Project Administration

The Project Administration section allows you to administer the project.

The Project Admin Page

The Project Admin web page is where all the administration of the project is done from. To get there, log into SourceForge, and select the project from your peronal page. This will bring you to the Project Summarypage. The Project admin page is available by clicking on the Admin tab.

Clicking here will present you with links to Admin, User Permissions, Edit Public Info, Project History, VHOSTS, Edit/Release Files, Post Jobs, Edit Jobs, Edit MultiMedia Data, Database Admin and Stats. The Project Admin page is only accessible to members of the project who have been granted administrator privileges. By default, the person who registers the project is given admin privileges. Other members can be granted admin rights by the project administrator(s).
 

Forums

Every project can have his own discussion forums. When a new project is created, 3 forums are automatically created:

1. Open Discussion
   A place where to discuss about everything.
2. Help
   A forum where to ask for help.
3. Developers
   A place where developers discuss about developments

Creating a new forum

New forums can be created using the Admin section of the forum. When a new forum is created, you must insert a name of the forum, the description of the forum, select if the forum is public or private and if anonymous posts are allowed on the forum.

Public forums are visibile only to project members. If Anonymous posts are enabled, everybody can post messages to the forum, even users that are not logged it.

You can also insert an email address where all posts will be sent.

Using the forum

When you click on the name of the forum, you go to the detail of the forum. You can select the following types of visualization for the forum lists:

1. Nested
   Shows the messages ordered by thread. All data of the message, including the posted message itself will be visualized.
2. Flat
   Similar to Nested, the messages will be showed in cronological order.
3. Threaded
   Shows only title, author and date of each message. Shows the messages in threaded order. Clicking on the title of the message the entire message will be displayed
4. Ultimate
   Shows only the "topic started" messages. Topic starters are the messages that starts a new thread.

You can select the number of messages for every page: 25, 50, 75 or 100.

 

Available options

The forums of gforge have 2 very powerful options:

1. Save place
   This function registers the number of messages already inserted in the forum and will highlight new messages the next time you return to the forum.
2. Monitor forum
   You can select to monitor the forum by clicking on the Monitor Forum button.
   If this option is enabled, every post to the forum will be sent to you by email.This allows you to be informed about new messages without beeing logged on to gforge. The name of the monitored forum will appear in the users homepage in the section Monitored Forums.

Forum admin

Clicking on the Forum Adminlink presents you with links to Add Forum, Delete Messageor Update Forum Info/Status.

Searching

When using a forum, a voice "Forum" will appear in the search combo box. Selecting forum and inserting a text in the search box allows you to search through the text data of the forum.

What is the Tracker?

The Tracker is a generic system where you can store items like bugs, feature requests, patch submissions, etc.

In previous versions of the software, these items were handled in separate software modules. Bugs, Enhancement Requests, Support Requests and Patches handle the same type of data, so it was logical to create an unique software module that can handle this types of data. New types of trackers can be created when needed, e.g. Test Results, meeting minutes, etc. You can use this system to track virtually any kind of data, with each tracker having separate user, group, category, and permission lists. You can also easily move items between trackers when needed. Trackers are referred to as "Artifact Types" and individual pieces of data are "Artifacts". "Bugs" might be an Artifact Type, whiles a bug report would be an Artifact. You can create as many Artifact Types as you want, but remember you need to set up categories, groups, and permission for each type, which can get time-consuming. Name:

When a project is created, gforge creates automatically 4 trackers:

• Bugs
  Used for Bug tracking
• Support Requests
  Users can insert here support requests and receive support
• Patches
  Developers can upload here patches to the software
• Feature Requests
  Requests for enhancements of the software should be posted here

Using a Tracker

The following descriptions can be applied to any of the trackers. The functionalities between the different trackers are the same, we'll use the Bugs Tracker as example to describe the functionality of all trackers.
The Tracker provides the following functions:

1. Submitting a new item
    
2. Browsing of Items
    
3. Reporting
    
4. Administration
    

Submitting a new Bug

To submit a new bug, click on the "Submit New" link. A form will be displayed, where you can insert/select the following data:

