How do I write an effective bug report?

An effective bug report contains a title, description, steps to reproduce the bug, and additional evidence.

A title should be a short and concise description of the issue. For example, a good title would be “Discussion thread will not close after clicking cancel,” while a bad title would be “Discussion thread is broken.”

Bug descriptions detail what happened. Bug descriptions should be a declaration of facts. We understand that encountering a bug may cause frustration, but please try to keep the discussion of issues civil and on topic. It is important to add certain details to your descriptions such as the exact version of iOS you are using (example: 11.2.2), the device the bug was found on (example: iPad Air 2), and the PEBL version this bug occurred on (for example: build 7.2.9). Some bugs will only need a sentence or two to define what happened, while more complicated bugs will require longer reports.

Steps to reproduce the bug should start from the last place you think PEBL was functioning properly and then list each step following that. Steps should be simple and declare the precise action that you took. For example some steps will simply detail: “swiped page to lesson 2.” It is safe to presume that our testers will understand what is meant by this. Numbering your steps is highly recommended. It may be difficult to provide the exact steps that caused your issue. If you are not sure how you encountered the bug please do not make up steps, but please do provide any relevant information that you can.

Not all bug reports will require additional evidence. However, providing images and screenshots are very helpful for us to pinpoint your issue.

We may ask for additional information in order to find the cause of your issue. We’d like to fix the issue you’re having as soon as possible and appreciate your cooperation. We will do our best to respond to your bug report as promptly as possible. Thank you for effort helping us improve PEBL.