Submitting Bug Reports in 10 Easy Steps!

[Jigain]

Just figured I'd write a little guide on what you should consider before submitting a report. If it's any good, I hope it'll be stickified. If not, I hope it'll get locked and/or deleted.

It'll probably be useful keeping this thread in mind when submitting bug reports for other addons as well.

Step one!
Ensure you're running the latest version of the addon. If you are, go to step two.

Step two!
Read the CarboniteReadMe.txt file, located in your .\World of Warcraft\Interface\AddOns folder. If the solution isn't covered there, go to step three.

Step three!
See if anyone else has encountered your issue, and if it has been resolved, try using that solution. You can use the forum's search engine or simply browse through the threads in the Bug Reports section. If you don't find anything, or if the solution doesn't work, go to step four.

Step four!
Check if your bug still occurs when running no other addons. If yes, go to step five. If no, step seven.

Step five!
Reinstall Carbonite. Go to your AddOns folder (found in .\World of Warcraft\Interface\AddOns) and delete the folders named Carbonite, CarboniteItems, CarboniteNodes, and CarboniteTransfer. Then redownload the addon. If this does not solve your issue, go to step six.

Step six!
Reset your Carbonite settings to default values. To do this, go to your SavedVariables folder (found in .\World of Warcraft\WTF\Account\<accountname>\SavedVariables) and delete or rename the files named Carbonite.lua and Carbonite.lua.bak. If this does not resolve your issue, go to step eight.

Step seven!
If the bug stopped, reenable addons until you find the one causing the issue. You don't have to do it one at a time. Depending on how many addons you have, you can reactivate them in groups of three to ten, then once you have found the group of addons that triggers the bug, disable some of those and see if the bug disappears. Continue with this until you've found the one addon that causes the issue. Go to step eight.

Step eight!
If there are any threads regarding the bug on the forums already, please reply to it using the guideline in step nine. If there is no such thread, please create a new one. Make sure the title of the thread is descriptive of your problem. Go to step nine.

Step nine!
Describe the issue as detailed as possible. "Carb doesn't work" is very non-descript, and no one can help you with that. "Carb doesn't work when I press the M key" is a lot better. If you determined another addon caused the issue, please state which addon was incompatible, and if possible, notify that addon's author of the bug as well. Remember, the more detail you can provide, the higher the chance of resolving the issue. Also include everything you've done in order to try to resolve the issue before posting. This saves time both for you and the ones helping you. Go to step ten.

Step ten!
Be patient and keep a level head. Most of the people helping you are Carb users like yourself. If you go chewing their heads off for not understanding your issue perfectly, you'll just make them not want to help you any more. Furthermore, the authors of this project are busy people, relying mostly on their fanbase to help with common issues while they juggle both the addon and their RL committments. Don't expect them to resolve your issue personally within minutes.

Hopefully this little checklist will help you get help faster and more accurately.

Best regards,
Jigain
Long term Carbonite user

[jeffy162]

Thank you Jigain. Very concise, and I second your hopes to get this "stickified".