= The Ticket System =

The issue database provides simple but effective tracking of issues and bugs within a project.

As the central project management element of this system, tickets are used for '''bug reports''',  '''feature requests''', '''software support issues''' and '''project tasks'''. 

As with the [wiki:SystemWiki wiki], this subsystem has been designed with the goal of making user contribution and participation as simple as possible. It should be as easy as possible to report bugs, ask questions and suggest improvements.

An issue is assigned to a person who must resolve it or reassign the ticket to someone else.
All tickets can be edited, annotated, assigned, prioritized and discussed at any time.

'''Note:''' To make full use of the ticket system, use it as an ''in bucket'' for ideas and tasks for your project, rather than just bug/fault reporting. 

== Ticket Fields ==

A  ticket contains the following information attributes:
 
 * '''Reporter''' - The author of the ticket.
 * '''Component''' - The project module or subsystem this ticket concerns.
 * '''Version''' - Version of the project that this ticket pertains to.
 * '''Severity''' - What are the effects the issue described? Ranges from an ''enhancement'' request to ''blocker'' (must be fixed before next milestone).
 * '''Priority''' - The importance of is the issue relative to other tasks.
 * '''Milestone''' - When this issue should be resolved at the latest.
 * '''Resolution''' - Reason for why a ticket was closed, such as fixed, invalid, duplicate, etc.
 * '''Keywords''' - Keywords that a ticket is marked with.  Useful for searching and report generation.
 * '''Assigned to''' - Principal person responsible for handling the issue.
 * '''Cc''' - A list of other associated people. ''Note: this does '''not''' imply responsibility or any other policy. 
 * '''Status''' - What is the current status?
 * '''Summary''' - A brief description summarizing the problem or issue.
 * '''Description''' - The body of the ticket. A good description should be '''specific, descriptive and to the point'''.

== Changing and Commenting Tickets ==

Once a ticket has been entered, you can at any time change the
information by '''annotating''' the bug. This means changes and comments to
the ticket are logged as a part of the ticket itself.

When viewing a ticket, this log of changes will appear below the main ticket area.

''In the Trac project, we use ticket comments to discuss issues and
tasks. This makes understanding the motivation behind a design- or implementation choice easier, when returning to it later.''

'''Note:''' An important feature is being able to use SystemLinks and
WikiFormatting in ticket descriptions and comments. Use SystemLinks to refer to
other issues, changesets or files to make your ticket more specific and easier
to understand.

'''Note:''' See SystemNotification for how to configure email notifications of ticket changes.


See also:  SystemGuide, SystemWiki, SystemTicketsCustomFields, SystemNotification