Unusable menus and "Illegal widget setting ID: nav_menu_item[]" error

  • This is a bug in my WP install that has crept up unknowingly; I can’t say for sure when it began.

    To describe it: there were menus created in the Appearance -> Menus page early in the site’s history, and they work perfectly, as in:

    • They have menu items
    • They can be assigned to menu locations
    • They can be renamed

    As of recently, as new menus need to be created, I’ve noticed the following problems when creating a new menu:

    1. New menus can be created, but after clicking “Create Menu”, the sidebar with Posts and Pages to use as menu items is still grayed out
    2. The menu cannot be renamed: the menu name does not show up in the “Menu Name” text field, and subsequent clicks to “Create Menu” simply duplicates these new-yet-unusable menus *each again* per new click (ex: I create Test1, then create Test2.. now there are 2 Test1 entries, and 2 Test2 entries… creating Test3 repeats the effect, creating 3 of each)
    3. Clicking “Manage in Customizer” next to the “Menus” heading results in the following error:

      Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'Exception' with message 'Illegal widget setting ID: nav_menu_item[]' in /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/discoverlongisland/wp-includes/customize/class-wp-customize-nav-menu-item-setting.php:179 Stack trace: #0 /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/discoverlongisland/wp-includes/class-wp-customize-nav-menus.php(551): WP_Customize_Nav_Menu_Item_Setting->__construct(Object(WP_Customize_Manager), 'nav_menu_item[]', Array) #1 [internal function]: WP_Customize_Nav_Menus->customize_register(Object(WP_Customize_Manager)) #2 /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/discoverlongisland/wp-includes/plugin.php(525): call_user_func_array(Array, Array) #3 /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/discoverlongisland/wp-includes/class-wp-customize-manager.php(583): do_action('customize_regis...', Object(WP_Customize_Manager)) #4 [internal function]: WP_Customize_Manager->wp_loaded('') #5 /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/discoverlongisland/wp-includes/plugin.php(525): call_user_func_array(Array, Array) #6 /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/discoverlongisland/wp-settings. in /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/discoverlongisland/wp-includes/customize/class-wp-customize-nav-menu-item-setting.php on line 179

      I’ve disabled all plugins and the problem persists.

      Has anyone run into this before?

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

  • Hi existcreate,

    Some plugins must be involved on this error. Maybe if you can change your themes first. Then if the problem is still there try replacing core files or create a new db.

    I also have this issue with a very similar error code. I have had the wordpress reinstalled and the database reinstalled from a backup when the site worked properly.

    The error code has gone now when I click on customise from the right panel wp menu.

    I deactivated all the plugins and changed themes to a generic theme such as Twenty12.

    I still have the same problem – I can not add a new menu and I can not add pages such as contact to the menu.

    Moderator t-p

    (@t-p)

    @diliph,

    If the troubleshooting already posted made no difference for you, then, as per the Forum Welcome, please post your own topic.

    The same problem happened for me too.

    Apparently, whenever I add a new menu in WordPress it gets term_id=0 in the database (it’s in the tables wp_terms and wp_term_taxonomy).

    What I did first was delete all of these broken menus with this:

    DELETE FROM wp_terms WHERE term_id=0;
    DELETE FROM wp_term_taxonomy WHERE term_id=0;

    Then I created a unique column in both tables. This prevents multiple menus from getting all term_id=0 and also enables direct editing in phpmyadmin:

    ALTER TABLE wp_terms ADD UNIQUE KEY (term_id);
    ALTER TABLE wp_term_taxonomy ADD UNIQUE KEY (term_id);

    After that I created a new menu in WordPress and changed the term_id in both tables to the lowest number possible (because the categories have a term_id too). In my case, this was 21.

    Done! Now the menu can be edited and used in WordPress without any error messages.

    Moderator Steven Stern (sterndata)

    (@sterndata)

    Volunteer Forum Moderator

    @schmatzler:

    If the troubleshooting already posted made no difference for you, then, as per the Forum Welcome, please post your own topic.

    When I googled the error message, the first topic that came up was this.

    What would make more sense – creating another topic or just posting a solution here where it’s easier to find? You decide.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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