The Fine Art of Bug Reporting

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Ythan
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Registered: 08/08/97
Posts: 19,225
Loc: NY/MA/VT Borderlands

Last seen: 1 hour, 24 minutes

The Fine Art of Bug Reporting

#6667437 - 03/14/07 01:33 AM (19 years, 5 months ago)

There are a virtually infinite number of ways in which bugs can manifest themselves, and tracking down an elusive one can be like detective work. It's virtually impossible without some good clues, and the more information that is provided up front, the easier it is to zero in on areas of interest. Before reporting a bug, please go through this checklist to help streamline the process.

* Are you sure it's a bug?
It sounds like a dumb question, but just because something changes on the site doesn't mean it's broken. Check recent threads in the WA&F forum and use the search to see if there's a reason for the change.

* Are you sure it's a bug with the Shroomery?
Not every bug is our fault. Problems can also be caused by your operating system, web browser, internet security software, ISP, and other factors. Clear your cache and cookies and try logging in again. If you have access to a different computer, please double-check that the problem is occurring on both systems. Ask other members if they're experiencing the same thing.

* Are you sure it's not already being fixed?
If a feature which has always worked fine suddenly breaks, chances are it's my fault, I know I broke it, and I'm already fixing it. It's not a race to report a bug the fastest, anyway when everyone rushes to report a problem at the same time you end up with a bunch of duplicate threads. If you wait a minute it might resolve itself.

Once you determine you've encountered a real live bug, please provide the following information. These are just guidelines, if you're tech-savvy enough to know that your browser version doesn't matter for a mySQL error then that's fine. But when in doubt, you can't go wrong including the following:

* What page were you on when the bug occurred?
Exact URL please, copy and paste from your browser's address bar. Vague info like "reading a post" doesn't help.

* What were you doing when the bug occurred?
Did it happen when you first loaded the page? When you clicked a certain link or button? Etc.

* What are the symptoms of the bug?
How did the actual results differ from the expected results?

* What error message did you receive, if any?
They're there for a reason, please provide the complete text of any errors. If you know how to use the Javascript console, please check for errors there too.

* Are there steps which can be taken to reproduce the bug?
If the bug only occurs under certain circumstances, what are they? How can I replicate it?

* What's your system information?
Provide OS (eg Windows XP, Ubuntu Linux, Mac OS X) and browser (eg Firefox 2.0.0.2, IE 7.0.5739.11, Opera 9.10) please.

As an example, let's say you try to reply to a PM and get an error.

Worthless:
Immediately make a post saying "PMs are broken! Help!"

Bad:
Wait a minute, then when it's not fixed make a post saying "I get an error sending a PM!"

Tolerable:
While waiting to see if it fixes itself, browse through WA&F looking for any threads about PMs which might have something to do with the problem. After not finding any, make a post that "I tried to reply to a PM but I get an error 'expected } at line 1470 of sendmessage.php'".

Best:
Make sure there are no related threads, and it doesn't fix itself. Play around a little to get more information about the problem. Then post something like "I tried to reply to a PM from Some_User123, but when I clicked the "Reply' button at the top of viewmessage.php?Cat=0&message=1707493&status=N&box=received I get the message 'expected } at line 1470 of sendmessage.php'. This only seems to happen with this particular user, I tried responding to two separate PMs from him and neither worked. But I can respond to all my other PMs fine, and if I send him a *new* PM from sendprivate.php it works. I'm on Windows XP running Firefox 2.0.0.2 but the problem also occurs in IE7."

Get the idea? When tracking down bugs, a little information goes a long way. I'd rather spend my time fixing the problem than trying to figure out what the problem even is. So throw me a bone and make my job easier! The end result will be faster bug fixes and a more stable Shroomery for all.

Thanks!

-Y

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