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| -rw-r--r-- | doc/examples/softwaresite.mdwn | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/tips.mdwn | 8 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/tips/issue_tracking.mdwn | 229 |
3 files changed, 239 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/doc/examples/softwaresite.mdwn b/doc/examples/softwaresite.mdwn index f9490254c..6588dc93b 100644 --- a/doc/examples/softwaresite.mdwn +++ b/doc/examples/softwaresite.mdwn @@ -11,3 +11,6 @@ Some additional configuration you might want to do: there is a [[softwaresite/Makefile]] that will use ikiwiki to build static html documentation. ikiwiki itself uses a similar system to build its documentation. + +* Read the [[tips/issue_tracking]] article for tips about how to use + ikiwiki as a BTS. diff --git a/doc/tips.mdwn b/doc/tips.mdwn index 71e857faf..77eeffb49 100644 --- a/doc/tips.mdwn +++ b/doc/tips.mdwn @@ -26,4 +26,10 @@ Text](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4125) extension allows you to use a real text editor like Emacs or Vim to edit the contents of text areas. This allows you to edit ikiwiki pages with a real text editor through the ikiwiki web interface, rather than only with direct commit -access. --[[JoshTriplett]]
\ No newline at end of file +access. --[[JoshTriplett]] + +## using ikiwiki as an issue tracker + +[[This_article|issue_tracking]] has some thoughts and tips on using ikiwiki +as a BTS, as is done on this very wiki to track [[bugs]] and [[todo]] items +for ikiwiki. diff --git a/doc/tips/issue_tracking.mdwn b/doc/tips/issue_tracking.mdwn new file mode 100644 index 000000000..11f3ce639 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/tips/issue_tracking.mdwn @@ -0,0 +1,229 @@ +[[meta title="Including more bugs in your tarball: Integrated issue tracking with Ikiwiki"]] + +<!-- +[[template id=note text=""" +[First published](http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2007/040607-integrated-issue-tracking-ikiwiki.html) +on [LinuxWorld.com](http:://www.linuxworld.com/), a +publication of Network World Inc., 118 Turnpike Rd., Southboro, MA 01772. +"""]] +--> + +Wikis are not just for encyclopedias and websites anymore. The +[Ikiwiki](http://ikiwiki.info) engine can be used to handle issue tracking, +news feeds, and other needs of a software project. The wiki can become as +much a part of your software project as its code, with interesting results. + +Ikiwiki is a wiki engine with a twist. It's best described by the term +"wiki compiler". Just as a typical software project consists of source code +that is stored in revision control and compiled with `make` and `gcc`, an +ikiwiki based wiki is stored as human editable source in a revision control +system, and built into HTML using ikiwiki. + +Ikiwiki is a full-featured wiki that can be used for a variety of purposes, +from traditional wikis to weblogs, podcasting, or even aggregating together +other RSS feeds into a Planet. While ikiwiki is being used for purposes +ranging from genealogy research to shoe accessory sales, one thing it's +especially well suited for is collaborative software development, including +issue tracking, announcements, documentation, and managing a software +project's web site. + +## Building wikis with ikiwiki + +The simplest way to use ikiwiki is to build static html files from source +wiki files. This example builds a wiki for an imaginary software project. +The wiki source files used in this example are available in the +`examples/softwaresite` subdirectory of ikiwiki's documentation. + + wiki$ ls + Makefile bugs.mdwn doc/ download.mdwn news/ + bugs/ contact.mdwn doc.mdwn index.mdwn news.mdwn + wiki$ make + ikiwiki `pwd` html --wikiname FooBar --plugin=goodstuff \ + --exclude=html --exclude=Makefile + wiki$ w3m -dump html/doc/faq.html + FooBar/ doc/ faq + + FooBar frequently asked questions. + + 1. Is this a real program? + 2. Really? + + _Is this a real program?_ + + No, it's just an example. + + _Really?