it missing on one record and present on another? [#is-it-missing-on-one-record-and-present-on-another]

Then it is **department scope**, which is the most common of all.

Most task and project permissions are checked against the **record's** department. A lead of
Marketing is a plain member in Warehouse, so the same person genuinely has different controls on
two tasks.

Check which department the record belongs to, then check your standing in **that** team, per
<Ref to="workspace-admin/members-and-roles" />.

## Some specific cases worth knowing [#some-specific-cases-worth-knowing]

**A settings screen you were told you could use.** Loosening a permission row does not let a
non-admin into Settings. The whole Settings area is gated on being an admin separately, per
<Ref to="workspace-admin/permissions" />.

**An Object missing from your sidebar.** Objects you cannot view are left out entirely rather
than shown locked. See <Ref to="objects/permissions" />.

**A digest button missing from the home page.** Its owning module is off, so the button is
removed rather than left to fail. See <Ref to="analyst/digest-buttons" />.

**The Home Page Banner section missing from a task.** It appears only while the task carries an
unfinished **Home Page Banner** sub-task. See <Ref to="store/homepage-banner" />.

**No Recurring section on a department.** Managing repeating schedules is usually a lead's job,
and the section is hidden without it. See <Ref to="tasks/make-a-task-repeat" />.

**No Close short or no Reopen on a purchase order.** Those appear on opposite states and never
both. See <Ref to="purchasing/receive-a-delivery" />.

## What if it is there but greyed out? [#what-if-it-is-there-but-greyed-out]

Then Tideswell has a reason it wants to tell you. Hover it.

A greyed stage says why it cannot be picked. A disabled **Assign** on a bulk action says the
selection spans more than one department. A locked permission row says it is locked to prevent
lockout.

Greyed-out with a tooltip is a message rather than a fault.