How to report bugs effectively

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guest2013-1

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HavocXphere said:
Step 1: Don't hit users with a wall of text...tl;dr
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There's little bold text highlighting some points. If you actually just read the first line of it it would've made sense. Do you go "tl;dr" when you open a book for the first time? Because that "wall of text" also needs to be read somehow. Laziness pays off now... but it doesn't help anyone in future ;)
 
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HavocXphere

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AcidRaZor said:
There's little bold text highlighting some points. If you actually just read the first line of it it would've made sense.
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I've read something very similar on a linux dev board.;)

AcidRaZor said:
Do you go "tl;dr" when you open a book for the first time?
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If I don't expect to gain much from the time invested then yes I do.

AcidRaZor said:
Because that "wall of text" also needs to be read somehow. Laziness pays off now... but it doesn't help anyone in future ;)
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The target audience of such an education campaign/blog post is 100% unreachable via wall of text. One *might* have some lucky with 10 bullet points on a good day.

No users will invest 10min of his time learning something that doesn't interest him/her to help the developer. Sucks, but true.:eek:

Realistically the only people reading it will be people who either already know it or be on the wrong side of the equation (I've seen something like this twice: Once on a linux dev board & once of this dev subforum).
 
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Raithlin

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for the tl;dr crowd (too lazy; didn't read)...

  • Check if the bug has been reported already (if possible).
  • Show the programmer how you did it, or
  • Show the programmer how to do it himself.
  • Detailed accounts are helpful. "Then it went wrong" isn't. List error messages (including numbers that make no sense to you).
  • When something goes wrong, immediately stop doing anything. (Don't defrag you computer after deleting all your files by mistake) If you can cancel, do so. Try to replicate the problem.
  • Report the symptoms - not just what you think went wrong. (Programmers, I mean you.)
  • Write clearly. Be specific, verbose, avoid pronouns (it) and read what you wrote. If it's not clear to you, it won't be clear to the programmer.

Finally, from the bottom of the page, a summary. Isn't that something? :twisted:
Summary
  • The first aim of a bug report is to let the programmer see the failure with their own eyes. If you can't be with them to make it fail in front of them, give them detailed instructions so that they can make it fail for themselves.
  • In case the first aim doesn't succeed, and the programmer can't see it failing themselves, the second aim of a bug report is to describe what went wrong. Describe everything in detail. State what you saw, and also state what you expected to see. Write down the error messages, especially if they have numbers in.
  • When your computer does something unexpected, freeze. Do nothing until you're calm, and don't do anything that you think might be dangerous.
  • By all means try to diagnose the fault yourself if you think you can, but if you do, you should still report the symptoms as well.
  • Be ready to provide extra information if the programmer needs it. If they didn't need it, they wouldn't be asking for it. They aren't being deliberately awkward. Have version numbers at your fingertips, because they will probably be needed.
  • Write clearly. Say what you mean, and make sure it can't be misinterpreted.
  • Above all, be precise. Programmers like precision.
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guest2013-1

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BOOOORING.

We want information! WHEN DO WE WANT IT?! NOW! Do we want to read/comprehend and take in the information?! NO! WHEN DO WE WANT IT?! NOW! :rolleyes:

I agree to some extent that normal ****ed up stupid ass idiotic users won't read this and go "Hey, I'll help the dude out by being so informative he'd know exactly whats wrong and can fix it very quickly"... most probably they'd go "Why is it my problem? HE knows PC's...."

And that's why any good programmer can actually decypher ID10T errors... nevermind how cryptic they may be. You have no idea how many times I've heard "And then it gives me some gobble-dee-gook" and I'm like... "okay.... so what does this 'gobble-dee-gook' say?" and they respond with the all too classic "I don't know, I closed it" or "I don't know"

Sometimes I want to yell at them over the phone going "WHERE THE **** DID YOU LEARN TO READ THEN YOU DUMB ****ING EXCUSE OF A LITERATE HUMAN CLAIMING TO BE A MENSA ****ING MEMBER!!!?!?"

But no, I can't, I have to suck it up and go (in a very nice voice) "Just read the English bits and skip the numbers?" to which I then get the correct error message and can finally have an idea to what the **** they're doing so I can fix the damn problem.

But yes, tl;dr. I love how the internet, filled with text, has the same mentality of a 6 year old in school wanting to go play outside and not pay attention in class.
 
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