Updates to Issue Tracking Tools (WCAG Bugzilla)

Hello,

This note describes some of the recent changes that have been made to
our issue tracking tools and process. As you probably already know, we
have returned to using a modified Bugzilla installation for issue
tracking. The updated system includes two interfaces for interacting
with issues. The Bugzilla interface [1] is for use by working group
members in processing and updating issues. The public interface [2]
provides more user-friendly views and search options for the issue data.

While some WG members may already be familiar with WCAG Bugzilla from
years past, here are a few notes about what's changed and how to use 
WCAG Bugzilla.

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Accounts:

If you do not already have a user name and password, please send both
Ben and Michael an email and let us know. For security and spam
prevention purposes, WCAG Bugzilla is configured so that issues can only
be edited by registered users.

FYI, Bugzilla has a habit of sending users lots of email. Preferences
related to the types of email you'd like to receive can be configured
using the preferences links at the top and bottom of each page.

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Usage and Documentation:

WCAG Bugzilla User's Guide [3] - provides an overview of WCAG Bugzilla
and how it is used by our working group to process issues.

WCAG Bugzilla – An Issue's Life Cycle [4] - describes the various field
values for the issue data and what they mean. The editing interface
provides links to this page for most field labels.

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Changes and New Features:

- Custom fields have been added for "Working Group Notes" and "Response
to Reviewer" have been added. These are similar to the previous database
except that Bugzilla keeps track of the history of these fields
(viewable by selecting "View Issue Activity" when editing an issue. When
editing an issue, these fields appear near the top of the page.

- The working group notes field can be used to keep track of notes,
action items and discussions while working on an issue. If the notes are
no longer relevant, they should be removed.

- Issues that are ready for survey should be marked with status 
"RESOLVED" and resolution "PENDING."

- The "History (actions, resolution, links to discussion)" field
(Formerly "comments" in Bugzilla) has been changed a bit. This field has
been repurposed a bit so that it should only include WG decisions
related to processing the bug. Discussion related to the issue should be
included in the Working groups notes field.

- Action items can be recorded in either the working group notes or the
response fields using "@@ followed by the name of the person with the
action and a brief description of the action. A view that lists all of
the action items within the database will be available soon.

- It is now possible to share saved searches among various user groups.
You can do this by visiting the "Saved Searches" tab in preferences.
Users with edit privileges are part of the "editbugs" group. I have
created two saved searches ("All Open Issues" and "new this week") that
are shared with this group. They can be found on the footer of each
bugzilla page. If there are additional searches that you would find
helpful, please let me know and I can help with setting them up.

- "Whining" is another new feature in Bugzilla that can regularly remind 
users about issues at specified times. The feature can be found in the 
footer navigation on each Bugzilla page. It can be used to
execute a saved search and send the results to you via email. You may 
find this useful if, for example, you'd like to receive a daily reminder 
from the system about all of the issues that are assigned to you or 
about issues for which you have action items.

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Other notes:

- The public interface is not yet complete. We will be adding a few
additional features (canned searches, keyword report, etc.) in the
coming weeks.

- For those who have trouble deciphering the advanced search feature of
Bugzilla, you may find the public interface search options more effective.

- The 26 April 2006 (Last Call) Issues can still be found at
http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20/issue-tracking/. Loretta is keeping
track of the responses we receive from reviewers related to these issues
and will be updating the database to reflect whether the reviewer agreed
with our response. For issues where the reviewer was not satisfied with
our response, new issues will be created in WCAG Bugzilla.

- All of the issues we've received on the 17 May 2007 WD have been
entered into the new system. We currently have ~55 open issues to
process and will be adding more as they come in.

Please let me know if you spot any issues or have any questions about
using the new system.

Thanks,

-Ben

[1] <http://trace.wisc.edu/bugzilla_wcag/>
[2] <http://trace.wisc.edu/bugzilla_wcag/issuereports/>
[3] <http://trace.wisc.edu/bugzilla_wcag/bugzilla_use.htm>
[4] <http://trace.wisc.edu/bugzilla_wcag/page.cgi?id=fields.html>

-- 
Ben Caldwell | <caldwell@trace.wisc.edu>
Trace Research and Development Center <http://trace.wisc.edu>

Received on Thursday, 21 June 2007 19:04:57 UTC