Bug 606500

Hi Robert,

thanks for checking out the beta and giving us feedback. That is more than we usually get! Believe me we don't aim to make your life more difficult, just the opposite.

(In reply to comment #0)
> Description of problem:
> I test-drove the new beta bugzilla as requested.  Hate it so far.

Thank you for the feedback. This is what the betas are intended for.

> I basically use bugzilla's "My Front Page" as my "to do list".
> To split "Open Items" into multiple pages with "page 1" and
> "next" and "prev" buttons is absurd.  Today's bugzilla lists
> them all on one page, so I can sort by status and quickly
> browse the hot topics.  Adding extra paging buttons is like
> adding two more keys, an extra steeling wheel and two more foot
> pedals to your car.  I feel encumbered.

What is it was a user preference to turn on/off? I originally thought it would be useful for those who have really long bug lists and allow for seeing everything in a more compact view. I did not take into account doing full 
page test searches so I can see your point.

> What would _really_ help is if "my front page" would tell me at
> a glance which bugs have the NEEDINFO flag.  Much older versions
> of bugzilla did that, but now I have to display bug records
> individually to tell what's in NEEDINFO.  That slows me down
> greatly.

The section "Open issues with flags requested of you" should show any bugs that have needinfo set with you as the requestee. I do not think the other views
ever had the flags listed as a column although it could definitely be added. Currently the columns in the tables on my front page are not yet configurable.
The normal bug search (buglist.cgi) does have the ability to add flags as 
a column so you can easily see which bugs have needinfo? set.

> So if Red Hat's goal is to slow down their employees and make us
> less productive, they are accomplishing that goal.

Not at all. As Kevin and I mentioned, these betas are very helpful in trying
to figure out what helps/hurts the employees based on detailed feedback.

> Steps to Reproduce:
> 1. Go to "My Front Page" and look under "Open Issues: Assigned to You"
>    assuming you have more than 50 open records (which I usually do).
> 
> Actual results:
> 1. Watch in dismay as it gives you multiple pages per category.
> 2. Open up individual bug records to find out what's in NEEDINFO.
> 3. Despair.

The "Open Issues: Assigned to You" section has never had the ability to show flags such as needinfo in the column list. The two other sections related to flags do however. We can discuss enhancing front page to allow customizing the columns and therefore be able to add flags as a column choice. Then we can
satisfy your need.

> Expected results:
> I want to be able to see _all_ my open issues at a glance and
> whether they are in NEEDINFO without having to open up 50 records.
> Is that too much to ask?   Why do you insist on making our jobs
> harder?  What happened to Jim Whitehurst's speech about making the
> tools work for us, rather than getting work done in spite of the
> tools?  Sorry for ranting, but this is really annoying.  I'm
> running out of hands you can tie behind my back.

Even though we are under resourced, we are not opposed to implementing changes that make the employees jobs easier. We just need to hear from the by contacting the Bugzilla developers through the proper channels, preferably filing Bugzilla bugs/feature requests. Noone is purposely trying to make your
job or anyone elses harder. I see you have not reported any bugs except for one
and this one in Bugzilla in the past so I was unaware you were so unhappy with the current implementation. Please help us to make Bugzilla more useful for everyone.

Dave

Sorry I went off on you yesterday.  I know you're all trying to
improve things, but I really do see your current beta as a step
backward.

If the paging thing was a preference that would be acceptable.
However, I'd really like to see the it default to No paging,
or else the default limit be 100 records rather than 50.
Having to turn it off once as a preference would be my third
choice.

I assure you that "Open Issues: Assigned to You" used to show
the NEEDINFO flag on bugs a couple years ago.  I used it hourly
as I do now, so I'm sure of it.  I was dismayed when it went
away.  I should have opened a bugzilla record then, but I guess
I never did.

I'm really glad you guys do beta tests and ask the developers
to try it out.  Most of us are kept so busy with deadlines and
schedules that it's shuffled to the bottom of the priority list.
I realize we shouldn't complain after the fact, once the beta
GAs because we missed our opportunity to give feedback.  That's
why I never said anything about the missing NEEDINFO.  But I'd
really like it back.

Having a separate list of my bugs that are in NEEDINFO is helpful
in some cases, but if I'm glancing at my 50+ records in the "Open
Issues" to try to prioritize which item to work on next, I have
to scroll back and forth down to that section to see if any given
bug in the list is in NEEDINFO, or else open each bug record
individually, which is time consuming.  A column for flags such
as NEEDINFO on that page would be very helpful, even if it's just
a narrow column big enough for an X.

(In reply to comment #3)
> Sorry I went off on you yesterday.  I know you're all trying to
> improve things, but I really do see your current beta as a step
> backward.

It's ok.

> If the paging thing was a preference that would be acceptable.
> However, I'd really like to see the it default to No paging,
> or else the default limit be 100 records rather than 50.
> Having to turn it off once as a preference would be my third
> choice.

I may remove it as it is not a hard requirement. We can add it later as a RFE if people want it.
 
> I assure you that "Open Issues: Assigned to You" used to show
> the NEEDINFO flag on bugs a couple years ago.  I used it hourly
> as I do now, so I'm sure of it.  I was dismayed when it went
> away.  I should have opened a bugzilla record then, but I guess
> I never did.

My memory fails me. 
 
> I'm really glad you guys do beta tests and ask the developers
> to try it out.  Most of us are kept so busy with deadlines and
> schedules that it's shuffled to the bottom of the priority list.
> I realize we shouldn't complain after the fact, once the beta
> GAs because we missed our opportunity to give feedback.  That's
> why I never said anything about the missing NEEDINFO.  But I'd
> really like it back.

Understood.

> Having a separate list of my bugs that are in NEEDINFO is helpful
> in some cases, but if I'm glancing at my 50+ records in the "Open
> Issues" to try to prioritize which item to work on next, I have
> to scroll back and forth down to that section to see if any given
> bug in the list is in NEEDINFO, or else open each bug record
> individually, which is time consuming.  A column for flags such
> as NEEDINFO on that page would be very helpful, even if it's just
> a narrow column big enough for an X.    

FWIW, you can currently today have any saved search you create display on your front page. So you can go to query.cgi and query for all bugs that are needinfo? with you as the requestee. Then save it giving it a name like "open bugs needinfo from me". Then go to userpreferences.cgi and set the saved
search to show up on my front page. This should also still be the case in 3.6. With this you can basically have any list you want.

Dave

Regarding comment #4: I used to have bugzilla queries saved
as you suggest.  However, iirc, when bugzilla was upgraded last
time, they were all lost.  We were warned that they would, and
they did.  I haven't bothered to recreate them because I figure
they're just going to go away again at the next upgrade.

(In reply to comment #5)
> Regarding comment #4: I used to have bugzilla queries saved
> as you suggest.  However, iirc, when bugzilla was upgraded last
> time, they were all lost.  We were warned that they would, and
> they did.  I haven't bothered to recreate them because I figure
> they're just going to go away again at the next upgrade.    

There are no plans to blow away any stored queries with the 3.6 upgrade.

Dave

I have removed the pagination in my front page for now. May revisit this bug again later when I have a better idea on how to do this properly.

Dave