Bug Reports

Bug reporting is a very important part of any open source project. This allows the user to submit errors that they find in the software to the developers and thereby aid the developers in improving the software.

There are a few rules to bug reporting, however, in order to make it easier for both the users and the developers to keep track of the bugs and not run after duplicate or fixed bugs.

1. Turn off Windows Error Reporting:
   See this About.com article on how to disable Windows' Error Reporting. It's absolutely useless, doesn't tell you the exact error that occurred, and makes debugging difficult for the developers.
2. Make sure your bug is repeatable:
   Try to reproduce your bug about 3 times before going any further.
   
3. Go to the correct forum:
   The bug reports forum is the correct forum to go to. In the bug reports forum there is usually one sticky topic (a topic that remains at the top of the list) for the bug reports of the latest release of openlp.org.
4. Look to see if it has already been reported:
   Look through that topic, and any other topics that people have posted, to see if your bug has already been reported. Only once you are sure it hasn't been reported yet should you report it yourself.
5. List your system's specifications:
   Make sure you list your computer's specifications, including the versions of the programs you're using, etc. For example:
   PC, Pentium 4, 512M RAM, ATI Dualhead
   Windows XP Service pack 2, openlp.org 1.0 RC1, PowerPoint XP
6. Explain the bug in full detail:
   List all the steps up to the bug. Mention everything you did to recreate the bug. Include the full text of any error messages you get (even if you don't understand them, we do).
7. Follow up:
   Check the forums, check the developers blogs, check the project page. The developers will see the bug reports, add them to the task list on the project page, and work on the bugs. Once they have fixed the bugs, they will list the task as complete.