Bugzilla

All bugs in the MediaWiki software should be reported at bugzilla.wikimedia.org. This is also the place to request new features or enhancements to the software.

Here is a useful link: List open Bugzilla tickets by number of votes

What is Bugzilla?

For more information, see the Wikipedia article on Bugzilla.

Bugzilla is an online bug-tracking tool, developed by the Mozilla Foundation, and is the system we use to track all open issues with MediaWiki.

The reason we use Bugzilla is that it allows the developers to easily find, track and discuss issues, to spot duplicates and ultimately to resolve them.

The Wikimedia Bugzilla site is sometimes referred as Mediazilla.

Reporting a bug

shortcut BUGREPORT

1. Go to bugzilla.wikimedia.org.
2. Use the search box on the main page to see if your bug has already been submitted. You can also perform more advanced searches on the search page.
3. If you are sure that your issue has not already been reported then click enter a new bug in the toolbox on the left. You will be prompted to log in if you have not already done so (see 'Why must I register?', below).
4. Select 'MediaWiki' as the product.
5. Fill in the following boxes (the rest can be left blank):
   • Component (if you don't know, select 'General/Unknown')
   • Summary - a short one-sentence summary of the issue
   • Description - full details of the issue, giving as much detail as possible. Describe only one (1) issue.
6. Click 'Commit'

That's it! For maximum chance of your bug being fixed, you are advised to read the bug writing guidelines first.

See also: How to Report Bugs Effectively by Simon Tatham

Requesting a feature

Before making a feature/enhancement request:

• Consider whether a custom extension would be more appropriate.
• If the request is specific to a Wikimedia wiki, please discuss the issue on that wiki first. Devs will usually ask you for a link showing a community consensus.

Then follow the same directions as above, except you probably need to select 'Wikimedia' instead of 'MediaWiki' as the product.

What syntax can I use?

Bugzilla comments are plain text, you cannot use HTML. However, Bugzilla will automatically make hyperlinks for certain type of text in comments:

• most types of URL, e.g. https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/
• bug 1234
• comment 7
• attachment 4321
• bug 1234 comment 53
• r12345 – link to an SVN revision in Special:Code/MediaWiki (info)
• gerrit change #1234 – link to a Git commit by it's changeset number in Gerrit

  See bugzilla:35144. The current recognized regex is this: gerrit(\ change(set)?)?\ ?\#?(\d+), situation evolving.

MediaWiki-style internal links are also supported, by default they point to English Wikipedia. Some interwiki or project prefixes are supported as well (starting from en.wiki as well), but you cannot specify the text for the link (i.e. the [[link|name]] part is not supported); if an interwiki is not recognized, add a : before it (e.g. [[:MeatBall:Whatever]]); now also non local interwikis will work; longer links may need their own line, otherwise they're broken on two lines and won't work.

Why must I register?

We need you to register in order to use Bugzilla. This is primarily so that we can contact you if there are further questions regarding your bug submission. For example, if a developer is unable to replicate your problem they will ask for more information.

Once logged in, you can change your preferences to specify what kinds of e-mail Bugzilla sends you (with the option of turning off all e-mail). To do this click 'my preferences' in the top right and select the 'email settings' tab.

How do I register?

Registering is free and easy. Simply click the 'create account' link at the top right of the page, enter your e-mail address (and optionally your real name) and click 'create account'. Then simply log in using the password you receive in the confirmation e-mail (which can be changed in your preferences once you have logged in). When logging in enter your email address in the login spot.

How to hide your email address

Please note that (unlike on Wikimedia projects) your email address will be visible on threads you participate in, and on thread CC lists you have added yourself to. It is visible to everyone who is logged in. It is not visible to people who are not logged in. Your email address can not be hidden from logged-in readers. It is possible to create an additional web-based e-mail address, and then set it to forward email to your main email address. This prevents exposure of your main email address. Google Mail (Gmail) allows free email forwarding. One can automatically forward email from one Gmail account to another Gmail account, or to any email account. You can change your email address or name at anytime on Bugzilla. They are then changed in all bug threads you participated in. So if you decide later on to hide your main email address or name you can still do so.

Why can't I report bugs here?

You can. You can also report by writing them in chalk on the pavement. However, if you want a developer to act on it then you need to put it somewhere they are likely to see it, namely Bugzilla.

How do I link to a bug?

If you want to create a link from a page on MediaWiki.org to a Bugzilla bug, use [[bugzilla:XXX]], where XXX is the bug number you want to link to. For example [[bugzilla:4198]] will result in the following output: bugzilla:4198.

What do the priority and severity fields mean?

See Bugmeister/Bugzilla#Priority and Bugmeister/Bugzilla#Severity.

What does the Status field mean? (NEW, RESOLVED, etc.)

See the field description. NEW is also one of the statuses that an open bug might have.

See also

• Bug management
• Annoying little bugs
• /Products and components – finding the right product/component when filing a bug report.
• /Fields – how to fill out different fields in a bug report.
• wikibugs-l – mailing list to follow Bugzilla updates.
• MediaWiki IRC channel is automatically updated with every change to Bugzilla, as well.
• A bug's life cycle – how the Status and Resolution fields should work.
• Bugzilla on Strategic Planning wiki.
• Useful searches to find code patches to review - PLEASE ADD LINK HERE