Bugs you find while learning
While you learn, you will meet things that do not work. Some are your own mistakes, some are the software's. A clear issue about a real bug helps every user after you, and it is a contribution you can show. This page tells you how.
Contents
- Bug or misunderstanding?
- Choose the right tracker
- Write an issue others can reproduce
- Security problems stay private
- After you file it
Bug or misunderstanding?
Before you file an issue, rule out the usual causes on a study site:
| Check | Page |
|---|---|
| Is it a permission page, not an error? | Reading logs and errors |
| Is it a cache? | Understanding caches |
| Is the setting in the right file and siteaccess? | Understanding siteaccesses and settings |
| Does it happen on a fresh installation? | Resetting and rebuilding your study site |
| Is it already known? | Search the tracker first |
| Is it on purpose? | Some behavior that looks wrong is deliberate or open to interpretation, and other sites depend on it; changing it needs a clear justification and often several rounds of review. See Negative features |
If it still happens on a fresh installation with the documented steps, it is probably a bug. If a help page tells you something the software does not do, that is a bug of the documentation: file it too, or fix it (Improving the help as a student).
Choose the right tracker
From When something goes wrong and Which tracker for which report:
| It is about | Where |
|---|---|
| The kernel, the administration, a bundled extension or the documentation | Exponential issues |
| The Velocity server: starting, workers, its response cache, HTTPS | Velocity issues |
| An extension with its own repository | That repository's issues |
| The project, the website, the ecosystem, anything that is not a software error | The community issue tracker |
| A "how do I ...?" question | The forums or Telegram (Asking for help and study groups) |
| A security problem | Privately, see below |
You need a free GitHub account to open an issue.
Write an issue others can reproduce
The Report an error page of the help (exphelp/report in the administration) chooses the tracker, fills in a
summary of the installation and opens a new issue with a prepared title and text
(When something goes wrong). On the command line,
php bin/php/console exp:info --plain --no-logo gives a summary that never prints a password, key, token or database
address.
A good issue has (A good bug description):
Title: <short, names the problem: "Upload page: ZIP file with a folder fails with temp_dir">
What I did:
1. <step>
2. <step>
What I expected: <...>
What happened: <..., with the exact message>
Environment: <Exponential version, PHP version, web server, database, administration design>
Fresh install? <yes / no>Screenshots help if they show no passwords and no personal data. Say that you are a learner, so people know how much detail to give in answers.
Security problems stay private
If you find a way to see or change what you should not, it is a security problem. It never goes into a public issue,
a forum or a chat. Follow SECURITY.md in the root of the kernel (Security policy); the
advocates' decision table names the address [email protected] and GitHub's private vulnerability reporting
(Which tracker for which report).
After you file it
- Watch the issue and answer questions quickly.
- If someone asks you to test a fix, test it on your study site and say what you saw.
- If you find the cause yourself, you may send the fix (Your first contribution, step by step).
- Note the issue in your study journal and, once resolved, in your portfolio.
Related pages
- When something goes wrong
- Testing and reporting bugs
- Contributing as a student
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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