You can try laundry detergent whatever you do, do not use regular dish soap you will have soap everywhere use just a tiny amount of laundry soap though liquid.
You can put in 2 to 3 drops of regular diswashing liquid, along with one cup of vinegar. Do not put in anymore soap then that or it will over flow and run out of the machine.
You can substitute baking soda for dishwasher detergent if you are stuck. In addition to getting your dishes clean, it also provides a deep clean for your dishwasher, and will get rid of stains. Under no circumstances should you ever use regular dishwashing liquid, as this will suds up and cause no end of problems.
You can just use bleach. It will sanitize and clean everything. You could also use some vinegar, or baking soda, but don't mix any of these. Avoid anything that will foam, like liquid dishwashing soap, because it will make your dishwasher overflow.
If you're out of dishwasher detergent, a good alternative would be using some liquid Dawn dish soap. Rather than putting it in the normal detergent holder, squirt some over the dishes so that the hot water will be able to reach it right away.