Last modified: 2008-10-20 23:16:13 UTC
I had to go ask for help on how to submit a feature request(not a bug report) in the IRC channel. The interface is quite confusing and intimidating.
What do you suggest instead?
The simplest way is to simply write some documentation on how to use the form. I don't really understand what half of the form does, simpler english would help. Somthing like "Feature request" instead of "enhancement" and such. I also felt it was odd to have feature request and bug reporting using the same form.
Well, if you aren't sure what something means, you're supposed to follow the links to the explanatory pages that list the meaning of the option. But granted, it's still very confusing how feature requests are called bugs. It might be a good idea to tweak the interface to replace "bug" with "bug report or feature request", or just "request", where appropriate. If we assume newbies are only going to be searching and filing bugs, not doing anything fancy like entering bug numbers to go directly to, then just replacing "Search bugs" with "Search requests" and "Enter a new bug" with "Report a bug/request a feature" should be okay. And add a note at the top of the submission field saying something like "If you don't understand an option, don't worry, just ignore it".
This is a usability issue with Bugzilla. It should be reported upstream (http://www.bugzilla.org/developers/reporting_bugs.html).
