This turned out to be a clash with the admin-message plugin (wpmudev.org).
If I comment out the include_once statement at the very bottom of admin-message.php, which pulls in all the spammy advertising stuff WPMU put into your admin pages, the forum menus reappear.
As this issue seems to occur with quite a few plugins, it might be useful to draw up a list of plugins which cause compatibility issues with bbPress.
If you know of any please comment in this thread.
I have experienced similar problems with the bbPress menus not showing in the dashboard. For example, I have a site where both CPT UI and WordPress SEO plugins are installed. The menu items appeared adjacent to each other in the dashboard – then WordPress SEO menu appeared just above the CPT UI menu. After I installed bbPress, the Forums, Topics and Replies menus did not appear in the dashboard. When I use Chrome inspector to look at the code, it appeared that the bbPress menus were trying to display below the WordPress SEO menu and above the CPT UI menu — but they did not appear. I tried deactivating the WordPress SEO plugin to see what would happen and, sure enough, the bbPress menus then DID appear in the dashboard, just above the CPT UI menu. I reactivated WordPRess SEO, and everything now looks fine: SEO appears above Forums, Topics and Replies, followed by CPT UI.
So, perhaps all’s well that ends well, but this semi-random behavior is concerning. I’ve seen other similar issues myself, and employed different solutions recommended by others on different discussion threads. One of these involved installing the Capability Manager plugin. That fixed the dashboard menu problem but BROKE the CPT UI plugin! I deactivated Capability Manager, which un-broke CPT UI, and still the menus displayed correctly. So, again, all’s well that ends well — but what the heck is going on here? It would be nice if the bbPress plugin developer would weigh in on this topic — and figure out a way to eliminate these issues.
These issues will occur with different combinations of plugins, and it is nobody’s fault.
and it will never be eliminated.
Wordpress is free open source software. It allows others to hook into it using Filters and actions, as well as using templates and functions. Additionally theme developers can affect the way wordpress functions. This lets lots of other people change how wordpress works and add both functionality and looks.
So if two developers both hook into the same bit of code, the actions of one can alter or even cancel out the other’s code.
With many thousands of plugins it is simply impossible for developers to test to see if their plugin works with every other plugin out there.
bbPress is thoroughly tested with the latest version of WordPress, in combination with all of the wordpress default themes (twentyten, twentyeleven etc.) to ensure it functions. Most bbpress plugin developers will also test against this combination to give a good degree of conformance.
This is the best that you can get.
It is no more the fault of bbpress that it doesn’t work with plugin A, than it is the fault of plugin A that it doesn’t work with bbpress!
Sorry but that is life 🙂
Open source means you get lots of great FREE software but you don’t get an integration guarantee – it’s pretty damn good, but sorry not perfect.
And It’s nobody’s fault !
Thanks for the reply. I hear what you are saying, but it seems that this problem — with the menus somewhat randomly disappearing and reappearing when you deactivate/reactivate other plugins — is particularly prevalent with bbPress. At least I haven’t run into it before, and it’s not because I’m a “newbie” with little experience using many different plugins in the same site. Not trying to assign “blame” here, but it seems that this may be a case of where one can’t solve a problem until one admits there really is a problem to be solved. Yes, I fully appreciate how much great free software that is available out there, and it doesn’t all have to be “perfect” – but I think in this case perhaps it could be better with a bit of effort applied to eliminate/reduce this problem. Cheers.
‘ Not trying to assign “blame” here, but it seems that this may be a case of where one can’t solve a problem until one admits there really is a problem to be solved. ‘
sounds awfully like you are 🙂
A problem needs a problem definition, so if you can supply a series of repeatable steps which a) create the problem, and then b) eliminate it, I’d be delighted to have a look – by the way I’m not a bbpress developer, just a humble user like you who tries to give back something for what I have gained from this great free software. If you like to help, then that would be great !
Okay, fine, it’s “nobody’s fault”. But nothing will get fixed if one simply says, “well, that’s life in the world of WordPress, so live with it”, which is what your first comment conveyed. That aside, sure, I’ll try to respond to your suggestion to document a repeatable case, even though, as I said, this issue seems to pop out in a semi-random fashion.
“well, that’s life in the world of WordPress, so live with it”, which is what your first comment conveyed” – yep and it’s what I meant – having coded several plugins, I can with some certainty say that the way you link to wordpress does mean that several people can hook to the same item and affect each other, and no we can’t test all plugins against all other plugins.
But your offer to try and come up with a repeatable problem would be great, and if you can do so I’d be happy to try and look and let you know why a particular plugin is affecting.
However 5 people going to the doctor after having been to the gym doesn’t mean there’s a common problem or that the gym is to blame 🙂
Anyway I look forward to hearing from you when you’ve had a chance to investigate.
