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[termitehead]

Now that we're back in the mode of having a new release fairly frequently we need to set a few guidelines on how to post a bug report to make it easier for Toady to fix things.

Here's the things definitely needed:

1) VERSION NUMBER!!  This is the MOST IMPORTANT.  As I was looking at the bug forum and the recent dev news, I realized that it's pretty difficult for Toady to discern which bugs were new vs old.  Posting date doesn't count cause people may be using older versions.

2) Screenshots or movies can explain things a lot better than simple text.  If it is possible to see it, please let others see it as well.  PLEASE NOTE:  the PRINTSCREEN key is great and all, but we don't need to see your whole desktop, and frankly it sucks to remove everything but the DF window (if it is windowed of course) in your favorite image editor.  ALT+PRINTSCREEN will take a screenshot of the currently focused window only!

3) Is it repeatable?  I know having a crash sucks, but this is an ALPHA after all.  So if you get a bug, don't be discouraged and try to get it to happen again.  If you get into the mode of doing this, even bug-hunting can be worthwhile since you know you're helping the community.  As a side-note, be on the lookout for odd things too!

4) And finally, if you could provide a short text description in addition to a picture, definitely do so!  Although pics are great, sometimes it's also easier to talk about what you were doing at the time of the bug:  events leading up to it and such.

Also, some things to consider:

1) Whether you are using any mods, or not.  If you start having problems, try removing any mods (even graphics) before posting a bug.  Most modders already know this, but it needs to be repeated.  DF is very mod-friendly, so by all means, mod the **** out of it.  But if you start to have problems afterwards, see if it is the mod's problem and report it to the mod's writer.

2) Did you do a clean install?  If not, try removing your data folders and generating a new world.

3) Are you using a pre-generated world?  If so, did the original owner use any mods?  Also, remember that version changes may invalidate pre-generated worlds.

4) Did you check the list of already reported bugs?  If so, does it say the bug is repeatable?  If you can find a way to make it repeatable, let us know!

This is just my opinion on what is needed for a bug report.  If you can think of anything else that is important, feel free to add to this list.

[Turgid Bolk]

Addendum to 4). The list of reported bugs is here: http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_bugs.html

BUT I'm not sure how often Toady updates it, so please search the bug report forum for similiar problems before making a new topic.

[Toady One]

Yeah, I've got a truckload of bugs to update in that list from these reports, and even a few from testing (which have also made the reports mostly), so for now, checking both the list and the forums will be necessary.

[Jaqie Fox]

Toady, how about running trac? http://trac.edgewall.org/  it's hands down the best bug tracking system available and runs perfect in a little xAMP (x OS, apache, mysql, php) computer sitting in a corner, even an old ~P100 laptop can run it fine.... would be perfect for these bugs, ne?

[0x517A5D]

Bump, because this is important and people are ignoring it.  Everyone, please follow the steps outlined in the original post.

I also would like a bug tracker, and would invest time into maintainance, triage, and so on.  But I don't want to host it.

I've never heard of Trac before, but the feature list looks good and it appears on first glance to be easier to install than Bugzilla.

0x517A5D

[Toady One]

I don't understand how it works -- you mentioned having to have another computer running or something?  I'm not a computer person, and I'm not interested in maintaining something like that.  I'm also hesistant to turn my bug reports into a wiki or rely on third parties for something like this.

If I change systems, I'll need to something that works without additional hardware, doesn't allow people to change anything I change myself and doesn't allow people to remove information that's been posted by other people.  A forum in conjunction with my own online bug list does this, but it lacks header-type information for reports, it's difficult to search (especially this forum), and there's a bit more work to maintain it.  I also like my bug list colors and counts, as a personal motivator.

[termitehead]

Shameless bump with some praise -

Looks like a few of you are posting relevant info in your bug threads.  Keep up the good work!  Don't forget that we do this so Toady can keep all this info straight and release newer versions a tad bit faster!  The less time he has to spend figuring out a problem's cause, the more time he can spend on fixing the actual problem!

Also, Toady Rocks.

[Walker]

If I may add another addendum to this:

If you are unsure if something is a bug or a feature please ask in another forum such as the Fortress or Adventure mode forums for more info before posting your 'bug'.  A good rule of thumb is that if you have to ask yourself whether something 'is this a bug or a feature?' or if you have to ask 'am I doing something wrong? ' then you should ask for further advice before posting a bug.

Below are a couple examples of this kind of posts:

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4