summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/docs/sgml/using.sgml
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorbarnboy%trilobyte.net <>2001-03-08 14:35:44 +0100
committerbarnboy%trilobyte.net <>2001-03-08 14:35:44 +0100
commit6b607da839992bead01d7cba308f216e17eed520 (patch)
treedce2e5e7aac71ccb906eb18b292712e93cd1ed85 /docs/sgml/using.sgml
parent3208181dc05fa0633e6cde53fec641f1db4b35ef (diff)
downloadbugzilla-6b607da839992bead01d7cba308f216e17eed520.tar.gz
bugzilla-6b607da839992bead01d7cba308f216e17eed520.tar.xz
Documentation update; added docs/sgml, docs/html, docs/txt.
No text version of The Bugzilla Guide availabe yet, however.
Diffstat (limited to 'docs/sgml/using.sgml')
-rw-r--r--docs/sgml/using.sgml846
1 files changed, 846 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/sgml/using.sgml b/docs/sgml/using.sgml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..606dca8c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/sgml/using.sgml
@@ -0,0 +1,846 @@
+<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN">
+
+<!-- TOC
+Chapter: Using Bugzilla
+ Create an account
+ Logging in
+ Setting up preferences
+ Account Settings
+ Email Settings
+ Page Footer
+ Permissions
+ Life cycle of a bug
+ Creating a bug
+ Checking for duplicates
+ Overview of all bug fields
+ Setting bug permissions
+ The Query Interface
+ Standard Queries
+ Email Queries
+ Boolean Queries
+ Regexp Queries
+ The Query Results
+ Changing Columns
+ Changing sorting order
+ Mass changes
+ Miscellaneous usage hints
+
+-->
+
+<chapter id="using">
+<title>Using Bugzilla</title>
+ <epigraph>
+ <para>
+ What, Why, How, & What's in it for me?
+ </para>
+ </epigraph>
+
+ <section id="whatis">
+ <title>What is Bugzilla?</title>
+ <para>
+ Bugzilla is one example of a class of programs called "Defect Tracking Systems",
+ or, more commonly, "Bug-Tracking Systems". Defect Tracking Systems allow individual or
+ groups of developers to keep track of outstanding bugs in their product effectively.
+ At the time Bugzilla was originally written, as a port from Netscape Communications'
+ "Bugsplat!" program to Perl from TCL, there were very few competitors in the market
+ for bug-tracking software. Most commercial defect-tracking software vendors at the
+ time charged enormous licensing fees. Bugzilla quickly became a favorite of the
+ open-source crowd (with its genesis in the open-source browser project, Mozilla) and
+ is now the de-facto standard defect-tracking system against which all others are
+ measured.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Bugzilla has matured immensely, and now boasts many advanced features. These include:
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ integrated, product-based granular security schema
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ inter-bug dependencies and dependency graphing
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ advanced reporting capabilities
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ a robust, stable RDBMS back-end
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ extensive configurability
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ a very well-understood and well-thought-out natural bug resolution protocol
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ email, XML, and HTTP APIs
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ integration with several automated software configuration management systems
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ too many more features to list
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Despite its current robustness and popularity, however, Bugzilla
+ faces some near-term challenges, such as reliance on a single database, a lack of
+ abstraction of the user interface and program logic, verbose email bug
+ notifications, a powerful but daunting query interface, little reporting configurability,
+ problems with extremely large queries, some unsupportable bug resolution options,
+ no internationalization, and dependence on some nonstandard libraries.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Despite these small problems, Bugzilla is very hard to beat. It is under <emphasis>very</emphasis>
+ active development to address the current issues, and a long-awaited overhaul in the form
+ of Bugzilla 3.0 is expected sometime later this year.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="why">
+ <title>Why Should We Use Bugzilla?</title>
+ <epigraph>
+ <para>
+ No, Who's on first...
