Hello Steemians and fellow Utopian contributors and welcome to QA nightmare! I was recently introduced to the utopian project, and as a somewhat experienced tester, I have a lot to say about the bug reports I see submitted. Few pointers, if you may.
Please note - I'm new to the community and this is my contribution. I'm not officially affiliated with utopian. These tips reflect what I think would be the best form for bug reports on the utopian platform.
Title should include product name and short description of the bug.
This really irks me to no end. If it was up to me, only titles with the proper formatting would be getting reviewed.
Let's take for example this submission:
https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@olamatto/after-tapping-on-models-that-end-with-stl-app-crashes
" After tapping on models that end with .stl app crashes" – This is a summary of the bug, not a proper title. A proper title should include the product's name and version, preferably at the start of the title. In this example, it would've been
"3D Model Viewer 2.0.1 – App crashes when trying to open .stl model"
Product Name – Succinct description of the bug
This is a good template for titles.
Before posting, check if the issue is not already in repository.
This is just as important as the previous point – If you find bug, go to the "issues" tab in the repository. Search for keyword related to the bug you found. A lot of time, the PO themselves will report on issues, and in that case the bug report you post, will be considered a duplicate and isn't likely to get approved. See this example and the comment by the moderator that followed
https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@nazar115/application-is-corrupted-when-user-sets-profile-photo
Comment directs user to issue on github, which was ironically submitted by the PO himself
https://github.com/zoff99/ToxAndroidRefImpl/issues/47
Check on multiple devices to confirm the bug can be reproduced.
You found a bug. It isn't in the repository. It's significant app breaking issue. You got the perfect title, with the app name and version ready… before hitting "Post", use other devices and try reproducing the problem. You managed to recreate it? Great, it's not just your device. It's a valid issue and you might get rewarded for it.
If you didn't bother to check on multiple devices, ruling out any specific device related issues relevant only to your device, then you really shouldn't argue with people that tell you they can't reproduce it. It's upsetting.
https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@xee-shan/images-having-large-size-are-not-shown-properly-when-opened-through-securephotoviewer
https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@olamatto/after-tapping-on-models-that-end-with-stl-app-crashes
Proofread your work.
See this post
https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@agunchowdhurystm/bug-on-base-n-calculator-mode-in-ncalc
You got a valid bug, it can be reproduced… Now you need to make sure the way you describe it would help the PO fix it. If you can't be understood, what good is your contribution?
I'll admit – this is a valid bug, that I managed to reproduce. But if it wasn't for the video – which I had to watch few times to gather what was done exactly – I would have no idea what the bug report is about. In the entire text, the only critical information is these parts:
" When try to access in Base -N calculator option user should have see blank display."
" when i tried to access in base-N mode i got filled up display by 0123123123123 & in second row it's 123123123123."
and the best part:
" Go to Base-N calculator option & see the bug."
a proper explanation of the steps requires would be:
*launch the app
*open burger/side menu
*open scientific calculator
*open base-n calculator
*open scientific calculator
*open base-n calculator
*the screen will get filled with a pre-defined string.
Is the steps I detailed above seem like something that takes a great intellectual power to come up with? I honestly don't think so. I would even go as far as doing the same list, as translated through google translate:
Don't state the obvious.
Downloading the app before opening it (we assume you did it whether you tell us or not), or typing what browser you used – even though that has nothing to do with the app or it's use. Steps to reproduce the bug should only have parts that are relevant to reproducing the bug. I had to read this few times to make sure I was really stating something so basic, but the sad truth is that almost every bug report I see tell me that in order to reproduce it I have to download it. No shit sherlock.
BTW, that download link, if it's of latest version, can be useful, and you should post it at the beginning of the report, not the middle of it. It should be coupled with the link to the repository IMO.
I try and provide links to offending posts with each point - this is no exception. Problem is, all posts seem to have it. All of them. It's a given that you downloaded the app.
Try and make your findings useful.
There is a trend of reports about problems with UI breaking when the user rotates phone to landscape. Not app crash, just one element in the UI that wasn't optimized for landscape view. IMHO, a PO will either:
Want all of the orientation bugs to be clumped together in single task (or one main and few sub)
OR
Decide landscape is not in scope of development and either ignore or prevent the app from rotating altogether.
If you make multiple reports about multiple instances of rotation breaking app's UI, you're basically creating clutter.
https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@nazar115/the-emoji-feature-does-not-work-when-the-user-changes-the-screen-rotation-to-landscape
https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@nazar115/screen-landscape-rotation-does-not-display-the-apply-feature#comments
https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@nazar115/screen-landscape-rotation-can-not-be-scrolled-down-when-selecting-a-date
Try and concentrate all the rotation bug pertaining to a certain app in a single bug report, one that should be titled something like "App Name, App Version – Instances where rotating the screen orientation makes the UI unusable". If you do that, your efforts might be deemed worthy of compensation,
I am. Not i am. I > i.
And since I'm at this topic, I might as well
Don't use u instead of You, no i instead of I.
You can't assume your video will work, or that the PO will be able to watch it. The video you provide should compliment the text, but it can't completely replace a proper description of the way to reproduce the bug. It starts with using the proper words and letters, and from there we can go to form better sentences.
These are my most basic suggestion for the majority of the bug hunters as far as improving your reports go. QA is way more deep than these pet peeves, and there are many more tools to learn that can help you become better tester.