How saving works
Most EdminBoost pages save in the background (AJAX) without a full reload. You should see a short success or error message near the Save button.
If Save spins forever, shows “Could not save settings,” or “Security check failed,” try the steps below.
- Refresh and save again
Sessions and security tokens expire on long-open tabs.
- Reload the EdminBoost page (F5).
- Click Save once and wait a few seconds.
- Permission denied
Only administrators (manage_options) can save EdminBoost settings.
- Log in as an admin or ask one to save.
- Security check failed
Common after idle time, caching plugins, or switching users in the same browser.
- Hard refresh the page.
- Log out and back in.
- Disable admin caching for logged-in users temporarily.
- Invalid settings payload
Usually a browser extension or broken form state.
- Refresh the page.
- Change one small setting and Save again.
- Try another browser without extensions.
- Tab navigation broke before save
Switching Command Center tabs while a save is running can cause confusion.
- On Dashboard overview, wait for layout/theme saves to finish before changing tabs.
- If the page looks half-loaded, refresh and Save again.
- Reset vs Save confusion
Reset to defaults does not write to the database until you Save.
- If changes “did not stick,” confirm you clicked Save after editing, not only Reset.
- Menu Studio or Top Bar not updating other pages
Top Bar writes only when saved from Top Bar (layout studio save). Menu Studio writes only when saved from Menu Studio.
- Open the correct page, edit, Save there.
- Server or host errors
PHP errors, mod_security, or very low timeouts can break AJAX.
- Check hosting error logs around the save time.
- Increase PHP max input vars if huge role matrices fail to save (large sites with many menu items).
- Export / import errors (Settings page)
Separate actions from normal Save:
- Export / import need administrator rights and their own security tokens—refresh Settings if they fail.
- Invalid JSON on import shows an alert; fix the file or re-export from the source site.
Messages you might see (plain meaning)
- “Security check failed. Refresh the page and try again.” → reload and retry.
- “You do not have permission to save these settings.” → use an admin account.
- “Could not save settings. Please try again.” → network/server issue; refresh, retry, check console or host logs.
- “Invalid settings payload.” → refresh and retry; check for plugin conflicts.
When to export first
Before large changes, import, or uninstall: EdminBoost → Settings → Export settings so you can restore if saves keep failing.