+ </para>
+ </epigraph>
+ <para>
+ For many years, defect-tracking software has remained principally the domain
+ of large software development houses. Even then, most shops never bothered
+ with bug-tracking software, and instead simply relied on shared lists and
+ email to monitor the status of defects. This procedure is error-prone and
+ tends to cause those bugs judged least significant by developers to be
+ dropped or ignored
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ These days, many companies are finding that integrated defect-tracking
+ systems reduce downtime, increase productivity, and raise customer
+ satisfaction with their systems. Along with full disclosure, an open
+ bug-tracker allows manufacturers to keep in touch with their clients
+ and resellers, to communicate about problems effectively throughout
+ the data management chain. Many corporations have also discovered that
+ defect-tracking helps reduce costs by providing IT support accountability,
+ telephone support knowledge bases, and a common, well-understood system
+ for accounting for unusual system or software issues.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ But why should <emphasis>you</emphasis> use Bugzilla?
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Bugzilla is very adaptable to various situations. Known uses currently
+ include IT support queues, Systems Administration deployment management,
+ chip design and development problem tracking (both pre-and-post fabrication),
+ and software bug tracking for luminaries such as Redhat, Loki software,
+ Linux-Mandrake, and VA Systems. Combined with systems such as CVS, Bonsai,
+ or Perforce SCM, Bugzilla provides a powerful, easy-to-use solution to
+ configuration management and replication problems
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Bugzilla can dramatically increase the productivity and accountability
+ of individual employees by providing a documented workflow and positive
+ feedback for good performance. How many times do you wake up in the
+ morning, remembering that you were supposed to do *something* today,
+ but you just can't quite remember? Put it in Bugzilla, and you have a record
+ of it from which you can extrapolate milestones, predict product versions
+ for integration, and by using Bugzilla's e-mail integration features
+ be able to follow the discussion trail that led to critical decisions.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Ultimately, Bugzilla puts the power in your hands to improve your value
+ to your employer or business while providing a usable framework for your natural
+ attention to detail and knowledge store to flourish.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="how">
+ <title>How do I use Bugzilla?</title>
+ <epigraph>
+ <para>
+ Hey! I'm Woody! Howdy, Howdy, Howdy!
+ </para>
+ </epigraph>
+
+ <para>
+ Bugzilla is a large and complex system. Describing how to use it
+ requires some time. If you are only interested in installing or administering
+ a Bugzilla installation, please consult the Installing and Administering
+ Bugzilla portions of this Guide. This section is principally aimed towards
+ developing end-user mastery of Bugzilla, so you may fully enjoy the benefits
+ afforded by using this reliable open-source bug-tracking software.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Throughout this portion of the Guide, we will refer to user account
+ options available at the Bugzilla test installation,
+ <ulink url="http://landfill.tequilarista.org/">
+ landfill.tequilarista.org</ulink>.
+ Although Landfill serves as a great introduction to Bugzilla, it does not offer
+ all the options you would have as a user on your own installation of Bugzilla,
+ nor can it do more than serve as a general introduction to Bugzilla.
+ However, please use it if you want to
+ follow this tutorial.
+ </para>
+
+ <section id="myaccount">
+ <title>Create a Bugzilla Account</title>
+ <para>
+ First thing's first! If you want to use Bugzilla, first you need to create
+ an account. Consult with the administrator responsible for your installation
+ of Bugzilla for the URL you should use to access it.
+ If you're test-driving the end-user Bugzilla experience, use this URL:
+ <ulink url="http://landfill.tequilarista.org/mozilla/bugzilla/">
+ http://landfill.tequilarista.org/mozilla/bugzilla/</ulink>
+ </para>
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Click the "Open a new Bugzilla account" link.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Enter your "E-mail address" and "Real Name" (or whatever name you want to call yourself)
+ in the spaces provided, then select the "Create Account" button.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Within 5-10 minutes, you should receive an email to the address you provided above,
+ which contains your login name (generally the same as the email address), and
+ a password you can use to access your account. This password is randomly generated,
+ and should be changed at your nearest opportunity (we'll go into how to do it later).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Click the "Log In" link in the yellow area at the bottom of the page in your browser,
+ then enter your "E-mail address" and "Password" you just received into the spaces provided,
+ and select "Login".
+ <note>
+ <para>
+ If you ever forget your password, you can come back to this page, enter your
+ "E-mail address", then select the "E-mail me a password" button to have your password
+ mailed to you again so that you can login.
