Entomology

Placeholder name for a bug reporting wizard (cf. ).

Background
Users often encounter software bugs or problems, but are intimidated by Bugzilla for a variety of reasons:
 * Bugzilla requires separate user registration and requires the use of an e-mail address as a user name
 * Bugzilla has a confusing interface
 * Bugzilla (and bug trackers in general) are a foreign concept

Reporting wizard
To mitigate these issues, it has been suggested that a MediaWiki extension be written that allows for a clean, easy-to-use interface for reporting software problems.

This extension could use its own database or it could interface directly with Bugzilla.


 * Pros to separate database

The idea behind a separate database is that it creates a buffer between the working bug tracker and the masses. This has two primary advantages:
 * 1) No matter how clear the instructions are, some users will use a reporting mechanism to report issues such as article vandalism, article inaccuracies, etc. This burdens the bug tracking system (including the mailing list and wikibugs reporting bot).
 * 2) Users are likely to file duplicate requests for particularly popular features. ("Hey, I had this great idea!" "Yeah, so did everyone else."). While it's easy enough to mark the bugs as duplicates, it adds more clutter and noise to the Bugzilla database and reporting features (again, mailing lists, IRC notifications, etc.).

A separate database also can interface with MediaWiki's user auth more easily.[citation needed]


 * Cons to a separate database
 * 1) Requires some integration layer between database and Bugzilla, even if it's just a "push to Bugzilla" button.
 * 2) Requires developers to check secondary tool or commit a group of volunteers to checking it.

Reading

 * How to Report Bugs Effectively