User:Ctalbert:Filing A Bug

You Found A Bug!

So, you've found a bug in a Mozilla product and you want to report it? Awesome! We rely on every day folks like you to help us discover bugs so that we can get them fixed. Our bug system can be a little daunting, so this guide will help you get all the right information in the bug so that it gets addressed properly.

Step 1: Do you have a question?

If you have a general question that you want someone to help you resolve, then perhaps you should try contacting our support team. They can help you much more easily and it will keep the bug system from getting crowded with support requests. An example question is: "Every site I visit says that it cannot be found, why isn't Firefox working?" If the problem is ubiquitous and traumatic like this, chances are good that it is local to your installation and is therefore something you should ask the support team before filing a bug.

Step 2: Marshall Your Data...

So you don't have a general question, and you are certain you have a real bug. Grab a pen and paper because now you'll need to take some notes. Write down all the steps you do as we go through the remaining actions.

We need to understand what type of bug you are witnessing. Did the software crash or did it simply do something unexpected? Is it rendering something poorly or incorrectly? Is some piece of functionality not working properly? Write it down. Write down what you did before it started to occur -- write it down as though you were explaining it to someone by telephone.

I use a bunch of add-ons, sometimes they can cause odd things to happen. Let's make sure that add-ons aren't the culprit. Start the application in safe mode (sumo link) and see if the problem goes away. If the problem goes away, note that. If the problem persists, note that. If the steps change to make the bug happen, note that too.

TODO: If we had a one-click "disable all extensions" ability (perhaps an extension that does this?) then this would be trivially easy for people to do, and I'd trust a bug that recurs with extensions disabled more so than safe mode since safe mode turns off a whole host of other things AIUI)

If the bug is a crash bug in Firefox (TODO: does seamonkey or thunderbird have a way to get to these pages?) then you also need to direct the "Awesome Bar" of the browser to the URL: about:crashes. This will show a page with the crash report identifiers. Copying those identifiers down is necessary, because we will need to report those in the next steps.

Step 3: Finding a Home For The Bug...

Let's go to Bugzilla. I'll assume you already have created an account since you got this far. If not create one now, it only takes a minute.

Click on "New". You'll see a list of products that you can file your bug against. We have to pick the best home for your bug so that the right developers will see it and fix it. Mozilla software is built like a layer cake. Each product shares the same set of basic layers, so we must make an educated guess at which layer the problem lies in.

If the bug happens in functionality specific to your application then click on that application. For instance, if you are using Thunderbird, and it cannot copy a message to a specific folder, or if you are using Firefox and it cannot bookmark a site properly, then click on those specific products.

If the problem is more subtle--if the product does not print properly, if the product displays a page incorrectly, then click on "Core" as your issue is probably in the base layer that all the products share.

Try to pick the best product that matches your issue. We can change it later if it is wrong, so don't overly stress about it.

Step 4: Use Those Notes!

Once you click a product, you will see a screen with lots of information to fill in. First, scroll down to the "Component" selection box. Check the list and see if any of the component definitions match your issue. If not, you may need to go back to the "Product selection" page above and try a different area.

If you find a component that fits your needs, or if the general component seems right, then peruse the list at the top of the page and see if your bug or a similar bug is already filed. If it is, then click on that bug, and add all your notes in a new comment on that bug.

If it is not filed, then scroll back down to the text boxes below the "Component" selector. Follow the instructions to find the build identifier (if it isn't already entered). If the issue is specific to a certain website, include the URL of the website in the URL field.

Now, we rely on your notes. Write down a good description of the problem for the summary field. Once you do that, use the details field to write down all the information about the problem that we collected - what happened, whether or not the problem occurred when you ran it in safe mode. If your bug is a crash bug, be sure to include the crash identifiers from the "about:crashes" page if that is applicable to you.

In the "Steps to Reproduce" field, write down all the steps you followed to make the problem happen. In the "Actual Results" field, write down what the software actually did; be as detailed as possible even though this is a little repetitive. And likewise, in the "Expected Results" field, write down what you believe should have happened in great detail once more.

When writing these, the more detail the better. That's why we ask three times. Be sure to try hard and remember all the steps and behaviors you saw, even ones that seemed small or unimportant. Remember too to be polite. Most bug triage is done by volunteers, and they are working hard to make the product you use the best it can be.

If there is any additional information you feel should be included -- perhaps you were also running another intensive software application at the same time or something of that nature -- please include that in "Additional Information".

Once you are done, click "Submit".

Step 5: What Next?

And now, in most cases, we wait. The bug will be analyzed by the bug triage team who will attempt to follow the steps you reported in the bug to recreate the issue. If they cannot recreate the problem, then they will post a comment to the bug asking you for more information. Those comments will be delivered to the email address that you registered with Bugzilla. The triage teams will also determine if this might be a side effect of some other issue that people are already working on.

Thanks very much for your bug report and for making Mozilla Software better. We appreciate your contribution.