There is a module placed on every page at the moment. The template json file shows the new section(s) in 'error' syntax highlighting. When I switched to a different preset, the new section showed in the console...until I started tweaking the colors in the preset - then it reverted to this.
screenshot
edit: i created a simple custom html assigned to that position, and on save, an error flashed quickly by, "error fetching JSON..." But it was gone before I could memorize it. It saved the module, but there are no sections I am creating in the layout manager that appear and the module position is assigned in every attempt to create a new row.
Getting this site finished and into production now looks dubious since things aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing and no one has a clue as to why.
edit 2: totally weird. I can't duplicate a working module (bottom1), and switch it out with the originally published one - because bottom1 then simply disappears even though the module is identical. this thing is totally locked up and i will have to abandon it.