Searching and Submitting Firefox Bugs

in #mozilla7 years ago

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The Bugzilla site


(http://bugzilla.mozilla.org) is the core management center for tracking and communicating bugs and requests for enhancements (RFEs), and to check on the latest development efforts for future releases. Your first visit to Bugzilla might be a little daunting, but, as you read this book, you should be able to understand and maybe even help with issues in the currently released builds by searching and submitting your findings and bugs to the Bugzilla site. Though registration is not required for searching, you should register and get a Bugzilla user account to help communicate bugs and workarounds and to receive patch status on bug reports you submit. The key thing to remember when submitting a bug is that you should thoroughly search the Bugzilla database using different permutations of keywords that can describe your problems. For example, suppose this was the issue at hand: “My browser crashed during an online SSL secure transaction at MyRustyRedChevyTruck.biz.” Before submitting a bug, do some digging, check to see if it is a bug with any secure site or just the one you had a problem with. Once you have deduced whether it involves all secure web sites or just this site, you can go into the Bugzilla database. You can search to see whether this is a known bug, if a future major release includes the fix, or if there is a workaround.

The initial search that you should do would be for “MyRustyRedChevyTruck.biz.” If this search does not bring back any results, do additional searches for “SSL crash” or “browser crash secure site.” Each permutation of searches you do will help in removing duplicate bug reports, which, in the end, will reduce overhead in managing, categorizing, and tracking bugs. If, after thorough researching, you conclude that yours is a unique bug, go ahead and submit a new bug by selecting the correct form entries on the Bugzilla site. Pay close attention when classifying your submission, as doing so will expedite your request and remove the categorization burden from the developers. If you are confused about classifying the bug, just do your best; the category owners will sort it into the correct bucket. After submitting a bug, you will receive communication from the Mozilla team and possibly other users who will confirm or resolve the issue. If your submitted bug is a legitimate bug, it will be queued for further testing and troubleshooting.