| SYSTEM INFORMATION | |
|---|---|
| OS type and version | Debian 12 |
| Webmin version | 2.501 |
| Virtualmin version | 7.40.0 Pro |
When you click the “Virtualmin” icon, it usually refreshes the left panel, and opens the Dashboard (or whatever has been set as the default in the theme settings).
After upgrading to 7.40.0 it just refreshes the left panel.
I’ve restarted Webmin and even the droplet (VM) but the issue persists.
I’m not seeing that behavior. Do you see errors in the Web Developer console in your browser?
The video demonstrates how no errors are logged in the "browser console"as I click the “Virtualmin” icon. The left panel refreshes, but nothing happens to the right panel.
*** disregard the error seen in the right panel, that was something that happened before I created the video and has nothing to do with the issue in question. ***
The “refresh” of the left panel multiple times is “me” clicking the icon “multiple” times after nothing happens to the right panel.
Try refreshing the whole page, and see if things behave differently when not coming from an error page in that pane (I mean, it should handle it, regardless…just want to see if we can gather more info).
Just to clarify, the error from the previous task has “nothing” to do with the issue presented.
I just switched to Firefox, and the same behavior is happening. I’m gonna see if any errors are being produced in the server logs.
I’ve just tailed the “miniserv.error”, and “webmin.log” without any errors.
Tailing the “miniserv.log” while navigating (as I did with the other two logs) shows:
173.181.38.12 - root [08/Sep/2025:23:38:02 -0700] "GET /xhr.cgi?type=nav&action=get&subtype=virtualmin&dom= HTTP/1.1" 200 31252No other entry is created when I click the “Virtualmin” icon.
Compared to the above, when I click the “Webmin” icon, I get the following:
173.181.38.12 - root [08/Sep/2025:23:40:30 -0700] "POST /xhr.cgi?type=nav&action=goto HTTP/1.1" 200 2173.181.38.12 - root [08/Sep/2025:23:40:30 -0700] "GET /xhr.cgi?type=nav&action=get&subtype=webmin HTTP/1.1" 200 13504173.181.38.12 - root [08/Sep/2025:23:40:31 -0700] "GET /xhr.cgi?xhr-info=1 HTTP/1.1" 200 43152173.181.38.12 - root [08/Sep/2025:23:40:31 -0700] "GET /sysinfo.cgi HTTP/1.1" 200 46907173.181.38.12 - root [08/Sep/2025:23:40:38 -0700] "GET /xhr.cgi?xhr-info=1 HTTP/1.1" 200 43152OK, now I see what you mean, and I also see that behavior. It only loads the Virtualmin dashboard when switching between Webmin (or Cloudmin) and Virtualmin, and vice versa. I don’t know that that is incorrect behavior? I don’t think I would expect it to change the page every time the menu changes.
I think we’d have to ask @Ilia what the expected behavior is. I kinda feel like as long as you’re “in Virtualmin” I wouldn’t expect it to change the page in the right content pane just because the menu is reloaded. It does change it when you go from Webmin to Virtualmin and back, which I would expect.
Is this not how it’s always been? I mean we have a link in the menu for the dashboard if that’s where you want to go.
Like, the menu continues to correctly show what pages is selected in the menu. A lot of trouble went into making it behave this way (having it switch to dashboard and forget where it was would be easier), I can’t imagine it’s not intentional.
Another server running Webmin 2.402, and Virtualmin GPL 7.30.8. Notice when I click the “Virtualmin” icon from “Manage Web Apps” screen. It reloads the left panel, and shows the “Dashboard” in the right panel.
This has been the behavior I’ve come to expect.
*** this server has a few upgrades pending ***
Yes, I made this change on purpose. The previous way it worked wasn’t quite right. Now, if the page you’re seeing is the one you’re supposed to see based on your theme settings, you don’t need to reload over again.
However, it does change when you switch tabs, like from Webmin to Virtualmin, depending on your theme settings. And it also syncs when you switch domains.
Yes, it is—and it was a real challenge to get it working the way it is now.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s a feature that’s expected.
Note, that if you want to refresh the content page, you can simply press Alt+R or ⌥ R, without having to click on the menu.
Even though I didn’t add a specific option for this in the UI, since I don’t think it should exist, I expected this to come up. So, you can still get the old behavior by running the following code in the browser console:
settings_right_reload = 2;
theme.config.save();
The Authentic theme version 25.10 and up will have a setting to change this behavior on the “Theme Configuration” page using the “Load default page on navigation switch” option.
settings_right_reloadis nowsettings_right_syncin theme version 25.10, because the value type changed from boolean to numeric.
I believe this is the same issue as described. Just noticed it today after updating to the latest Authentic Theme (25.01)
All 3 of my servers show the same behaviour.
I have the default tabs set to open (Virtualmin and Webmin) and the default pages as Dashboard
When you want the dashboard, click “Dashboard”. That’s always been in the menu.
The tabs are for switching menu modes (between Webmin, Virtualmin, and Cloudmin), it was only an accident of history and the complexity of the history API in JavaScript/browsers that it would trigger a load of the default page whenever clicked. As Ilia noted, he’s intentionally made it keep its place in the menu now and not change what’s in the right content pane.
This is an intentional change, and I think an improvement.
Will do. Just have to change a habit.
Funny thing is I never noticed or used that menu item until you pointed it out.
thx
“Ease of use” is often really just “what I’m used to”.
And, I discourage Ilia from changing things just because…if there isn’t some really good reason for a UI change, I’m generally strongly opposed to it. In this case, I don’t know if the reason is strong enough to justify the change, but I can say that what it does now is what I would expect absent past experience with Virtualmin (which, as I mentioned, acted the way it did due to backend/frontend limitations and complexity, and not because it was deemed optimal), and it’s closer to what most web applications with a contextual menu would do.
@Joe,
Could we perhaps have a “home” icon added to each of the “module” pages like what shows in the “stats” page? So when you click it, it goes back to the dashboard rather than always having to scroll down the left panel for the dashboard link?
I wonder if perhaps it’d be better to make the Dashboard link into a 
icon (while keeping the text, too, I don’t like icon only menus) and put it at the top of the left menu instead of the bottom. Though I’m not sure “Home” is actually what the dashboard is. I mean, I guess it’s configured as the default landing page, so it’s as “home” as we have.
I just think global navigation (rather than navigation within a specific module) is in the left menu and mixing that up feels bad.
So, I’m not against making it quicker to get to the dashboard or whatever your configured default page is. But, I think I’m against adding new navigation to the module top bar. Also, the top bar navigation is already broken. It doesn’t understand history, so “back” ends up being “the top of the module” even though “back” usually means, “where I was before I arrived at this page”. But, at least “back” is navigation “within the module”. Home just has no reason to be there, I don’t think, when we have a menu for global navigation.
Placing the Dashboard Menu Item at the top of the list would make it so you wouldn’t have to scroll but it would be essentially the same as making the tab do the same task as it did before. For me, I get the same effect with two clicks and no scrolling by selecting the Virtualmin tab and then reselecting the Webmin tab. I’m not sure if this would be different if I changed the setting for my Default Page in the Authentic Theme settings. I have a feeling there may be other things happening that I have not had the time to check out right now.
