Experience Manager Troubleshooting & FAQs
Navigation Path: Sidebar → Experience Manager → Help & Diagnostics
This guide provides answers to common questions, inheritance troubleshooting steps, and permission guidance for Experience Manager studio users.
1. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: Why are websites split into multiple audience surfaces?
A: Because visitors have different goals depending on why they visit your site:
- A shopper on your Storefront wants "Shop, Cart, Order Status".
- A reader on your Marketing blog wants "Articles, Categories, Subscribe".
- A customer on your Resolve help center wants "FAQs, Submit a Ticket, Live Support".
Surfaces give each audience a clean, focused navigation frame while maintaining your unified brand identity (logo and colors).
Q2: How does the "Inheritance" feature work?
A: All settings follow an Organization Defaults ➔ Project Overrides flow:
- When an Organization Default is updated, all projects that inherit from the organization update instantly across your workspace.
- If a project has authored a Custom Override, that project uses its custom configuration instead of inheriting the organization default.
Q3: Why is a specific Surface tab or menu item hidden in my rail?
A: A rail item or surface tab is hidden for two possible reasons:
- Package Subscription: Your plan does not include the package for that surface (e.g. Storefront, Marketing, Resolve, Papers).
- User Permissions: Your user account does not have permission to edit that feature. Ask your organization administrator to grant you access.
2. Troubleshooting Matrix
| Issue / Error Symptom | Likely Cause | Solution Steps |
|---|---|---|
Red Not set Badge on Org Surface | No Organization default menu or header has been saved yet. | Click into the surface menu editor and click Save to establish an organization default. |
| Changes in Org Header/Footer not appearing on a Project | The project has a Custom override active, which overrides Org defaults. | To make the project inherit Org defaults, clear the project-level custom override. |
| "Permission Denied" Message on Save | Your user account lacks permission to edit this feature. | Ask your platform administrator to grant you write permissions for Experience Manager. |
| HTML Save Blocked on Brand Content Page | Content contains prohibited <script> tags or unapproved external links. | Remove <script> tags and inline JavaScript handlers. Ensure external images and fonts come from approved media hosts. |
Primary Surface setting doesn't redirect / | Custom domain configuration or browser cache. | Verify that your custom domain is active under Settings ➔ Custom Domains and points to your main organization site. |