_ + + Yes, really. + + Links: contact doc + Last edited Wed Nov 22 09:58:35 2006 + +If all you need is a simple static set of pages, that can be put up on a +web site, or shipped with a software package, this is a good starting +point, which includes example pages for a news feed for the project (with +RSS), an issue tracker, and other pages users expect to see on a project's +website. The wiki's source code can be checked into revision control as part +of the software project, and tied into its build system using the Makefile. + +Ikiwiki can also be tied into the `post-commit` hook of your revision +control system, so that whenever a developer commits a change to a wiki +page in revision control, the project's web site is automatically updated. +Ikiwiki has a [tutorial](http://ikiwiki.info/setup.html) that explains in +detail how to set this up using the Subversion, Git, TLA, and Mercurial +revision control systems. + +The tutorial also explains how to configure ikiwiki so that users can edit +pages using a web interface, with their changes committed back into revision +control. After all one of the benefits of keeping a project's docs in a wiki +is to make it easy for users to improve them, so that busy software developers +don't have to. And if the wiki is being used for issue tracking, this will +let users post and follow up on bug reports. + +## Using a wiki for issue tracking? + +You might be wondering exactly how a wiki can be used as an issue tracking +system. Three key parts of ikiwiki come together to create an issue tracker: +pages, tags, and inlining. + +Each issue is described on a separate page in the wiki. There can also be +an associated Discussion page, as well as other related subpages that can +be used to hold files used to reproduce the bug, or patches, or other +related files. Since each issue is a page, standard wiki links can be used +to link related issues, or link issues with other pages in the wiki, and +each issue has its own unique URL. Since ikiwiki supports subdirectories, +it's usual to keep all the bugs in a `bugs/` subdirectory. You might prefer +to separate bugs and todo items, with todo items in their own 'todo/' +subdirectory. + +While directories are useful for broad hierarchical grouping, tags can be +used to categorize issues, as bugs, wishlist items, security issues, +patches, or whatever other categories are useful. Bugs can be tagged +"moreinfo", "done" or "unreproducible", or "moreinfo", etc, to document +different stages of their lifecycle. Developers can take ownership of a bug +by tagging it with something like "owner/Joey". + +To tag a wiki page, edit it and add text such as "\[[tag done]]". Note that +adding a wiki link to "\[[done]]" will have the same categorisation effect +as a tag, but the link will show up in the body of the page, which is a +nice effect if used in a sentence such as "This was \[[done]] in version +1.1.". Another way to close a bug is to move it out of the `bugs/` +subdirectory, though this would prevent it from showing up in a list of +closed bugs. + +Inlining is how ikiwiki pulls individual issue pages together into +something larger, be it a page listing recently opened bugs (with a form to +let a user easily post a new bug), or a page listing recently closed bugs, +or an index of all bugs, or all wishlist items, or RSS feeds for any of +these. A flexible syntax is used for specifying what kind of pages should +be inlined into a given page. A few examples: + +* A typical list of all open bugs, with their full text, and a form to post new + bugs. + + \[[inline pages="bugs/* and !link(done) and !*/Discussion" actions=yes postform=yes show=0]] + +* Index of the 30 most recently fixed bugs. + + \[[inline pages="bugs/* and link(done) and !*/Discussion" sort=mtime show=30 archive=yes]] + +* Index of the 10 most recently active bugs. + + \[[inline pages="bugs/* and !link(done) and !*/Discussion" sort=mtime show=10]] + +* Open security issues. + + \[[inline pages="bugs/* and link(security) and !link(done) and !*/Discussion"]] + +* Full text of bugs assigned to Joey. + + \[[inline pages="bugs/* and link(owner/Joey) and !link(done) and !*/Discussion" show=0]] + +It may seem strange to consider using a wiki for issue tracking when there +are several dedicated bug tracking systems, like Bugzilla, that handle all +aspects of it already. The weakest part of using ikiwiki for issue +tracking, and certainly the place where a dedicated bug tracker like +Bugzilla shines in comparison, is storing and querying structured data +about bugs. Ikiwiki has little structured data except for page filenames +and tags, so if you need lots of queryable data such as what versions a bug +affects and what version it was fixed in, ikiwiki may not be a good fit for +your issue tracking. + +On the other hand, by using a wiki for issue tracking, there is one less +system for users and developers to learn, and all the flexibility of a wiki +to