You log in to Altru to fix a web form, and the Web area you used last week isn’t in the navigation. Or a new coordinator says they can’t find it at all, even though you’re looking at it on your own screen. That second case is the useful clue: when one person sees it and another doesn’t, the cause is almost always that person’s access in Altru, not anything broken in the system.
Below are the usual causes, roughly in the order worth checking, plus what to ask Blackbaud if none of them explain it.
First, pin down which “Web” is missing
“The Web tab is gone” can mean two different things, and they have different causes:
- The Web functional area in Altru’s main navigation, where staff work with online sales, web forms, and related website settings.
- A web-related tab or section on a record, such as a constituent record or a program record, where online details normally appear.
Ask the person to send a screenshot of what they see, and compare it with what an administrator sees on the same page. Two minutes of comparison usually tells you whether you’re dealing with a whole area or a single tab.
The most common cause: security roles
Altru shows each user only the functional areas, pages, and tasks their system roles allow. If a role doesn’t include rights to the web features, Altru doesn’t gray the area out; it simply doesn’t show it. To the user, that looks exactly like a missing tab.
This tends to show up in a few predictable situations:
- New staff were given a role built for front-desk sales or membership work, which never included web rights.
- Someone changed a shared role to restrict a seasonal hire, and everyone else assigned to that role lost access at the same moment.
- A user’s role assignment was removed or replaced during a cleanup of old accounts.
- A system administrator flag was turned off for someone who previously had full access and never needed specific role rights.
To check, have an Altru administrator open the user’s account in the security area and review which system roles are assigned. Then look at what those roles grant for the web features. If you’re not sure which rights the area needs, the fastest test is to temporarily assign the user a role you know includes it (or compare against a coworker who can see the area) and have them log out and back in.
When you fix it, prefer adjusting or adding a role over making someone a system administrator. Full admin access solves the immediate problem but gives that account far more reach than it needs.
Other things worth ruling out
The session hasn’t picked up the change
Role changes don’t always appear in a session that was already open. Have the user sign out completely, close the browser, and sign back in. If it still looks wrong, try a private browser window or clear cached data for the Altru site.
Browser or display issues
Zoom level, a very narrow window, or a browser extension can hide parts of the navigation. Testing in a different supported browser at normal zoom takes a minute and rules this out quickly.
A change on Blackbaud’s side
Altru is hosted and updated by Blackbaud, and navigation can be reorganized in a release. If the area disappeared for everyone, including system administrators, at the same time, that points to a platform change or an issue with your organization’s site, not your security setup. Check Blackbaud’s release notes and status page, and open a support case.
Your subscription
Some online features depend on what your organization has licensed. I can’t say for certain which web functionality is tied to which subscription level, and it may differ by contract. If the area has never appeared for anyone at your organization, ask your Blackbaud account representative whether it’s part of your package.
A quick decision path
- Can an administrator see it? If yes, it’s the user’s roles. Compare their roles with the administrator’s or a coworker’s and add what’s missing.
- Did it vanish for several people at once? Check whether a shared role was recently edited, and by whom.
- Can nobody see it, including admins? Check release notes, then contact Blackbaud support with the date it was last visible and a screenshot.
- Has it never been there? Confirm with Blackbaud that the feature is included in your subscription.
Keep it from happening again
Most of these surprises come from editing roles without a record of who uses them. A short list of your organization’s roles, what each one is for, and who is assigned to it makes changes far safer. Before editing a shared role, look at everyone it affects. And when you onboard someone who will touch online sales or web forms, include web rights in the checklist rather than discovering the gap when they first go looking.
Quick answers
Did our data or web forms get deleted?
Very unlikely. A missing area in the navigation reflects what a user is allowed to see. The forms and settings are still there; the account just can’t reach them.
Can a regular user fix this themselves?
No. Role assignments are managed by someone with security administration rights in Altru. If nobody at your organization has that access, Blackbaud support can help you identify who does.