• Category
  The Category is generally used to describe the function/module in which the bug appears. E.g for gforge, this might be the items "User Login", "File releases", "Forums", "Tracker", etc.
• Group
  The Category can be used to describe the version of the software or the gravity of the bug. E.g "3.0pre7", "3.0pre8" in case of version or "Fatal error", "Non-fatal error" in case of gravity.
• Assigned To
  You can assign the item to a user. Only users which are "Tecnicians" are listed here.
• Priority
  You can select the Priority of the item. In the Browse list, and the homepage of the users, priorities are displayed in different colors, and can be ordered by priority.
• Summary
  Give a short description of the bug, e.g. Logout function gives an SQL Error
• Detailed Description
  Insert the most detailed description possibile.
• File upload
  You can also upload a file as an attachment to the bug. This can be used to attach a screenshot with the error and the log file of the application.
  To upload the file, Check the checkbox, select a file using the Browse button and insert a file description.
  Note that attachments to tracker items can be maximal 256KB.

Browse Bugs

The Browse page shows the list of bugs. You can select to filter the bugs by Assignee, Status, Category or Group.
You can sort the items by ID, Priority, Summary, Open Date, Close Date, Submittere, Assignee and the Ordering (Ascending, descending).
The different colors indicate the different priorities of the bug; a * near the open date indicates that the request is more than 30 days old. The overdue time (default 30 days) is configurabel for each tracker.
When you click on the summary, you go to the detail/modify Bug page.

Modify Bugs

In the modify Bug page, you can modify the data you inserted, and also add the following information:

1. Data Type
   This combo box lists the trackers of the project. If you select a different tracker and submit the changes, the item will be reassigned to the selected tracker.
2. Status
   The status indicates the status of the item. When an item is inserted, it is created in the "Open" state. When you fix a bug, you should change the state to "Closed". When a bug is duplicated or not valid, change it to "Deleted".
3. Resolution
   This indicates the resolution of the item.
4. Canned Responses
   Canned responses are prefixed responses. You can create canned responses for your project in the admin section and select the responses in the combo box.

The Changelog on the bottom of the page shows in cronological order the changes applied to the item. Also all followups can be viewed.

Monitor Bugs

If you select the "Monitor" button on the top left of the Bug detail page, bug monitoring will be enabled.
When you are monitoring a bug, every change to the bug will be sent to you by email.
To disable bug monitoring, simply reselect the "Monitor" button.

Admin Tracker

If you are an Administrator of the tracker, you can add or change bug groups, categories, canned responses:

1. Add/Update Categories
   You can add new categories or change the name of existing categories.
   You can also select a user in the Auto-Assign To combo box; every bug with this category will be auto-assigned to the selected user. This feature can save you lots of time when administering the tracker.
2. Add/Update Groups
   You can add new groups or change the name of existing groups.It is not recommended that you change the group name because other things are dependent upon it. When you change the group name, all related items will be changed to the new name.
3. Add Update Canned Responses
   Canned responses are predefined responses. Creating useful generic messages can save you a lot of time when handling common requests.
4. Add Update Users & Permissions
   You can add new users to the tracker or delete users from the tracker.
   In this section you can assign the following permissions to the user:
   1. -
      The user has no specific permission on the tracker; he cannot administer the tracker, no items can be assigned to the user.
   2. Tecnician
      Items can be assigned to the user.
   3. Administrator & Tecnician
      The user is both an Administrator and also a Tecnician.
   4. Administrator
      User can administer the tracker (add user, set permissions, create/update groups, categories, canned responses).
5. Update preferences
   Here you can update the following information on the tracker:
   1. Name
      The name of the Tracker. This is the name displayed in the tracker list, e.g. Bug Submittions.
   2. Description
      The descriptions of the Tracker. E.g. This is the tracker dedicated to the Bugs of the project
   3. Publicy Available
      By default, this checkbox is not enabled.
   4. Allow non-logged-in postings
      If this checkbox is enabled, also non logged-in users can post items to the tracker. If this checkbox is not enabled, only logged in users can post items.
      By default, this checkbox is not enabled.
   5. Display the "Resolution" box
       
   6. Send email on new submission to address:
      All new items be sent to the address inserted in the text box.
   7. Send email on all changes
      If th is checkbox is enabled, all changes on the items will be sent out via email. It is useful to check this radiobutton only if in the Send email address is inserted an email address.
   8. Days still considered overdue:
       
   9. Days till pending tracker items time out:
       
   10. Free form text for the "submit new item" page:
        
   11. Free form text for the "browse items" page
        

Mass Update

If you are an Administrator of the tracker, you are also enabled for the Mass Update function.
This function is visible in the browse bug page and allows you to update the following information:

1. Category
2. Group
3. Priority
4. Resolution
5. Assignee
6. Status
7. Canned Response

When this function is enabled, a checkbox will appear at the left side of each bug id. You can check one or more of the ids, select one or more of the values in the Mass Update combo boxes and click Mass Update. All bugs will be modified with these new value(s). This function is very useful if you need to change the same information for more bugs; e.g. assigning 5 bugs to one developer or closing 10 bugs.

