Where To Track Age Issues?

[Robert The Rebuilder]

I don't know if it is in the works, but it would be great to have a bug tracking system here at GoW for entering in feature requests or known issues with the current toolset (GoW plugin, ULM, PlasmaShop/PRPTool, PRPExplorer, etc).

But where do you think it would be appropriate to track any issues in an explorer-created age discovered by the Maintainers? Should it also go in the GoW tracking system, or should the Maintainers have a separate tracking system that is dedicated to age-related issues?

[Chacal]

I see the Maintainers as alpha and beta testers. The dev team is the author of the Age, a writer. hence, GoW should run the tracking system, and GoM should use it.

[andylegate]

We've been doing a pretty good job over at our forum in the inspection threads. We keep each age that's been submitted seperate, and anyone is welcome to post there giving not only a bug report (if needed), but also general comments about the Age, what they thought of it, what they liked or disliked, etc.

But we may not always have the writer that created that Age come over and visit us THERE. So, it might be benificial to somehow cross post over to here too.

Just a thought.

Be prepared though. Some of our Maintainers can be quite.......brutal! But always in a constructive way.

[Robert The Rebuilder]

Yes - the inspection threads over at GoMa's forums are very helpful, and I recommend any writer that wishes to have their age reviewed to make use of those forums.

Although the Maintainers can list the issues in the forums, the nature of a forum isn't suitable for the workflow associated with bugs. Having bug tracking software (such as Trac) allows the age developer to do the following:

- Easily list all the issues
- Search for duplicates
- Prioritize and categorize them
- Assign them (if working on a team)
- Mark them as fixed and ready for verification
- Close them (if fixed) or reopen them (if not fixed correctly)

The Maintainers can also use this resource to find out whether a bug is a known issue before creating a new one.

If we had the bug tracking software over here at GoW, would the Maintainers use it?

And if we had the bug tracking software over there at GoMa, would the Writers use it?

[Trylon]

I think that discussing the relationship between the Writers and Maintainers ("who does what, how, for whom and why") whould be beneficial.
Especially in this context

[andylegate]

You know, I could have sworn that we (the Maintainers) had already started talking about using something like Trac with you guys........can't remember if it was Mustard Jeep, Frisky Badger or Montgomery that started talking to you guys about it.

[Trylon]

I think it may have been in the pre-council period, so it may have been lost in space

Paradox, Kato, any thoughts on the idea of a trac system?
Would it be better to put it here or on the GoMa site.
The same is for ULM, where would it be placed better? Here or at the Maintainers space?
Probably, it is best to keep the main library on the same place as the trac systems, as the two can be linked together.

[Paradox]

Paradox, Kato, any thoughts on the idea of a trac system?
Would it be better to put it here or on the GoMa site.
The same is for ULM, where would it be placed better? Here or at the Maintainers space?
Probably, it is best to keep the main library on the same place as the trac systems, as the two can be linked together.

The issue with Trac is that it requires additional software to be running on the server, and needs shell access and experience to configure. I'm looking into other tracking software that runs on PHP and can integrate with the forum user database.

[Nynaveve]

*poking my nose in here*

Hi guys. So this is a big topic of discussion over at GoMa right now, as we're working on updating the website. The majority of people have agreed a bug tracking system would be better for us to use as opposed to the current forum setup, which is getting tangled and messy with multiple sub-forums and posts.

I looked at Trac as well, as an option for the GoMa, and then thought I'd better poke my nose over here to see if you all had been discussing this. Sure 'nough! I noticed the same issues with Trac as Paradox just pointed out (add'l software, shell access, experience) and I am not sure if I have shell access to the GoMa server, so that would put this option in the grave before it gets started for us. However, it occurred to me that if the GoW is using a tracking program for their own bugs, the Maintainers should probably use a portion of it for their bugs, as well. It keeps everything in one central location, and cuts out the need for Writers who want their Ages reviewed to be bouncing back and forth between places.

Paradox, if Trac doesn't look so tempting, you might consider Bugzilla. Its from Mozilla, so its open source, and it looks far easier to install than Trac appears to be. I have no problems hosting it on the GoMa site, but its totally up to you guys where you want it. I would just prefer to keep things in one location, with one copy of the tracking software, so its easier for all.

[Dot]

Hi there! *Another brutal maintainer pops out the woodwork*

Just to reiterate that we would be happy to work with whatever system is best to help the Guild of Writers.

What's the best way of sorting out possible issues? Here on this forum? Or an in-cavern meeting between Writers and Maintainers? Or what?

PS to Andy: Does your signature need updating?