Adding Issues
To enter a new issue:
- Click on the Issues tab
- Click on the "New" button on the top right hand side of the screen
- Originator : The user who entered or reported the issue
- Assigned To : The user who is currently working on this issue
- Author : The user who owns this issue. This can be used to track the developer who resolved the issue rather than the person who was last assigned the issue (usually QA)
- Found In : The version number the issue was found in
- Fixed In : The version number the issue was resolved in
- Scheduled For : The version number the issue has been scheduled to be resolved in
Attaching Files
As well as comments, issues can also have files attached to them. For example you can keep track of documentation such as specifications, screenshots, presentations, spreadsheets and email. In fact any file can be attached to an issue.
To attach an issue:
To attach an issue:
- Edit the issue you want a file added to
- Click on the Add File link
- Click on the Browse button in the popup window (shown beside)
- Select the file to attach
- Click on Open
- Click on the Upload link
- Wait while the file is uploaded into Dev Hound
Once the file is uploaded a new link will appear called Attachments. This link appears in the view and edit issue screens.
Viewing and Downloading Attachments
- Click on the Attachments link in the view issue or edit issue screen
- A popup window will appear with all files attached to the issue
- Click on the link to the file to view or download the file
- If the file is an image then it will preview
Deleting Attachments
- Click on the Attachments link in the view issue or edit issue screen
- A popup window will appear with all files attached to the issue
- Click on the X button on the right hand side of the file
- The file attachment will be deleted immediately
Comments
Comments may be added to issues to identify the following:
Each comment is date stamped and has a user associated with the comment. This makes it very useful in tracking progress on an issue. For example: when an issue is escalated from support to a developer or when an issue requires approval from a team leader.
- Developer notes on work done on the issue
- Notes from other users about the issue
- Logging users affected by the issue
Each comment is date stamped and has a user associated with the comment. This makes it very useful in tracking progress on an issue. For example: when an issue is escalated from support to a developer or when an issue requires approval from a team leader.
Adding a Comment
- Select an issue that has already been entered
- Click on the Comment button (the following page will appear)
- Enter the description of the comment
- If the comment is work completed on an issue that is billed enter a billed hours amount and choose the rate of billing. (Billing rates are accessible from the admin area)
- Enter the actual number of hours taken. This is useful for tracking a developers time (eg timesheets)
Notes
- When a billed amount and billed rate is entered you may assign the item to an invoice
- Billed and actual hours are totalled at the bottom of the comments list
- Comments appear below the details of an issue
Deleting a Comment
Comments can be deleted by:
- Editing the issue
- Click on the text of the comment
- A popup window will appear with the comment
- Click on the Delete button
Filtering
Dev Hound allows you to filter the list of displayed items in various ways. For example you may usually only show "outstanding" issues if you are a developer but may show only "pending QA" if you are testing. The filter for issues appears below:
From Left to Right:
- Project - filter issues to one project
- User - filter issues assigned to one user
- Category - filter issues in one category (eg bug, feature, documentation)
- Status - filter issues based on their status (eg outstanding, resolved)
Sorting
You can sort by a particular column by simply clicking on the column heading. To switch between descending and ascending order simply click the column heading again.
Choosing Other Filters
You may choose the filters that you see on the issue, support and clients page by:
Choosing Other Filters
You may choose the filters that you see on the issue, support and clients page by:
- Clicking on the Admin tab
- Click on My Profile link
- Select the filter you would like to appear on each tab
Searching
To Search for a keyword in either the issue list, client list, support call list or knowledge base simply enter the search text in the top right of the web browser and press enter (as shown) .
After a brief pause the list will be filtered to all items that have those keywords in their description or other fields.
After a brief pause the list will be filtered to all items that have those keywords in their description or other fields.
Searching All Issues, Calls and Articles
You may search issues, support calls or knowledge bases articles all at once or in different combinations by clicking on the word Search next to the search entry area in the top right of the Dev Hound window. Click on one or more of the check boxes for issues, calls or articles and enter the keywords to search for and press Enter on the keyboard.
When the search results appear you may click on a link to view the issue , support call or knowledge base article.
