This is a announcement I know many have been waiting for and we are sneak previewing it here on the labs site. The goal with this application is to make our internal bug list available to you as a partner, from the start you can find EPiServer CMS 5 bugs here but we will probably add more of our products further down the road.

I thought I take some time describing the process behind the bugs and how we work internally at EPiServer. First off we use Microsoft Team Foundation Server as the repository for both source code and work items and all data you see in this application comes directly from that server.

Bugs are normally reported from either the support team(indirectly you) or by members of the development team, a new bug goes into a 'Triage' state when it's first entered. As often as required but normally just once a week the triage team meets to go through any new bugs that may have been reported, this team consist of members from both the support team and the development team. The triage team is responsible for accepting or rejecting new bugs, an example of a rejected bug would be a duplicate or a bug that is actually considered a feature request. When a bug is accepted it is moved into a 'Active' state and given a priority from the highest 1 to the lowest 4, the priority is set based on for example how many that are affected and if there are any workarounds. Whenever a bug is fixed by a member of the development team the bug goes into a 'Resolved' state which means that the test team takes over, using the repro they verify that a bug is actually fixed in a later build of the product and then move the bug into a 'Closed' state which in this buglist application will show up as 'Fixed'. All other states are just shown as 'Open' to simplify things.

So, hopefully this little intro will give some understanding on what is happening in the background. To be able to access the bug list you must have a registered account with partner access on www.episerver.com, then log into the bug list here.

FAQ

Q: How do I report a bug ?
A: Make sure you have good repro of the bug and write down how your setup looks like, then contact support.

Q: What if I don't agree with your priority?
A: Write down the bug ID and why you don't agree (for example how you are affected by the bug) and then contact our support, this new information can be used by the triage team to re-evaluate the priority.

Q: What if I can't find a bug I previously reported ?
A: For a bug to show up it must have gone through a triage meeting and accepted as a bug, and it must also be marked public, so give it some time. It may also be that the bug was rejected for some reason. There are also bugs that when investigated further it's actually a completely different problem that is causing the bug that you reported.

Q: Are there more bugs in your system that we cannot see ?
A: Yes, but not because we have anything to hide from you. There are some bugs for example that cannot be found in public releases so it makes no sense for us to publish it, it would just confuse things.

Q: Is the priority related in some way to severity ?
A: Remotly, it is actually just another input to set the correct priority, a low severity can resolve in a high priority because it's in a central part of EPiServer CMS.

Q: What if I know more repro scenarios or want to contribute to a bug in some other way ?
A: The forum is always a good starting point but you can always contact our support with feedback.

Q: I can't login, what should I do?
A: Make sure you can login to episerver.com and have partner access, more information can be found on the knowledge center.