Bug Description
The Short subject for the bug report section will be used as the "Subject" header of the emailed bug report, which will turn into a "Summary" line in Bugzilla. Good subject lines are specific and do not just say "Bug" or "It crashed". "Crash when I try to save" or "Forgets my preferences" are much better. Hackers will read these summaries when looking for something they can fix, and clear one-sentence summaries will catch their attention. You must fill this in. If you do not, Bug Buddy will tell you to.
 | Something You Don't Need to Include |
|---|---|
One thing you do not need to include is the package name, because you are going to select that next. |
The Full description of the bug section is where you describe what you did, what happened, and what you expected to happen. You must fill this in, too, or Bug Buddy will tell you to. Good things to include:
Exact copies of any error messages;
Your window manager name and version (especially if the bug involves moving things around the screen or mouse focus problems);
If you can make it happen in one way, and not in another way, include that. If there are two ways to do something (a menu selection and a typed command, for example), and only one triggers the bug, definitely include that;
Why you think it is a bug. What should have happened instead? Whilst this is obvious for some things, ("It shouldn't crash when I try to save the file") it is not obvious for others. Give a better way for the program to behave. ("If it can't save the file, it should tell me so that I don't keep editing it without realising I am wasting my effort".)
Sometimes screenshots can help demonstrate bugs. Please do not send one in a Bug Buddy report! But if you have one, mention that you have it, so that a bug-fixer who would like to see it can email you about it.
If you have any suggestions on what caused it or how to fix it, wonderful. If not, don't worry. Just explain what happened. If a developer needs more information, s/he can mail you back for it.
If you have a (short!) text-file which contains information of use you can include it here, too. If you have a small HTML file which crashes your editor, or two sets of options for a program where one works and the other doesn't, these are the sort of things to include here. Just put the name of the file into the Include a text file box at the bottom.