We get a white screen and a freemarker exception error when trying to login after deploying an OOTB theme with no customizations created via the theme generator:
2023-05-26 13:32:51.826 ERROR [http-nio-8080-exec-5][runtime:59] Error executing FreeMarker template
freemarker.core.InvalidReferenceException: The following has evaluated to null or missing:
==> sign_in_url [in template "my-liferay-theme_SERVLET_CONTEXT_/templates/portal_normal.ftl" at line 40, column 89]
----
Tip: If the failing expression is known to legally refer to something that's sometimes null or missing, either specify a default value like myOptionalVar!myDefault, or use <#if myOptionalVar??>when-present<#else>when-missing</#if>. (These only cover the last step of the expression; to cover the whole expression, use parenthesis: (myOptionalVar.foo)!myDefault, (myOptionalVar.foo)??
----
----
FTL stack trace ("~" means nesting-related):
- Failed at: ${sign_in_url} [in template "my-liferay-theme_SERVLET_CONTEXT_/templates/portal_normal.ftl" at line 40, column 87]
----
at freemarker.core.InvalidReferenceException.getInstance(InvalidReferenceException.java:134) ~[bundleFile:?]
at freemarker.core.EvalUtil.coerceModelToTextualCommon(EvalUtil.java:479) ~[bundleFile:?]
at freemarker.core.EvalUtil.coerceModelToStringOrMarkup(EvalUtil.java:401) ~[bundleFile:?]
at freemarker.core.EvalUtil.coerceModelToStringOrMarkup(EvalUtil.java:370) ~[bundleFile:?]
at freemarker.core.DollarVariable.calculateInterpolatedStringOrMarkup(DollarVariable.java:100) ~[bundleFile:?]
at freemarker.core.DollarVariable.accept(DollarVariable.java:63) ~[bundleFile:?]
at freemarker.core.Environment.visit(Environment.java:331) ~[bundleFile:?]
at freemarker.core.Environment.visit(Environment.java:337) ~[bundleFile:?]
at freemarker.core.Environment.visit(Environment.java:337) ~[bundleFile:?]
at freemarker.core.Environment.process(Environment.java:310) ~[bundleFile:?]
at freemarker.template.Template.process(Template.java:383) ~[bundleFile:?]
Environment
DXP 7.4
Resolution
To resolve the issue follow these steps to create the theme:
Run "yo liferay-theme"
Navigate to the new theme
Update the following devDependencies in package.json:
"liferay-frontend-theme-styled": "6.0.63",
"liferay-frontend-theme-unstyled": "6.0.52",
Run "yarn" to install/update dependencies
Run "yarn build" to build the theme
Run "gulp deploy" to deploy the theme
7. Check portal normal.ftl in the build folder to confirm that line 40 includes "<#if !is_signed_in && show_sign_in>"