+ </para>
+ </note>
+ <caution>
+ <para>
+ Many modern browsers include an "Auto-Complete" or "Form Fill" feature to
+ remember the user names and passwords you type in at many sites. Unfortunately,
+ sometimes they attempt to "guess" what you will put in as your password, and guess
+ wrong. If you notice a text box is already filled out, please overwrite the contents
+ of the text box so you can be sure to input the correct information.
+ </para>
+ </caution>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ <para>
+ Congratulations! If you followed these directions, you now are the
+ proud owner of a user account on landfill.tequilarista.org (Landfill) or
+ your local Bugzilla install. You should now see in your browser a
+ page called the "Bugzilla Query Page". It may look daunting, but
+ with this Guide to walk you through it, you will master it in no time.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="query">
+ <title>The Bugzilla Query Page</title>
+ <para>
+ The Bugzilla Query Page is the heart and soul of Bugzilla. It is the master
+ interface where you can find any bug report, comment, or patch currently in the Bugzilla
+ system. We'll go into how to create your own bug report later on.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ There are efforts underway to simplify query usage. If you have a local installation
+ of Bugzilla 2.12 or higher, you should have "quicksearch.html" available
+ to use and simplify your searches. There is also, or shortly will be, a helper
+ for the query interface, called "queryhelp.cgi". Landfill tends to run the latest code,
+ so these two utilities should be available there for your perusal.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ At this point, please visit the main Bugzilla site,
+ <ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/query.cgi">
+ bugzilla.mozilla.org</ulink>, to see a more fleshed-out query page.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The first thing you need to notice about the Bugzilla Query Page is that
+ nearly every box you see on your screen has a hyperlink nearby, explaining what
+ it is or what it does. Near the upper-left-hand corner of your browser window
+ you should see the word "Status" underlined. Select it.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Notice the page that popped up? Every underlined word you see on your screen
+ is a hyperlink that will take you to context-sensitive help.
+ Click around for a while, and learn what everything here does. To return
+ to the query interface after pulling up a help page, use the "Back" button in
+ your browser.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ I'm sure that after checking out the online help, you are now an Expert
+ on the Bugzilla Query Page. If, however, you feel you haven't mastered it yet,
+ let me walk you through making a few successful queries to find out what there
+ are in the Bugzilla bug-tracking system itself.
+ </para>
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Ensure you are back on the "Bugzilla Query Page"
+ Do nothing in the boxes marked "Status", "Resolution", "Platform", "OpSys",
+ "Priority", or "Severity". The default query for "Status" is to find all bugs that
+ are NEW, ASSIGNED, or REOPENED, which is what we want. If you don't select anything
+ in the other 5 scrollboxes there, then you are saying that "any of these are OK";
+ we're not locking ourselves into only finding bugs on the "DEC" Platform, or "Windows 95"
+ OpSys (Operating System). You're smart, I think you have it figured out.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Basically, selecting <emphasis>anything</emphasis> on the query page narrows your search
+ down. Leaving stuff unselected, or text boxes unfilled, broadens your search!
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ You see the box immediately below the top six boxes that contains an "Email" text box,
+ with the words "matching as", a drop-down selection box, then some checkboxes with
+ "Assigned To" checked by default? This allows you to filter your search down based upon
+ email address. Let's put my email address in there, and see what happens.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Type "barnboy@trilobyte.net" in the top Email text box.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Let's narrow the search some more. Scroll down until you find the box with the word
+ "Program" over the top of it. This is where we can narrow our search down to only
+ specific products (software programs or product lines) in our Bugzilla database.
+ Please notice the box is a <emphasis>scrollbox</emphasis>. Using the down arrow on the
+ scrollbox, scroll down until you can see an entry called "Webtools". Select this entry.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Did you notice that some of the boxes to the right changed when you selected "Webtools"?
+ Every Program (or Product) has different Versions, Components, and Target Milestones associated
+ with it. A "Version" is the number of a software program.
+ <example>
+ <title>Some Famous Software Versions</title>
+ <informalexample>
+ <para>
+ Do you remember the hype in 1995 when Microsoft Windows 95(r) was released?
