5.3. Product, Component, Milestone, and Version Administration
Dear Lord, we have to get our users to do WHAT? |
5.3.1. Products
Formerly, and in some spots still, called "Programs"Products are the broadest category in Bugzilla, and you should have the least of these. If your company makes computer games, you should have one product per game, and possibly a few special products (website, meetings...)
A Product (formerly called "Program", and still referred to that way in some portions of the source code) controls some very important functions. The number of "votes" available for users to vote for the most important bugs is set per-product, as is the number of votes required to move a bug automatically from the UNCONFIRMED status to the NEW status. One can close a Product for further bug entry and define various Versions available from the Edit product screen.
To create a new product:
Select "components" from the yellow footer
It may seem counterintuitive to click "components" when you want to edit the properties associated with Products. This is one of a long list of things we want in Bugzilla 3.0...
Select the "Add" link to the right of "Add a new product".
Enter the name of the product and a description. The Description field is free-form.
| Don't worry about the "Closed for bug entry", "Maximum Votes per person", "Maximum votes a person can put on a single bug", "Number of votes a bug in this Product needs to automatically get out of the UNCOMFIRMED state", and "Version" options yet. We'll cover those in a few moments. |
5.3.2. Components
Components are subsections of a Product.
Each component has a owner and (if you turned it on in the parameters), a QA Contact. The owner should be the primary person who fixes bugs in that component. The QA Contact should be the person who will ensure these bugs are completely fixed. The Owner, QA Contact, and Reporter will get email when new bugs are created in this Component and when these bugs change. Default Owner and Default QA Contact fields only dictate the default assignments ; the Owner and QA Contact fields in a bug are otherwise unrelated to the Component.To create a new Component:
Select the "Edit components" link from the "Edit product" page
Select the "Add" link to the right of the "Add a new component" text on the "Select Component" page.
Fill out the "Component" field, a short "Description", and the "Initial Owner". The Component and Description fields are free-form; the "Initial Owner" field must be that of a user ID already existing in the database. If the initial owner does not exist, Bugzilla will refuse to create the component.
Is your "Default Owner" a user who is not yet in the database? No problem.
Select the "Log out" link on the footer of the page.
Select the "New Account" link on the footer of the "Relogin" page
Type in the email address of the default owner you want to create in the "E-mail address" field, and her full name in the "Real name" field, then select the "Submit Query" button.
Now select "Log in" again, type in your login information, and you can modify the product to use the Default Owner information you require.
Either Edit more components or return to the Bugzilla Query Page. To return to the Product you were editing, you must select the Components link as before.
5.3.3. Versions
Versions are the revisions of the product, such as "Flinders 3.1", "Flinders 95", and "Flinders 2000". Using Versions helps you isolate code changes and are an aid in reporting.
To create and edit Versions:
From the "Edit product" screen, select "Edit Versions"
You will notice that the product already has the default version "undefined". If your product doesn't use version numbers, you may want to leave this as it is or edit it so that it is "---". You can then go back to the edit versions page and add new versions to your product.
Otherwise, click the "Add" button to the right of the "Add a new version" text.
Enter the name of the Version. This can be free-form characters up to the limit of the text box. Then select the "Add" button.
At this point you can select "Edit" to edit more Versions, or return to the "Query" page, from which you can navigate back to the product through the "components" link at the foot of the Query page.
5.3.4. Milestones
Milestones are "targets" that you plan to get a bug fixed by. For example, you have a bug that you plan to fix for your 3.0 release, it would be assigned the milestone of 3.0. Or, you have a bug that you plan to fix for 2.8, this would have a milestone of 2.8.
 | Milestone options will only appear for a Product if you turned the "usetargetmilestone" field in the "Edit Parameters" screen "On". |
To create new Milestones, set Default Milestones, and set Milestone URL:
Select "edit milestones"
Select "Add" to the right of the "Add a new milestone" text
Enter the name of the Milestone in the "Milestone" field. You can optionally set the "Sortkey", which is a positive or negative number (-255 to 255) that defines where in the list this particular milestone appears. Select "Add".
If you want to add more milestones, select the "Edit" link. If you don't, well shoot, you have to go back to the "query" page and select "components" again, and make your way back to the Product you were editing.
This is another in the list of unusual user interface decisions that we'd like to get cleaned up. Shouldn't there be a link to the effect of "edit the Product I was editing when I ended up here"? In any case, clicking "components" in the footer takes you back to the "Select product" screen, from which you can begin editing your product again.
From the Edit product screen again (once you've made your way back), enter the URL for a description of what your milestones are for this product in the "Milestone URL" field. It should be of the format "http://www.foo.com/bugzilla/product_milestones.html"
Some common uses of this field include product descriptions, product roadmaps, and of course a simple description of the meaning of each milestone.
If you're using Target Milestones, the "Default Milestone" field must have some kind of entry. If you really don't care if people set coherent Target Milestones, simply leave this at the default, "---". However, controlling and regularly updating the Default Milestone field is a powerful tool when reporting the status of projects.
Select the "Update" button when you are done.