This page describes the way that issues are categorized and prioritized for fixes.
Issue Types
Issues are categorized into the following classes:
- General: if a user is not sure which category to use when submitting a bug, this category should be used and the IT team will select the proper category.
- Bugs: Bugs are errors in existing code that cause the website to behave in an unexpected manner
- Tasks: Tasks are changes to existing features, either by modifying existing code, installing modules or changing configurations.
- Enhancements: Enhancements are requests for entirely new features
- Documentation: Documentation is the request for a new How-To article in the knowledge base or clarification of inline documentation in a form (such as the description next to a text box).
Issue Priorities
High
The High priority is used for issues that must be fixed before anything else is done. This prioritity is used for Bugs and Tasks. High Priority Bugs include those that:
- Render the system unusable and have no workaround.
- Cause loss/corruption of stored data. (Lost user input, e.g. a failed form submission, is not the same thing as data loss and in most cases is Medium).
- Expose security vulnerabilities.
Management may identify certain strategically important Tasks to be done as a High priority, for example:
- Severe performance regressions (site is suddenly unresponsive)
- Significant regressions in user experience,
Medium
The medium priority is used for issues that are not High, but that do have significant impact or are important by consensus. This priority level is used for Bugs, Tasks and Enhancements.
Bugs that have significant repercussions but do not render the whole system unusable (or have a known workaround) are marked Medium. For example:
- An error in the backend that creates additional work, but that does not prevent work from being accomplished, e.g. the “flag for translation” checkbox not creating translations
- An error in the frontend that has impact on value delivery to sponsors, e.g. advertisements not displaying properly
Tasks that have Medium priority are those that can significantly improve backoffice workflow or significantly improve sponsor value delivery. Examples include:
- Creation of a better UI for the editorial workflow
- Refactoring of problematic code/configuration that blocks other tasks
- Re-arranging the advertising layout on the section start page.
Enhancements that have Medium priority are those that can be accomplished with little effort with high impact, such as the integration of a third party module.
Normal
Normal priority issues are those that are not High or Medium; they have isolated impact and may have workarounds. This priority level is used for Bugs, Tasks, Enhancements and Documentation.
When an issue is marked as Normal, it is part of the IT team’s queue. Items in this queue are selected by developer discretion as a function of impact, ease of execution and age of the ticket. In other words: high impact issues are done before low impact issues; easy issues are done before hard ones; old tickets are done before new ones.
Low
Low priority issues are those that IT will only do if there is nothing else to do. In other words, these issues are unlikely to be done unless management decides to change the priority. The Low priority exists primarily to keep a record of requests that are good ideas but have been judged too hard or too low impact to do currently. This priority level is used for Tasks, Enhancements and Documentation. Bugs will always have at least a normal priority.