Reporting

The reporting functions allows to check the life-span of the Bug. The lifespan is the duration of the bug; it starts when the bug is inserted (opened) in the tracker and ends when the bug is closed.

1. Aging Report
   Aging Report The Aging report shows the turnaround time for closed bugs, the number of bugs inserted and the number of bugs still open.
2. Bugs by Tecnician
   The Bugs by Tecnician report shows for every member of the project: the number of bugs assigned to the user, the number of closed bugs and the number of bugs still open.
3. Bugs by Category
   The Bugs by Category report shows for every Category: the number of bugs inserted, the number of closed and the number of open bugs
4. Bugs by Group
   The Bugs by Group report shows for every Group: the number of bugs inserted, the number of closed and the number of open bugs.
5. Bugs by Resolution
   The Bugs by Resolution report shows for every type of Resolution (Fixed, invalid, later, etc): the number of bugs inserted, the number of closed and the number of open bugs.

Searching for bugs

When using a tracker, a voice with the name of the tracker will appear in the search combo box. The search will be done on the description, summary, the username of the submitter and the username of the assignee.

Mailing Lists

This is where you will set up and administer the mailing lists associated with the project.

Admin

This brings you to the Mail Admin page, where the following options are available to you.

Tasks

The Task Manager is similar to the tracker, with the following differences:

1. you can insert the start date of the item
2. you can insert the end date of the item
3. you can insert the number of hours for the item
4. you can have multiple assignees for the item
5. you can handle dependencies between tasks

Tasks are organized on subprojects. Before inserting a new task, you must first create a subproject. You can use the "Admin" link to create new subprojects. Tasks allows you to create and manage tasks, or blocks of work, similar to the way projects are broken down in eg MS Project.

Inserting a new Task

This allows you to add tasks to the sub projects - e.g. Write Design Doc, Review Doc, Update Doc, Write Code, Review Code, Update Code, Test, Log Test Results, etc. They can be assigned to members of the team, and start and end dates set up for them, dependencies on other tasks set, percentage completion etc.
You need to select first a subproject from the subproject list and then select the "Add Task" link. A form appears, where you are requested to insert the following data:
 

• Percent Complete
  You can select here the Percentage of the completion of the work.
• Priority
  You can select here the priority of the task.
• Task Summary
  You should insert a brief description of the task.
• Task Details
  You should insert here the most detailed description possibile of the task.
• Start Date:
  You can insert here the start date.
• End Date:
  You can insert here the end date of the task.
• Assigned To:
  You can select one or more assignees of the task. Only users which are defined as "Technicians" are listed here.
• Dependent on task
  You can select here one ore more task upon which this task depends.
• Hours
   

Only Administrators can add new items on the Task Manager.
Only Administrators can make changes to the task; only administrators can close the task
My Tasks lists the tasks assigned to the user
Browse Open Tasks lists all tasks in the open state.
The Reporting is similar to the reporting section of the Tracker.

Task Admin

The Admin section allows you to:

1. create new subprojects
   You can select if the subproject is public (visibile to everyone) or not (visibile only to project memebers). This allows you to add a subproject to a project, such as modules, documentation, etc.
   Required arguments are Project Name and description.
2. update information
   Here you can select if the project is public, private or deleted (visibile to nobody) and update the name and description of the subjproject.

Document Manager

The Document Manager provided with Gforge gives you a simple way to publish documents on the site.

Submit new documentation

Here you can submit new documents for approving/publishing on the site. The form requires you to insert the following information:

• Document Title
  The document title refers to the relatively brief title of th document
• Description
  A brief description to be placed just under the title.
• Upload File
  Here you should select the file to be uploaded. You can upload text files (.html, .txt) or binary files (.zip, .doc, .pdf).
• Language
  You should select here the language of the document.
• Group that document belongs in:
  You should select here the group of the document.Fill in all the fields, select the group from the drop down list and click Submit Information. The document will then be placed in the Pending Submissionssection of the DocManager Adminpage, to be approved or rejected.

