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Troubleshooting guide for Community Answers

Use this guide to diagnose common Community Answers v7 setup issues.

The frontend page is blank or assets are not loading​

  • Confirm the package was built and installed with the com_communityanswers/media assets.
  • Open Components > Community Answers > Settings > Developer and make sure developer mode is disabled on production.
  • If developer mode is enabled locally, make sure the Vite dev server URL is correct and the dev server is running.
  • Clear Joomla cache and browser cache after updating the package.
  • Check the browser console for blocked JavaScript or mixed-content errors.

URLs show component/communityanswers​

  • Create Joomla menu items for the main Community Answers pages.
  • Make sure the menu items are published and accessible to the same user groups as the component.
  • Enable Joomla SEF URLs.
  • Create category menu items for important top-level categories if you want category aliases in question URLs.
  • Do not hard-code React paths. Use Joomla-generated URLs from the component, modules, and API payloads.

Old question or category URLs do not open​

  • Keep legacy category aliases stable during migration.
  • Create menu items for the question feed and important categories.
  • Confirm the Community Answers router file is installed with the component package.
  • If a URL points to a deleted or unpublished category/question, publish the item or redirect it with Joomla redirects.
  • Clear browser and Joomla cache after changing permissions.
  • Confirm guests do not have moderator permissions.
  • Confirm guest users do not have create/reply permissions unless you intentionally allow guest posting.
  • The toolbar user button should route guests to login. If it does not, verify that Joomla login routing and menu assignments are configured.

A logged-in user cannot answer​

  • Check core.reply permission at the component level.
  • Check category-level permissions if the question belongs to a restricted category.
  • Check core.view and core.view.replies; users must be able to view the question and replies before participating.
  • Check reputation gates in Settings > Reputation.
  • If the question is closed or already restricted by moderation, answering is not allowed.

A user can view questions but cannot see answers​

  • Grant core.view.replies to the appropriate user group.
  • Check category-level access for the question category.
  • Make sure the answer rows are published.

Users cannot edit or delete their own content​

  • Grant core.edit.own for editing own questions and replies.
  • Grant core.edit only to groups that can edit all questions and replies.
  • Grant core.delete only to groups that can delete or unpublish content from the frontend.
  • Remember that delete is intentionally not granted by edit-own.

The ask form does not show the Joomla editor​

  • Confirm a Joomla editor plugin is enabled.
  • Check the editor assigned to the current user.
  • If TinyMCE or another editor is blocked by template JavaScript, test with Joomla's default template.
  • Clear cache after changing editor settings.
  • Community Answers v7 uses Joomla core tags.
  • Make sure Joomla tags are enabled and the user has permission to use tags.
  • Re-save the question if it was created during an earlier test build that used standalone tags.
  • Confirm tag links are generated from the API payload instead of hard-coded frontend paths.

Bounty creation fails​

  • Enable bounties in Settings > Bounties.
  • Grant ca.bounty.create permission.
  • Check the user's connected points balance.
  • Confirm the selected amount is between the configured minimum and maximum.
  • Confirm the question is open and does not already have an accepted answer.
  • If using an external points provider, verify the provider is selected in Settings > Integrations > Points and is available.

Bounties do not expire​

  • Enable the Community Answers - Bounties task plugin.
  • Configure Joomla scheduled tasks to run it regularly.
  • Check the task run history in Joomla.
  • Verify the server cron that runs Joomla scheduled tasks is active if your site depends on cron execution.

Notifications are not delivered​

  • Check Settings > Notifications and confirm email notifications are enabled.
  • Check the user's frontend notification preferences.
  • Confirm the relevant email template is enabled.
  • Verify Joomla mail settings.
  • If in-app notifications are missing, confirm the user is logged in and notification polling is enabled.

Email template changes are not visible​

  • Save the template and confirm the enabled checkbox stays in the desired state.
  • Clear Joomla cache if template output is cached.
  • Use the preview in Email Templates to confirm header, chip, body, and footer configuration.
  • Check audit log entries for template save/reset actions.

The moderation queue is unavailable​

  • Grant ca.moderate to moderators.
  • Grant ca.audit.view to users who need the audit log.
  • Guests and ordinary registered users should not see moderation links.
  • If a flag action hides/restores/deletes content, check the target state in the question, reply, or comment list.

Layout or styling does not match the site​

  • Review Settings > Appearance for theme, mode, density, toolbar, left menu, right sidebar blocks, and answer card styling.
  • Use Custom theme mode or custom CSS variables for brand colors.
  • Add template overrides using the semantic ca-* class names.
  • Disable built-in right sidebar blocks if you prefer Joomla companion modules in template positions.

Companion modules show no data​

  • Confirm the module is published.
  • Confirm the module is assigned to the current menu item.
  • Make sure Community Answers has matching content: active bounties, tags, contributors, unanswered questions, or user activity.
  • For My Activity, sign in as a user with activity.

Plugin events are not firing​

  • Make sure the plugin is in the communityanswers group and enabled.
  • Use Joomla 6 SubscriberInterface for new plugins.
  • Subscribe to the modern onCommunityAnswers... event names.
  • Avoid registering both a modern event and a legacy alias unless the handler is idempotent.
  • See Extending Community Answers using plugin events.