take advantage of. Ikiwiki even supports OpenID, so it's easy for users +to use it for filing bugs, without going through an annoying registration +process. + +## Benefits + +Realistically, there are plusses and minuses to letting users edit a +software project's documentation in a wiki. Like any wiki, to be +successful, some review is needed of the changes users make. In some cases +it will be easiest to limit the pages that users are allowed to edit. +Still, keeping the wiki open for user edits will probably turn up some +passionate users who prove very useful at filling in holes in the +documentation and cleaning up the site. + +Programmers are supposed to be bad at writing documentation, and putting a +project's docs into a wiki might not solve that. But it can make it a +little bit easier. Consider a programmer who's just coded up a new feature. +He can commit that to a development branch in revision control, and then go +update the docs on the web site to document it. But the feature isn't +available in a released version yet, so it's probably easier to skip +updating the website. Maybe once it's released, the web site will be +updated to mention the feature, but maybe (probably) not. + +Now consider what happens if instead the web site is a wiki, that has its +source included in the project's revision control system. The programmer +codes up the feature, and can easily update the docs in the wiki to match. +When he commits his changes to a development branch, the docs are committed +too. Later, when that change is merged to the release branch, the doc +changes are also merged, and automatically go live on the web site. +Updating the documentation to reflect each change made and publishing it on +the website has become a standard part of the programmer's workflow. + +But this still requires programmers to write documentation, so maybe it +still won't work. Let's go back a step. Before the programmer wrote that +feature, he probably got some requests for it, and maybe he developed those +into a specification for how the feature should work. Since ikiwiki can be +used as an issue tracker, the requests were made using it, and were +collaboratively edited on the wiki, to develop the specification. Once the +feature is implemented, that issue can be closed. What better way to close +it than to move it out of the issue tracking system, and into the project's +documentation? + + svn mv wiki/bugs/new_feature.mdwn wiki/doc/ + +If the spec is written well enough to be useful for end user documentation, +the programmer doesn't have to write a lot of docs after all; that was done +when the feature was designed. By using ikiwiki for issue tracking, plus +editing the spec, plus documentation, plus the website, each of these steps +has built on the other and the programmer has had to do less busywork. + +A different example of how ikiwiki can tie things together is how a +security hole might be handled. First it's discovered, and a bug filed +about it. When it's fixed, the commit that fixes the bug can include a +change to the bug's page, marking it as done. Since it's a security hole, +an announcement needs to be made right away so users will know they need to +upgrade. This announcement can be added to the wiki's news feed, and +committed along with the fix, and the announcement can use a regular wiki +link to link to the bug that describes the security hole in detail. If the +security hole also affects an older version of the software, the fix, along +with the wiki documentation for that fix, can be merged into the branch for +the older version. + +Another benefit of keeping the bug tracking system in revision control with +the wiki is that it allows for disconnected development. So there's no need +to be online to review the project's bug list, and there's no need to +remember to close fixed bugs once you're back online. + +For fans of distributed revision control, ikiwiki opens even more +possibilities. With a project's website and issue tracker kept in +distributed revision control with the project, these become distributed as +well, rather than centralized appendixes to the project. Developers can +pass around changesets that not only fix bugs, but mark them as done. If +large changes are being made in someone's branch, they can choose to put up +their own version of the website, use it to track bugs for that branch, and +when the branch is ready, all these changes can be merged back into the +mainline of the project. |