If you clicked something and nothing visibly changed, the action almost certainly did not go through quietly in the background. It was refused, or the thing you acted on was no longer there. UNI shows a message for some failures and stays silent for others, and a refusal is one of the silent ones. This works the same way everywhere on UNI, so the section you were in is not the cause.
Tell a failure apart from a slow response
If a spinner is turning, the request has not finished. If nothing is moving, reload the page and look for the change you were trying to make. A reload is the test that separates the two cases. If your change is there afterwards, only the screen was stale. If it is not, the action failed.
UNI does show a message for some failures
If you saw one of these exact lines, the failure was not silent:
- "Too many requests. Please wait a moment before trying again." You acted faster than the limit allows.
- "Server error. Please try again later." The problem is on our side. Retry in a few minutes.
- "Unable to connect to the server. Please check your internet connection." Your device did not reach us.
- "Your session has expired. Please log in again." Sign in again.
That last one appears only once per browser session. If your sign-in drops a second time before you close the browser, no warning appears and the action goes quiet instead.
A silent failure is usually a refusal
When an action fails without a word, it is usually because you were not allowed to do that particular thing. The buttons stay visible either way. The common reasons, and how to check each:
- You are no longer signed in. Reload and look at the top of the page. If you see a sign-in option instead of your avatar, that was it.
- You are signed in as a different account. Signing in or out in another tab changes the account for every tab you have open. Check the name on your avatar.
- You are not on the team for that project. Open the project and look at its team list. Viewing a project is not the same as being able to change it.
- Your role on the team does not cover that action. A role that can comment may not be able to edit, delete or invite.
- Your membership no longer covers it. Open your membership page and confirm it is active.
- The item belongs to someone else. Editing or deleting another member's work is refused even when the control is on screen.
Silence can also mean the thing is gone
The other common cause is that what you acted on no longer exists at that address: it was deleted, or renamed and moved. Renaming a project changes its web address, so an old bookmark can point at nothing. Reach the item from your profile rather than from a saved link, and see whether it is still there.
Reload first, sign out and in second
Reloading fixes a stale page. Signing out and back in fixes an expired sign-in, a mismatched account, and a stale security token left behind after signing out in another tab. Do it in that order.
What to send us so we can answer in one reply
Silent failures are the hardest reports to act on. Include all of this:
- The full web address of the page you were on.
- The exact wording on the button or link you selected.
- What you expected to happen, and what happened instead.
- The date and time, with your time zone.
- The email on your account, your browser, and whether you are on a phone or a computer.
- Whether it still happens after you sign out and back in.
If you are comfortable with browser tools, open the developer tools, select the Network tab, click the button, and look for the row that turns red. The three digit number beside it tells us what was refused.
Use the feedback button on any page, which records the page you are on for us.