Bugzilla:FAQ:Managerial Questions: Difference between revisions

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=[[Bugzilla:FAQ:Managerial_Questions|Managerial Questions]]=
See [[Bugzilla:FAQ#Managerial_Questions]].
==Is it possible to delete bug reports?==
Yes. You have to turn on the 'allowbugdeletion' parameter, which is off by default. Note that you cannot delete bug reports one by one. You have to move them in a product or component, e.g. named "Trash", and then delete this product or component. The reason we make it hard is that you generally don't want to do that.
 
==Is Bugzilla web-based, or do you have to have specific software or a specific operating system on your machine?==
It is web and e-mail based.
 
==Does Bugzilla allow us to define our own priorities and levels? Do we have complete freedom to change the labels of fields and format of them, and the choice of acceptable values?==
Yes. You can edit the values of hardcoded fields but not their label. Since Bugzilla 3.0, you can even edit the list of valid resolutions and since Bugzilla 3.2, the list of legal bug statuses and transitions among them.
 
Moreover, Bugzilla 3.0 and newer allow you to add custom fields to Bugzilla from the UI. You can follow development of this feature in [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=91037 bug 91037]
 
==Does Bugzilla provide any reporting features, metrics, graphs, etc? You know, the type of stuff that management likes to see. :)==
Yes. Look at http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/report.cgi
for samples of what Bugzilla can do in reporting and graphing.
Fuller documentation is provided in [http://www.bugzilla.org/docs/tip/html/reporting.html Section 6.11].
 
If you can not get the reports you want from the included reporting scripts,
it is possible to hook up a professional reporting package
such as Crystal Reports using ODBC.
If you choose to do this, beware that giving direct access to the database]
does contain some security implications.
Even if you give read-only access to the bugs database
it will bypass the secure bugs features of Bugzilla.
 
==Is there email notification? If so, what do you see when you get an email?==
Email notification is user-configurable.
By default,
the bug id and summary of the bug report accompany each email notification,
along with a list of the changes made.
 
==Do users have to have any particular type of email application?==
Bugzilla email is sent in plain text,
the most compatible mail format on the planet.
 
:If you decide to use the bugzilla_email integration features to allow Bugzilla to record responses to mail with the associated bug, you may need to caution your users to set their mailer to "respond to messages in the format in which they were sent".
:For security reasons Bugzilla ignores HTML tags in comments, and if a user sends HTML-based email into Bugzilla the resulting comment looks downright awful.
 
==Does Bugzilla allow data to be imported and exported? If I had outsiders write up a bug report using a MS Word bug template, could that template be imported into "matching"  fields? If I wanted to take the results of a query and export that data to MS Excel, could I do that?==
Bugzilla can output buglists as HTML (the default), CSV or RDF.
The link for CSV can be found at the bottom of the buglist in HTML format.
This CSV format can easily be imported into MS Excel or other spreadsheet applications.
 
To use the RDF format of the buglist it is necessary to append a &ctype=rdf to the URL.
RDF is meant to be machine readable and thus it is assumed that
the URL would be generated programmatically so there is no user visible link
to this format.
 
Currently the only script included with Bugzilla that can import data is
importxml.pl which is intended to be used for importing the data
generated by the XML ctype of show_bug.cgi in association with bug moving.
Any other use is left as an exercise for the user.
 
There are also scripts included in the contrib/ directory for using e-mail
to import information into Bugzilla,
but these scripts are not currently supported and included for educational purposes.
 
==Has anyone converted Bugzilla to another language to be used in other countries? Is it localizable?==
Yes, Bugzilla is fully localizable. For more information including available translated templates, see http://www.bugzilla.org/download.html#localizations. At this point, Bugzilla 3.0 is available in 8 different languages, and Bugzilla 3.2 in 5 languages.
 
==Can a user create and save reports? Can they do this in Word format? Excel format?==
Yes. No. Yes (using the CSV format).
 
==Are there any backup features provided?==
You should use the commands included with your database software to run the backups of your Bugzilla data.
You can find strategies for dealing with backup considerations at
http://www.mysql.com/doc/B/a/Backup.html for MySQL and at
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.0/static/backup.html for PostgreSQL.
 
==What type of human resources are needed to be on staff to install and maintain Bugzilla? Specifically, what type of skills does the person need to have? I need to find out what types of individuals would we need to hire and how much would that cost if we were to go with Bugzilla vs. buying an "out-of-the-box"  solution.==
If Bugzilla is set up correctly from the start,
continuing maintenance needs are minimal and can be done easily
using the web interface.
 
Commercial Bug-tracking software typically costs somewhere upwards of $20,000
or more for 5-10 floating licenses.
Bugzilla consultation is available from skilled members of the newsgroup.
Simple questions are answered there and then.
 
==What time frame are we looking at if we decide to hire people to install and maintain the Bugzilla? Is this something that takes hours or days to install and a couple of hours per week to maintain and customize, or is this a multi-week install process, plus a full time job for 1 person, 2 people, etc?==
It all depends on your level of commitment.
Someone with much Bugzilla experience can get you up and running
in less than a day, and your Bugzilla install can run untended for years.
If your Bugzilla strategy is critical to your business workflow,
hire somebody to who has reasonable Perl skills,
and a familiarity with the operating system on which Bugzilla will be running,
and have them handle your process management, bug-tracking maintenance,
and local customization.
 
==Is there any licensing fee or other fees for using Bugzilla? Any out-of-pocket cost other than the bodies needed as identified above?==
No.
Bugzilla, Perl, the Template Toolkit, and all other support software
needed to make Bugzilla work can be downloaded for free.
MySQL and PostgreSQL -- databases supported by Bugzilla -- are also open-source,
but they ask that if you find their product valuable, you purchase a support contract from them that suits your needs.
 
==We don't like referring to problems as 'bugs'. Can we change that?==
Yes!
As of Bugzilla 2.18, it is a simple matter to change the word 'bug'
into whatever word/phrase is used by your organization.
See the documentation on Customization for more details, specifically
[http://www.bugzilla.org/docs/tip/html/cust-templates.html#template-specific Section 5.1.5].
 
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Latest revision as of 13:25, 19 March 2010

See Bugzilla:FAQ#Managerial_Questions.

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