When the search results appear you may click on a link to view the issue , support call or knowledge base article.
Issue Markup
You can embed some tags in your issues, comments, descriptions etc in Dev Hound to produce better formatting. For example:
[c:This text is red|red]
will produce:
This text is red
In the above example c is the markup tag and red after the pipe | symbol is a parameter.
The following markup tags are possible:
c
Description: Change the color of the text
Example: [c:this is blue text|blue]
Possible colors include: black, silver, gray, white, maroon, red, purple, fushia, green, lime, olive, yellow, navy, blue, teal, aqua
b
Description: Changes the text to bold
Example: [b:this is bold text]
i
Description: Change the text to italics
Example: [i:this is italics]
u
Description: Underline the text
Example: [u:this text is underlined]
right
Description: Right aligns text
Example: [right:This text is right aligned]
h
Description Makes the text a heading
Example: [h:This is a heading]
code
Description: Markups up the text as if it is code. It will also displays as true as possible
Example: [code:function fnname(foo : Integer; foo2 : String) : Boolean]
flash
Description : Embeds an Adobe Flash movie. The following example shows a 800x600 movie
Example: [flash:filename.swf|800|600]
hr
Description: Inserts a horizontal rule
Example: [hr]
[c:This text is red|red]
will produce:
This text is red
In the above example c is the markup tag and red after the pipe | symbol is a parameter.
The following markup tags are possible:
c
Description: Change the color of the text
Example: [c:this is blue text|blue]
Possible colors include: black, silver, gray, white, maroon, red, purple, fushia, green, lime, olive, yellow, navy, blue, teal, aqua
b
Description: Changes the text to bold
Example: [b:this is bold text]
i
Description: Change the text to italics
Example: [i:this is italics]
u
Description: Underline the text
Example: [u:this text is underlined]
right
Description: Right aligns text
Example: [right:This text is right aligned]
h
Description Makes the text a heading
Example: [h:This is a heading]
code
Description: Markups up the text as if it is code. It will also displays as true as possible
Example: [code:function fnname(foo : Integer; foo2 : String) : Boolean]
flash
Description : Embeds an Adobe Flash movie. The following example shows a 800x600 movie
Example: [flash:filename.swf|800|600]
hr
Description: Inserts a horizontal rule
Example: [hr]
Issue Escalation
Issues and support calls may be automatically escalated using Dev Hound's escalation rules. To access the rules of escalation click the Admin tab and choose either "Issue Escalation" or "Support Escalation". Click the "New" button to add a new escalation rule.
Escalation Rules
- Name - This is the name of the rule. This may be any phrase for example "Escalate to manager after 3 hours in queue". This description will appear as a comment when items are escalated
- Priority - This is the priority criteria that must be met for escalation. For example if priority "low" is selected then only issues/calls that have the priority of "low" will be escalated by this rule.
- Status - This is the status criteria that must be met for escalation. For example if status "open" is selected then only issues/calls that have the status of "open" will be escalated by this rule.
- Age - This is age criteria that must be met for escalation. This is the number of hours after the issue/call was entered before the rule is applied. Eg 8 hours.
- Escalate to - This is the user that will be emailed when an automatic escalation is performed. For each rule you may apply up to 3 users who will be emailed about the escalation
- Increase Priority - If this option is checked then when the issue/call is escalated the priority of it will be increased to the next level. Eg from Low to Medium. Doing this will allow you to move issues/calls through multiple escalation levels : eg a issue is moved from priority low to medium after 4 hours then medium to high after 4 days.
How Does Escalation Work?
Escalation processing is done by Dev Hound every minute. It is only done if Dev Hound is being hit with traffic. This means that if noone is using Dev Hound then checking for escalations will not be done. Software like the Dev Hound Call Center will periodically hit Dev Hound so if you are using this application then escalation processing will be done often.
Note also that you must setup your email server for email notifications otherwise they will not be delivered. You should also check that the correct email address is entered for users who are notified by escalations.
Note also that you must setup your email server for email notifications otherwise they will not be delivered. You should also check that the correct email address is entered for users who are notified by escalations.