Bug and Issue Tracking, Connected to Delivery

01Defect record

• Title, summary, and steps

  Every defect carries a title, a short summary, and a full description of how to reproduce it.

• Severity and priority kept apart

  How damaging a defect is and how soon it should be fixed are two separate fields, so triage stays honest.

• Reporter, assignee, and owner

  Three separate people on the record, so who found it, who is fixing it, and who owns it are never confused.

• A due date and four estimates

  A due date, plus original and remaining estimates kept separately for development and for QA.

• Environment, component, and impacted area

  Record where the fault appeared, which component it sits in, and what else it touches.

• An automatic defect number

  Each defect gets its own running number, so people can refer to it in a conversation.

• Labels

  Tag a defect with as many labels as you need and filter the list on them.

• A corrective action note

  Write down what was actually done about it, kept separate from the description of the fault.

02Classification

• Severity, issue type, and category

  Three separate lists that say how bad it is, what kind of defect it is, and which area it belongs to.

• Phase, origin, and root cause

  Record where the defect was introduced, where it came from, and what actually caused it.

• Resolution and activity type

  Close a defect with a reason from your own resolution list, and record the activity that produced it.

• Fixed and affected versions

  Say which version the defect affects and which version the fix lands in.

• Every list is yours to edit

  Add, rename, and remove entries in all ten lists, with a separate permission controlling who may.

03Workflow

• Your own defect statuses

  Defects follow the custom status groups you define rather than a fixed set nobody can change.

• Reopen a closed defect

  A fault that comes back is reopened on the same record instead of being logged all over again.

• Control which moves are allowed

  The Self-Hosted edition lets you define which status can follow which, and demand a resolution before anything closes.

• Response targets by severity

  In the Self-Hosted edition each severity carries a target time, and the list shows how long is left or how far past it you are.

• Reopen count and closing times

  The Self-Hosted edition records how often a defect was reopened and exactly when it was resolved and closed.

04Traceability

• Link a defect to a task

  A defect points at the task it came from, and you can search for and link several tasks at once.

• Raise it from a test case or a step

  A failing test case, or one individual step inside it, can raise the defect and the link is kept.

• Attach it to an epic or a feature

  Defects can sit under the epic or feature they belong to, not only under a single task.

• Pull defects onto the sprint board

  Switch defect planning on and defects appear in the backlog and sprint board next to your stories.

• Link one defect to another

  The Self-Hosted edition records that a defect duplicates, relates to, blocks, or is blocked by another.

• Merge duplicates

  Close a defect as a duplicate of another in one action, in the Self-Hosted edition.

• File a defect from another system

  The Self-Hosted edition exposes a token authenticated endpoint so another tool can raise a defect directly.

05Working the list

• Filter on the fields that matter

  Narrow by issue type, severity, phase, category, status, assignee, owner, reporter, activity type, linked task, or due date.

• Sort and group it

  Sort by any column, and group the list by status, severity, phase, root cause, fix version, or date.

• Twenty three columns you can toggle

  Choose exactly which columns the defect list shows, and your choice is remembered next time.

• Search by text

  Type a word and the list narrows to the defects whose title or detail matches it.

• Saved views

  The Self-Hosted edition lets you save a set of filters and keep it private or share it with the team.

• A board as well as a list

  The Self-Hosted edition adds a board where you drag a defect between status columns.

• Change many at once

  The Self-Hosted edition lets you set severity, priority, status, assignee, or resolution across a selection.

06Evidence

• Screenshots, logs, and files

  Attach whatever the developer needs to reproduce the fault, and remove anything that turns out to be wrong.

• Replies on the defect

  Discussion happens on the record itself, so the history of a defect includes what people said about it.

• The assignee is emailed

  When a defect raised from testing is assigned, the new owner gets an email with the detail.

• Watch a defect

  The Self-Hosted edition lets you follow a defect you did not report and be told when it moves.

• Every field change is kept

  The Self-Hosted edition records each field change with the person who made it and the time.

• Announce it in Slack

  The Self-Hosted edition can post new defects and status changes into a Slack channel.

07Reporting

• A defect trend over time

  See how defect volume moves across a date range, bucketed the way you choose.

• Breakdown by status

  See how many defects are sitting in each status right now.

• Breakdown by severity

  See the split across severities, so you can tell whether the serious ones are being cleared.

• Export the list

  Export the whole defect list, or only the rows you ticked, to a spreadsheet.

08Access

• Four separate bug permissions

  Separate rights to view your defects, view everyone's, edit the lookup lists, and open the reports.

• Members see their own scope

  A member without the view all right sees only the defects they are involved in, while owners and admins see everything.

• A permission set of its own

  The newer Self-Hosted test and defect module carries seventeen permissions of its own, including separate rights to create, edit, and delete defects.