I have been attempting to make a wooden plank. I have expanded it, colored it, and merged it with a Metaball structure. However, when I detach it from all other structures and then attempt to follow the way the Blender Manual adds the Wood texture, the texture does not render. I have attempted to do the same with a random cube on a new file, and still, it does not render. I have not assigned the texture any colors yet. What may be happening?

I have been attempting to make a wooden plank. I have expanded it, colored it, and merged it with a Metaball structure. However, when I detach it from all other structures and then attempt to follow the way the WikiBooks (https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro/Procedural_Textures) adds the Wood texture, the texture does not render. I have attempted to do the same with a random cube on a new file, and still, it does not render. I have not assigned the texture any colors yet. What may be happening?