+ It may have been several years
+ ago, but Microsoft(tm) spent over $300 Million advertising this new Version of their
+ software. Three years later, they released Microsoft Windows 98(r),
+ another new version, to great fanfare, and then in 2000 quietly
+ released Microsoft Windows ME(Millenium Edition)(r).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Software "Versions" help a manufacturer differentiate
+ their current product from their
+ previous products. Most do not identify their products
+ by the year they were released.
+ Instead, the "original" version of their software will
+ often be numbered "1.0", with
+ small bug-fix releases on subsequent tenths of a digit. In most cases, it's not
+ a decimal number; for instance, often 1.9 is an <emphasis>older</emphasis> version
+ of the software than 1.11,
+ but is a <emphasis>newer</emphasis> version than 1.1.1.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ In general, a "Version" in Bugzilla should refer to
+ <emphasis>released</emphasis>
+ products, not products that have not yet been released
+ to the public. Forthcoming products
+ are what the Target Milestone field is for.
+ </para>
+ </informalexample>
+ </example>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ A "Component" is a piece of a Product.
+ It may be a standalone program, or some other logical
+ division of a Product or Program.
+ Normally, a Component has a single Owner, who is responsible
+ for overseeing efforts to improve that Component.
+ <example>
+ <title>Mozilla Webtools Components</title>
+ <informalexample>
+ <para>
+ Mozilla's "Webtools" Product is composed of several pieces (Components):
+ <simplelist>
+ <member><emphasis>Bonsai</emphasis>,
+ a tool to show recent changes to Mozilla</member>
+ <member><emphasis>Bugzilla</emphasis>,
+ a defect-tracking tool</member>
+ <member><emphasis>Build</emphasis>,
+ a tool to automatically compile source code
+ into machine-readable form</member>
+ <member><emphasis>Despot</emphasis>,
+ a program that controls access to the other Webtools</member>
+ <member><emphasis>LXR</emphasis>,
+ a utility that automatically marks up text files
+ to make them more readable</member>
+ <member><emphasis>MozBot</emphasis>,
+ a "robot" that announces changes to Mozilla in Chat</member>
+ <member><emphasis>TestManager</emphasis>,
+ a tool to help find bugs in Mozilla</member>
+ <member><emphasis>Tinderbox</emphasis>,
+ which displays reports from Build</member>
+ </simplelist>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ A different person is responsible for each of these Components.
+ Tara Hernandez keeps
+ the "Bugzilla" component up-to-date.
+ </para>
+ </informalexample>
+ </example>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ A "Milestone", or "Target Milestone" is a often a planned future "Version" of a
+ product. In many cases, though, Milestones simply represent significant dates for
+ a developer. Having certain features in your Product is frequently
+ tied to revenue (money)
+ the developer will receive if the features work by the time she
+ reaches the Target Milestone.
+ Target Milestones are a great tool to organize your time.
+ If someone will pay you $100,000 for
+ incorporating certain features by a certain date,
+ those features by that Milestone date become
+ a very high priority. Milestones tend to be highly malleable creatures,
+ though, that appear
+ to be in reach but are out of reach by the time the important day arrives.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The Bugzilla Project has set up Milestones for future
+ Bugzilla versions 2.14, 2.16, 2.18, 3.0, etc. However,
+ a Target Milestone can just as easily be a specific date,
+ code name, or weird alphanumeric
+ combination, like "M19".
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ OK, now let's select the "Bugzilla" component from its scrollbox.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Skip down the page a bit -- do you see the "submit query" button?
+ Select it, and let's run
+ this query!
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Congratulations! You've completed your first Query, and have before you the Bug List
+ of the author of this Guide, Matthew P. Barnson (barnboy@trilobyte.net). If I'm
+ doing well,
+ you'll have a cryptic "Zarro Boogs Found" message on your screen. It is just
+ a happy hacker's way of saying "Zero Bugs Found". However, I am fairly certain I will
+ always have some bugs assigned to me that aren't done yet,
+ so you won't often see that message!
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ <para>
+ I encourage you to click the bug numbers in the left-hand column and examine
+ my bugs. Also notice that if you click the underlined
+ links near the top of this page, they do
+ not take you to context-sensitive help here,
+ but instead sort the columns of bugs on the screen!
