search subpanel has no fields to enter search

[southwestcrm]

There are several subpanels that are have this issue. Example: go to a project and add a contact. the new MSIE window that pops up just says Perform a search using the search form above. However there is no search form (see picture)

Is it related to some changes I made after listening to the optimization video (in the education section of sugarcrm website). e.g. in config_override.php 'save_query' => 'populate_only'?

any ideas???