[fforde]

Report a Bug

On the Forum
Posting a bug on the forum is not the preferred way to report a bug. It is very difficult to track bugs here for more than a day or two, so we use a bug tracker on Google Code. Please post bug reports on our bug tracker rather than here on the forums.

And please, post your log files. A post saying "hey this is broken, what's the deal!" makes it very difficult to help you.

The Issue Tracker
We use the Issue Tracker at our Google Code page for tracking both bugs and enhancement requests. If you have either, this is where you should be heading. Before you head over there though, please read through this guide as it will help you become more familiar with our process.

To begin with, to report a bug or a request an enhancement on the Issue Tracker, you need a Google account. It is free and quick to sign up. I'm sorry this is just how it is. If you really don't want to create a Google account, that is okay, you can post here on the forums. But this requires a developer or someone else to transcribe your request into the Issue Tracker, which means there is a chance it could get overlooked and it is a certainty it will take the developers longer to get to your issue. Developers decide what to work on based on the Issue Tracker's priority listings.

Submitting Bug Reports
If you have found what you feel like is a legitimate, undocumented bug in Moving Pictures, you should create a bug report on the Issue Tracker. You should keep the following points in mind though when creating or deciding to create a new issue:

• The Issue Tracker is not technical support. If you have a question about how to use the plug-in or how to get it working with your setup, this probably should be posted in the forum. If MediaPortal crashed, there are error messages in your log file, or something is clearly not working as intended, then you should create a new issue on the Tracker.
  
• Only official releases are supported. If you or someone you know have created an "SVN Build" of Moving Pictures, please do not post issues about it. The source code is often unstable between releases and it would be very difficult if not impossible to track issues against every single SVN commit.
  
• The Issue Tracker has a great search function. Please use it before you create a new bug report, as it is very possible you are not the first to experience the problem. If an issue already exists and you feel you have something to add, post in the thread for the issue.
  
• If you want to be kept up to date on an issue, click the star next to the issue on the list. Once you do this you will receive email updates as the status of the issue changes. This also serves as an indicator of the need from the user base for an issue to get fixed. Basically a way to vote for the priority of the issue.

Making Enhancement Requests
For feature requests, as mentioned above, we also use the Issue Tracker. If you feel like you have a great idea, by all means please create a new Enhancement Issue in the tracker. When making a new issue please use the Enhancement Request Template selectable from the drop-down at the top of the new request page (the default if you click the above link). And when making requests, please keep the following things in mind:

• As mentioned before, the search function on the issue tracker is very good. Please use it. There are already a lot of ideas for the next three or four major releases of the plug-in logged in the tracker so it is possible the idea you have is already in there. If you feel you have something to add to an existing request, feel free to speak up in the Issue's comments section.
• MovingPictures was designed with a specific philosophy in mind. A narrow focus on movie content, and simplicity and ease of use for the end user. This does not mean we are not interested in adding a powerful new feature, we want to create a plug-in that is easy to use but very flexible and powerful when you drill down into the details. But we want it to usable by mom and pop. Keep that in mind. That being said, if you are unsure, just make a new issue. At the very least it's worth talking about!