Hi, Welcome to Pivot and thank you for trying things out. From looking at your code, there is a difference, although you didn't give enough information to see exactly what it is. Your first bxml file has a root element of your "layout" object whose child is the BoxPane, while your second bxml has just the BoxPane in it. So, I would look in your layout object to see what it is doing (or not doing). Or you could take it out if you don't really need it (the menu without it looks right).
HTH, ~Roger Whitcomb
