Hi,

I think I may have resolved the problem after searching further for a possible cause and solution. The following script posted elsewhere did the trick (sorry the names escape me but a big thank you). After running it you must restart IIS to refresh things.

update {databaseOwner}{objectQualifier}portals
set
AdministratorRoleId = (select roleid
from {databaseOwner}{objectQualifier}Roles
where {databaseOwner}{objectQualifier}Roles.PortalID
={databaseOwner}{objectQualifier}Portals.PortalID
and RoleName = 'Administrators')

I don't know how the issue arose in the first place but just in case those in the know do and might be able to fix it in future here's a bit more on what I did.

After setting up the default site I set the default site language to something other than the default of English US and then disabled the English US culture. All users (e.g. host/ admin etc.) were configured to use this new language and then I created a new parent portal using the Default Template. The red visible by admins border was only indicative of a larger problem - (Home) page permissions (and possibly others) were all messed up (e.g. the "All Users" item was locked for both "View" and "Edit").

Hope the above may help others.