+ When you need to sort your bugs by priority, severity,
+ or the people they are assigned to, this
+ is a tremendous timesaver.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ A couple more interesting things about the Bug List page:
+ <simplelist>
+ <member><emphasis>Change Columns</emphasis>:
+ by selecting this link, you can show all kinds
+ of information in the Bug List</member>
+ <member><emphasis>Change several bugs at once</emphasis>:
+ If you have sufficient rights to change all
+ the bugs shown in the Bug List, you can mass-modify them.
+ This is a big time-saver.</member>
+ <member><emphasis>Send mail to bug owners</emphasis>:
+ If you have many related bugs, you can request
+ an update from every person who owns the bugs in
+ the Bug List asking them the status.</member>
+ <member><emphasis>Edit this query</emphasis>:
+ If you didn't get exactly the results you were looking for,
+ you can return to the Query page through this link and make
+ small revisions to the query you just made so
+ you get more accurate results.</member>
+ </simplelist>
+ </para>
+ <note>
+ <para>
+ There are many more options to the Bugzilla Query Page
+ and the Bug List than I have shown you.
+ But this should be enough for you to learn to get around.
+ I encourage you to check out the
+ <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/bugs/">Bugzilla Home Page</ulink>
+ to learn about the Anatomy
+ and Life Cycle of a Bug before continuing.
+ </para>
+ </note>
+ </section>
+
+
+ <section id="bugreports">
+ <title>Creating and Managing Bug Reports</title>
+ <epigraph>
+ <para>And all this time, I thought we were taking bugs <emphasis>out</emphasis>...</para>
+ </epigraph>
+
+ <section id="bug_writing">
+ <title>Writing a Great Bug Report</title>
+ <para>
+ Before we plunge into writing your first bug report, I encourage you to read
+ <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/quality/bug-writing-guidelines.html">Mozilla.org's Bug
+ Writing Guidelines</ulink>. While some of the advice is Mozilla-specific, the basic
+ principles of reporting Reproducible, Specific bugs, isolating the Product you are
+ using, the Version of the Product, the Component which failed, the Hardware Platform, and
+ Operating System you were using at the time of the failure go a long way toward ensuring accurate,
+ responsible fixes for the bug that bit you.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ While you are at it, why not learn how to find previously reported bugs? Mozilla.org
+ has published a great tutorial on finding duplicate bugs, available at
+ <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/quality/help/beginning-duplicate-finding.html">
+ http://www.mozilla.org/quality/help/beginning-duplicate-finding.html</ulink>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ I realize this was a lot to read. However, understanding the mentality of writing
+ great bug reports will help us on the next part!
+ </para>
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Go back to <ulink url="http://landfill.tequilarista.org/mozilla/bugzilla/">
+ http://landfill.tequilarista.org/mozilla/bugzilla/</ulink>
+ in your browser.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Select the
+ <ulink url="http://landfill.tequilarista.org/mozilla/bugzilla/enter_bug.cgi">
+ Enter a new bug report</ulink> link.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Select a product.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Now you should be at the "Enter Bug" form.
+ The "reporter" should have been automatically filled out
+ for you (or else Bugzilla prompted you to Log In again
+ -- you did keep the email with your username
+ and password, didn't you?).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Select a Component in the scrollbox.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Bugzilla should have made reasonable guesses, based upon your browser,
+ for the "Platform" and "OS" drop-down
+ boxes. If those are wrong, change them -- if you're on an SGI box
+ running IRIX, we want to know!
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Fill in the "Assigned To" box with the email address you provided earlier.
+ This way you don't end up sending copies of your bug to lots of other people,
+ since it's just a test bug.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Leave the "CC" text box blank.
+ Fill in the "URL" box with "http://www.mozilla.org".
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Enter "The Bugzilla Guide" in the Summary text box,
+ and place any comments you have on this
+ tutorial, or the Guide in general, into the Description box.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ <para>
+ Voila! Select "Commit" and send in your bug report!
+ Next we'll look at resolving bugs.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="bug_manage">
+ <title>Managing your Bug Reports</title>
+ <para>
+ OK, you should have a link to the bug you just created near the top of your page.
+ It should say
+ "Bug XXXX posted", with a link to the right saying "Back to BUG# XXXX".
+ Select this link.
