[pmwiki-users] How to report bugs

[Hans]

Thursday, February 28, 2008, 10:07:02 PM, Simon wrote:
> I've drafted a page
> http://pmwiki.org/wiki/Cookbook/HowToReportBugs
> in an attempt to assist everyone who seeks help from the mailing lists

I read through the page and like to raise a few points:

* For people seeking help I find the page both encouraging, as it
gives lots of pointers on what to try or where to look, and
discouraging, as it mentions after a list of 13 check points:

   "Having done all of this, and being none the wiser about your issue
   (although probably somewhat wiser about PmWiki) you could

    * leave a query on the questions page
    * post a message the the PmWiki mailing lists"

It implies one needs to go through all the check points mentioned
before, even doing tests in different environments, before asking a
question here on this mailing list. I would feel put off by such a
request and probably never dare ask a question here.

I think that joining this mailing list should be encouraged, and
raising questions should not be dependant on having gone through a
vast list of tasks, including searching archives, searching PmWiki,
running tests etc.

It is often very difficult to find answers doing searches. One may
not know the right way to ask and the right keywords, or the search
results are too wide in scope, too many links to look into etc.

* Reporting bugs and seeking help from mailing lists are two
different issues. I think the page is misnamed and would be better
called SeekingHelp or something like it. To report a bug i thought
is done either directly to Pm or via the mailing list or as a PITS
entry.

* What happened to PITS? There is no mention of PITS, and I thought
PITS is the primary  PmWiki system for tracking bugs. If the page
would be about what its name says, then it would focus on how to
make a bug report using PITS, or approach the mailing list with one's
bug report.



  ~Hans