We’re working on a bug tracker. For now, I will take a look at any bugs filed at SF. Let’s limit ourselves to only the bugs we would most like to see fixed in 1.2.1 until we get the bug tracking plan ironed out.
And now, here’s my bug tracker speech. Bug trackers require lots of attention to prevent them from descending into useless, messy burdens. We need to form a BugSquad along the lines of the GNOME BugSquad. Members of the BugSquad will perform basic triage on new bugs, making sure that the bug reports are completely filled out and informative. One of the biggest jobs of a bug squad member is eliminating duplicates. We have all seen the same question asked countless times on the forums. Bug trackers are even worse. Eliminating duplicate bugs is a constant chore.
A bug tracker will not be successful without volunteers to help manage it. The devs don’t have time to manage the bug tracker while also fixing bugs and adding new features. If the bug tracker fills up with duplicates, people’s wish lists, and other such cruft, the tracker will become a burden that will be ignored. So, I’m calling out all those who want a bug tracker. Are you going to help?
Okay then. Bug reporters, before you file bug reports, please do the following.
- Search the forums.
- Search the Wiki.
- Post to the forums.
- Have a little patience while waiting for answers.
If you go through all of the above and are convinced that you have found a bug, then…
- Search the bug tracker to see if the bug has already been reported.
- If you can’t find an existing report for your bug, file a new report.
Your bug report should contain a clear description of the problem, any error messages printed out by WordPress, steps to reproduce the problem, the version of WordPress used, and a link back to the forum discussion of the problem.
That should get us started. If you find a bug, please do report it. However, have a care and don’t abuse the bug tracker. The bug tracker should not be used as a support forum. That’s what the support forums are for.