+ </para>
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Scroll down a bit on the subsequent page,
+ until you see the "Resolve bug, changing resolution to (dropdown box).
+ Normally, you would
+ "Accept bug (change status to ASSIGNED)", fix it, and then resolve.
+ But in this case, we're
+ going to short-circuit the process because this wasn't a real bug.
+ Change the dropdown next to
+ "Resolve Bug" to "INVALID", make sure the radio button is
+ marked next to "Resolve Bug", then
+ click "Commit".
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Hey! It said it couldn't take the change in a big red box!
+ That's right, you must specify
+ a Comment in order to make this change. Select the "Back"
+ button in your browser, add a
+ Comment, then try Resolving the bug with INVALID status again.
+ This time it should work.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ <para>
+ You have now learned the basics of Bugzilla navigation,
+ entering a bug, and bug maintenance.
+ I encourage you to explore these features, and see what you can do with them!
+ We'll spend no more time on individual Bugs or Queries from this point on, so you are
+ on your own there.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ But I'll give a few last hints!
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ There is a <ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/help.html">CLUE</ulink>
+ on the Query page
+ that will teach you more how to use the form.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If you click the hyperlink on the
+ <ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/describecomponents.cgi">Component</ulink>
+ box of the Query page, you will be presented a form that will describe what all
+ the components are.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Possibly the most powerful feature of the Query page is the
+ <ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/booleanchart.html">Boolean Chart</ulink> section.
+ It's a bit confusing to use the first time, but can provide unparalleled
+ flexibility in your queries,
+ allowing you to build extremely powerful requests.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Finally, you can build some nifty
+ <ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/reports.cgi">Reports</ulink>
+ using the "Bug Reports" link near the bottom of the query page, and also
+ available via the "Reports" link
+ at the footer of each page.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+ </section>
+
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="init4me">
+ <title>What's in it for me?</title>
+ <epigraph>
+ <para>
+ Indiana, it feels like we walking on fortune cookies!
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ These ain't fortune cookies, kid...
+ </para>
+ </epigraph>
+ <para>
+ Customized User Preferences offer tremendous versatility to
+ your individual Bugzilla experience.
+ Let's plunge into what you can do! The first step is to click
+ the "Edit prefs" link at the footer of each page once you
+ have logged in to
+ <ulink url="http://landfill.tequilarista.org/mozilla/bugzilla/query.cgi?GoAheadAndLogIn=1">
+ Landfill</ulink>.
+ </para>
+ <section id="accountsettings">
+ <title>Account Settings</title>
+ <para>
+ On this page, you can change your basic Account Settings,
+ including your password and full name.
+ For security reasons, in order to change anything on this page you
+ must type your <emphasis>current</emphasis>
+ password into the "Old Password" field.
+ If you wish to change your password, type the new password you
+ want into the "New Password" field and again into the "Re-enter
+ new password" field to ensure
+ you typed your new password correctly. Select the "Submit" button and you're done!
+ </para>
+ </section>
+ <section id="emailsettings">
+ <title>Email Settings</title>
+ <section id="notification">
+ <title>Email Notification</title>
+ <para>
+ Ahh, here you can reduce or increase the amount of email sent you from Bugzilla!
+ In the drop-down "Notify me of changes to", select one of
+ <simplelist>
+ <member><emphasis>All qualifying bugs</emphasis>: sends you every change to every bug
+ where your name is somewhere on it, regardless of who changed it.</member>
+ <member><emphasis>Only those bugs which I am listed in the CC line</emphasis>: prevents
+ you from receiving mail for which you are the reporter,'
+ owner, or QA contact. If you are on the CC
+ list, presumably someone had a <emphasis>good</emphasis>
+ reason for you to get the email.</member>
+ <member><emphasis>All qulifying bugs except those which I change</emphasis>:
+ This is the default, and
+ a sensible setting. If someone else changes your bugs, you will get emailed,
+ but if you change bugs
+ yourself you will receive no notification of the change.</member>
+ </simplelist>
+ </para>
+ </section>
+ <section id="newemailtech">
+ <title>New Email Technology</title>
+ <note>
+ <para>
+ This option may not be available in all Bugzilla installations, depending upon
+ the preferences of the systems administrator responsible for the setup of your Bugzilla.
