Installed an add-on but nothing shows up?
The add-on installed without errors but you cannot see it on the forum. Five checks that find the cause almost every time.
Updated 3 min read By the D.C Style team
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The install finished without an error, the add-on is listed under Installed add-ons, but nothing has changed on your forum. This is the most common question we get, and the answer is almost always one of five things. Work through them in order. The first two solve most cases.
1. Nobody has permission yet
When an add-on adds permissions, they start switched off for every user group. Until you grant them, the feature is invisible to everyone, sometimes including you.
- Open Groups & permissions > User group permissions and click Registered.
- Find the add-on's section and set its permissions to Yes, for example Can view forum statistics or Can create stories.
- Save, then repeat for Unregistered / Unconfirmed if guests should see it too.
To check one member, use Groups & permissions > Analyze permissions. XenForo permissions explained covers the details.
2. A setting has not been switched on
Some add-ons do nothing until you tell them where to work. This is deliberate, so installing them never changes your whole forum at once:
- Thumbnail and Thread Icon apply to no forums until you choose some in their options.
- Google Drive Attachments needs your Google keys and must be connected to your Google account.
- The Facebook Fanpage widget from Widgets needs a Facebook App ID.
Look in Setup > Options for a group named after the add-on. Where to find an add-on's settings lists the exceptions.
3. The widget has not been placed
If the add-on's main feature is a widget, installing it adds the widget type, not the widget itself. Go to Appearance > Widgets, click Add widget, choose it, and tick at least one position, for example Forum list: Above nodes. Add a widget and choose where it appears walks through it.
4. Your style is hiding it
Add-ons add their buttons and labels to XenForo's pages through template modifications. A modification finds a piece of a template and adds to it. If your style has changed that piece, the modification cannot find it, and the add-on's addition silently does not appear, while it works fine in XenForo's default style.
To test this, view the page in XenForo's default style. If your forum lets members choose a style, switch your own account to it from the style chooser, then look again. If the feature appears there, go to Appearance > Template modifications and look at the add-on's modifications. Each row shows how many times it was applied, not found, or failed. Template modification errors and outdated templates explains how to fix it.
5. You are looking at an old copy of the page
If you use Cloudflare or another CDN, or your host caches pages, you may be seeing a copy saved before the add-on was installed. Logged-out visitors are the most likely to get old copies. Test while logged in, or in a private browser window after clearing the cache. Changes not showing? covers each kind of cache.
Still nothing? Check two more things
- Is the add-on enabled? In Add-ons, make sure it has not been disabled. A disabled add-on can be switched back on from the same list.
- Did every file upload? Missing JavaScript files break buttons and pop-ups without an obvious error. Run the file health check, and open your browser console as described in Buttons or pop-ups not working.
The add-on's own guide in Add-on Guides lists exactly which permissions, settings and widgets it needs.
Still stuck? Open a support ticket with the add-on name and version, your XenForo version, the style you use, and what you have already checked from this list.