How to File a JIRA
There are several reasons why you would want to file a JIRA:
- To request a new feature
- To request an improvement
- To report a bug
- To request support
Creating an account
In order to do anything except view Firestorm issues, you will need an account on JIRA. Creating an account is very easy. Start by going to the Sign Up page and enter the following information:
- Username - This can be anything, but we prefer that it be your SL username. Don't use spaces, but you can use a period to separate words, such as beta.tester. This is what you will use to log into JIRA.
- Password - This needs to be at least 8 characters in length, and shouldn't be the same as any other password you use.
- Confirm Password - Type in your password again
- Full Name - This should be your full SL name. If your username was beta.tester, your full name would be Beta Tester. This is what everyone will see when you create a JIRA or comment on one, so do not use your real name.
- Email - Enter a valid email address. JIRA can send you emails when someone comments on your JIRA or on issues you've “watched”.
Click Sign up and you're all set. If JIRA complains, fix the entries it complains about and then click Sign up again.
Click here for the JIRA Sign-up page.
Creating an Issue
No matter what kind of issue you want to create, the process is nearly identical and starts with going to the JIRA Dashboard and clicking the Create Issue link near the top of the page (every page), on the right side of the red menu line. If you don't see that there, you need to log in - click Log In at the top right, enter your username and password and then click Log In.
Clicking Create Issue opens a small box with Project and Issue Type selections. There are a lot of choices, here's a list of the most common:
- Requesting a new feature
- Set the Project to Firestorm 1) and the Issue Type to New Feature.
- Requesting an improvement to existing code
- Set the Project to Firestorm 2) and the Issue Type to Improvement.
- Reporting a bug
- Set the Project to Firestorm and the Issue Type to Bug.
- Requesting Support
- Set the Project to Support and the Issue Type to Support Request.
Then click Create. This will bring up the Create Issue page. From here the fields and the information that goes in them are the same regardless of what type of issue you want to create.
- Summary - Enter a brief overview of the problem. You don't have to put everything here, just a few words to summarize the issue.
- Priority - By default this is set to Major, and it can remain that way. If you are reporting an issue that is preventing you from logging on at all with any of our viewers, you can choose Blocker. But if you spotted a typographical error, that's probably something minor or even trivial. If you put in the wrong priority, don't worry, we'll work with you as needed to set it correctly.
- SL Avatar Name - Set this to the name of the avatar that is affected.
- Patch Attached - If you're submitting a patch that would add a new feature, improve on an existing one or correct a bug of some kind, check this box. Otherwise, leave it unchecked.
- Reported In - Select the viewer that you're using. This can either be the one with the problem or some other version.
- Affects Versions - Here you would want to identify all the versions that you know are affected. For example, if you have a problem that shows up in every one of our Release versions of Firestorm, you would want to list them all. If you don't know, then list only the version you're using.
- Environment - This is very important for Support requests and bug reports. We need to know what your system looks like to the viewer. To get this information, open the viewer, click on the Help menu and select About, and then click Copy to Clipboard. Then click into the Environment field in the JIRA page, right-click and choose Paste (or press Ctrl-V).
Note here that if you're creating anything other than a Support request, this information is visible to everyone. You can delete your location details if you wish. - Description - Here is where you want to put as many details as you can about the issue. If you're reporting a bug, or if you have a problem that you can reproduce consistently, you want to include the steps you take to reproduce that. Also include details such as whether this affects only one avatar, whether it happens on more than one computer (we'd like system information for each computer in that case) and so on. If you get error messages, be sure to write the exact message (as closely as possible).
- Attachment - Add files that you have that can help further explain the issue, such as images or videos, use the Browse button to add them. Remember that the maximum file size is 10MB, and images must be either JPG or PNG.
How To Give Us Your Logs
Another very useful bit of information is your viewer logs. These can sometimes be very helpful in finding the root cause of a problem and crafting a solution. Logs should be collected after having logged out - or after a crash if that is your issue - and before restarting the viewer. If you log in again then the logs won't have any of the clues needed.
NOTE: Please do this, even if you have crash logging enabled. It saves an enormous amount of time.
In its default location, the logs folder is hidden on most systems. To find it, you will need to show hidden folders. The logs folders is in:
| Firestorm 32-bit | |
| Windows Vista, 7, 8.1 and 10 | C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Firestorm (or use the environment variable %APPDATA%) |
| Mac | /Users/[YOUR USERNAME]/Library/Application Support/Firestorm/ |
| linux | ~/.firestorm/ |
| Firestorm 64-bit | |
| Windows Vista, 7, 8.1 and 10 | C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Firestorm_x64 (or use the environment variable %APPDATA%) |
| Mac | /Users/[YOUR USERNAME]/Library/Application Support/Firestorm/ |
| linux | ~/.firestorm_x64/ |
Compress all the files in that folder:
- Windows: Right-click on the folder and choose Send To > Compressed zip file
- Linux Gnome: Right-click on the folder and choose Compress
- Linux shell: tar -cjvf “Viewer_logs.tar.bz2” ./logs/
- Mac: Hold Shift while highlighting the contents of the folder and then Ctrl-click and choose Compress Items
You may want to move this compressed file to your Desktop.
To attach logs to an issue filed earlier, go to More Actions → Attach Files. Then click Select Files button, locate your compressed file (on your Desktop if you moved it there) and then click Open or OK. You may optionally add a comment at the same time. Finally, click Attach
Now that you have all fields filled, out go back and check to make sure you haven't left anything out and made all the selections needed. Once you are done checking it over click the Create button. If after double checking your ticket you decide not to file the ticket just click the Cancel button.
Working in your Issue
Once the JIRA has been created you'll be shown the issue number. It will be in the form of the project abbreviation, like SUP or FIRE, and a number (example: FIRE-1234). Only you and team members can view your own SUP issues.
You'll also get an email when someone comments, when something is attached or when some other action takes place. Click the link in the email, it looks just like the issue number you got initially, and comment in the issue itself. Do not reply to the email, it will not work.
If you don't get any emails, they could be filtered as spam or the email address you supplied is incorrect. You can confirm your email by going to your profile and then clicking the little edit pencil along the Details line.
Further reading: How to Report Bugs Effectively