SmartTarget Error: The setting 'Default Universe' is required and must be defined in the configuration file

Question

When loading my SmartTarget powered SDL Tridion website I receive the following error:

The setting 'Default Universe' is required and must be defined in the configuration file.

I have checked that my SmartTarget QServer and IndexServer are correctly running and there isn't a problem with my version of Java.

Answer 1

The problem was found in my smarttarget_conf.xml file, I had recently added some new claim variables and have failed to correctly close one of the XML nodes. I've ensured the XML is correctly formed and the website now loads perfectly.