+ However, if you really want this functionality, ask her to "enable newemailtech
+ in Params"
+ and "make it the default for all new users", referring her to the Administration section
+ of this Guide.
+ </para>
+ </note>
+ <para>
+ Disregard the warnings about "experimental and bleeding edge"; the code to handle email
+ in a cleaner manner than that historically used for Bugzilla is
+ quite robust and well-tested now.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ I recommend you enable the option, "Click here to sign up (and risk any bugs)".
+ Your email-box
+ will thank you for it. The fundamental shift in "newemailtech" is away from standard UNIX
+ "diff" output, which is quite ugly, to a prettier, better laid-out email.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+ <section id="watchsettings">
+ <title>"Watching" Users</title>
+ <note>
+ <para>
+ This option may not be available in all Bugzilla installations, depending upon
+ the preferences of the systems administrator responsible for the setup of your Bugzilla.
+ However, if you really want this functionality, ask her to "enable watchers in Params".
+ </para>
+ </note>
+ <para>
+ By entering user email names into the "Users to watch" text entry box, delineated by commas,
+ you can watch bugs of other users. This powerful functionality enables seamless transitions
+ as developers change projects, managers wish to get in touch with the issues faced by their
+ direct reports, or users go on vacation. If any of these three situations apply
+ to you, you will undoubtedly find this feature quite convenient.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+ </section>
+ <section id="footersettings">
+ <title>Page Footer</title>
+ <note>
+ <para>
+ By default, this page is quite barren. However, go explore the Query Page some more; you will
+ find that you can store numerous queries on the server, so if you regularly run a particular query
+ it is just a drop-down menu away. On this page of Preferences, if you have many stored
+ queries you can elect to have them always one-click away!
+ </para>
+ </note>
+ <para>
+ If you have many stored queries on the server, here you will find individual drop-downs for each
+ stored query. Each drop-down gives you the option of that query appearing on the footer of every
+ page in Bugzilla! This gives you powerful one-click access to any complex searches you may set up,
+ and is an excellent way to impress your boss...
+ </para>
+ <tip>
+ <para>By default, the "My Bugs" link appears at the bottom of each page. However, this query
+ gives you both the bugs you have reported, as well as those you are assigned. One of the most
+ common uses for this page is to remove the "My Bugs" link, replacing it with two other queries,
+ commonly called "My Bug Reports" and "My Bugs" (but only referencing bugs assigned to you). This
+ allows you to distinguish those bugs you have reported from those you are assigned. I commonly
+ set up complex Boolean queries in the Query page and link them to my footer in this page. When
+ they are significantly complex, a one-click reference can save hours of work.</para>
+ </tip>
+ </section>
+ <section id="permissionsettings">
+ <title>Permissions</title>
+ <para>
+ This is a purely informative page which outlines your current permissions on
+ this installation of Bugzilla. If you have permissions to grant certain permissions to
+ other users, the "other users" link appears on this page as well as the footer.
+ For more information regarding user administration, please consult the Administration
+ section of this Guide.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="usingbz-conc">
+ <title>Using Bugzilla-Conclusion</title>
+ <para>
+ Thank you for reading through this portion of the Bugzilla Guide. I anticipate
+ it may not yet meet the needs of all readers. If you have additional comments or
+ corrections to make, please submit your contributions to the
+ <ulink url="mailto://mozilla-webtools@mozilla.org">mozilla-webtools</ulink>
+ mailing list/newsgroup. The mailing list is mirrored to the netscape.public.mozilla.webtools
+ newsgroup, and the newsgroup is mirrored to mozilla-webtools@mozilla.org
+ </para>
+ </section>
+</chapter>
+
+
+<!-- Keep this comment at the end of the file
+Local variables:
+mode: sgml
+sgml-omittag:t
+sgml-shorttag:t
+sgml-namecase-general:t
+sgml-general-insert-case:lower
+sgml-minimize-attributes:nil
+sgml-always-quote-attributes:t
+sgml-indent-step:2
+sgml-indent-data:t
+sgml-parent-document:Bugzilla-Guide\.sgml
+sgml-exposed-tags:nil
+sgml-local-catalogs:nil
+sgml-local-ecat-files:nil
+End:
+-->