Why a section is missing

If a section you expect isn't in the sidebar, or a button you've used before has disappeared, there are only two possible reasons, and they have completely different fixes:

You don't have permission. The section exists in your space; your account just isn't allowed to use it. A colleague may well see it. Someone with permission to manage access can grant it to you.
Your plan doesn't include it. The feature isn't available in this space at all, and nobody in it can see the section — not even the owner. Only a change of plan brings it back.

The quickest way to tell them apart: ask a colleague who administers the space whether they can see it. If they can, it's permission. If they can't either, it's the plan.

What each section needs

Section	You need
Problems	Nothing — always shown.
Submissions	Permission to read problems and to run testing.
Members	Permission to read members.
Contests	Permission to read contests.
Courses	Permission to read courses.
Questions	Permission to list questions.
Content	Permission to read content.
Automation	Permission to read automation, and a plan that includes automation rules.
Settings	Nothing — always shown, but its tabs are separate (see below).

Tabs and smaller things

Some things are hidden one level deeper, inside a section you can otherwise see.

Settings tabs

Tab	You need
General	Permission to change the space.
Permissions	Permission to read access policies.
Printers	Permission to change the space, and a plan that includes printers.
Billing	Permission to read billing.

Members tabs

Newsletters appears only if your plan includes newsletters. Achievements needs both a plan that includes achievements and permission to change members.

On an individual member's screen, Credits appears only if your plan includes member credits, and Rating only if it includes rating.

Buttons inside a screen

Buttons follow the same rule as sections: an action you're not allowed to perform isn't shown, rather than shown and refused. If you can open a contest but not edit it, you'll see its screens without the buttons that change anything.

A few buttons also depend on the state of the thing you're looking at rather than on you. Finalize is offered only once a contest is over; Synchronize only on a problem that was imported from somewhere; View only on a problem that's published. These aren't permission problems — the action simply doesn't apply yet.

Common cases

I can see contests but can't create one

You have permission to read contests but not to write them. Someone with access management can grant it — see Access management.

It's also worth checking your plan hasn't run out of contests: plans limit how many contests a space can have in total, and some limit how many can run at once. When a limit is reached, creating another fails even with the right permission.

The Automation section vanished

Automation needs a plan that includes it. If your plan changed, or a trial ended, the section goes away along with the rules. The rules aren't deleted — they stop running and reappear if the plan is restored.

A teacher can't add students to a course

Enrolling students is a separate permission from editing a course, so someone who can build a course may still not be able to put people in it. Grant them the course assignment permission as well.

A red Inactive banner above the sidebar means the space is suspended, usually because a subscription lapsed. The space and its data are intact; renewing restores access. See How billing works.

I'm in the wrong space

Spaces are separate. A problem or contest you remember lives in one particular space, and the sidebar always shows the space named at the top. Click the space name to switch.