Viewing existing docs

The viewing existing docs shows you a list of documents published and approved for viewing; grouped by Document groups. You can click on a document to view the entire content.

Admin Doc

Clicking on this will present you with a page showing pending and active documents. In order to allow users to submit a document, you must first set up the document groups for the project. The Admin section allows you to:

1. Approve/publish pending submissions
   The Pendig Submissions list shows the list of submissions that are waiting for your approval.
   Clicking on the Document name, the Edit Document form will be displayed.
2. Edit Documents
   The Edit Document links shows all states of the documents, and the documents in the state:
   • Active Documents
     Active Documents are displayed in the View Documentation list
   • Pending Documents
     Pending Documents are waiting for your approval.
   • Hidden Documents
      
   • Deleted Documents
     Deleted Documents are old, outdated documents.
   • Private Documents
      
3. Edit Document Groups
   Clicking on this will present you with a box and a button to add document groups, and it also shows the document groups associated with this project. Submit as many document classes as you wish - eg Howto, Release notes, FAQ, etc. These groups will be the catagories the documents will fall into when users submit documents.

Edit Document

When you select a document from one of the lists, a form will be displayed. In this form you can change the Document Title, the Short Description, the Language, the Document Group and the State.
If the Document is a text file with .txt, .html or .htm extension, a textbox appreas where you can edit the content of the document.
If the Document is a binary document, you can upload a new version of the document.

Introduction

Surveys allow you to ask questions to your developer/users and view the results. Surveys are often very helpful if you need some feedback from the users, examples of surveys might be:

1. User feedback: ask users if they like your project
2. Developer feedback: ask developers on new features to be implemented

Of course, surveys are not limited to this list. Basically, you can ask everything you want with surveys.

Administering survey questions

Before you can add/modify existing surveys, you need to administer the questions for your surveys. Questions are global for all surveys. Gforge surveys handle the following question types:

1. Radio Buttons 1-5: This type of question shows 5 radio buttons where the user can select between 1 (low) and 5 (high). This is useful for indicating priorities or quality feedback (e.g.: the question might be: did you like the new xxx feature. The user can select (1 (not very much), 2,3,4, 5(really)
2. Radio Buttons Yes/No. This type of question allows only two choices: Yes or No.
3. Comment Only
4. Text field: This type of question allows the user to insert some text in a text field.
5. Text area: This type of question allows the user to insert some text in a textarea

When inserting new questions or modifying existing questions, take note of the ID of the question. You'll need them when creating/modifying surveys.

Creating a new survey

You can create a new survey by clicking on the "Admin" link and then "Add a new survey".
You'll be asked to insert the following data:

• Survey name:
  The name of the survey
• Question list:
  Here you should insert the IDs of the questions in the order they should appear. If you wish to see question 4 first, then question 6, then question 1, you should insert here 4,6,1.
  ATTENTION: Don't insert spaces or any other character between the numbers
• Active: This flag indicates if the survey is active or not.

Modifying a survey

You can modify an existing survey, although this is not recommended if answers to the survey have already been given. You should know that the results of a survey ar not consistent if you modify the survey and users have already inserted answers.

Viewing survey results

You can view the results of the surveys cliccking on the "View Results" tab.

Snippet Library

The Snippet Library function of gforge is very interesting; it allows to collect all the type of information/knowledge which is not a complete piece of code and which is usually difficult to organize/share.
A tipical example are sophicistated shell commands, javascript functions, perl one-liner, SQL expressions that perform special queries, an algorithm, etc.

Inserting a new snippet

You can insert a new Snippet by clicking on the "Submit a New Snippet" link.
A form appears, where the following information can be inserted:

1. Title
   Insert the title of the snippet. This will be displayed in the list of the snippets.
2. Description
   Inser the description of the snippet.
3. Type
   Select the type of the snippet: function, full script, Howto, class, Readme
4. License
    
5. Language
   Select the language of the snippet.
6. Category
    
7. Version
   You should insert here the version of the snippet. For a new snippet, insert 1.0.
8. Code
   Paste here the code of the snippet.

Browsing snippets

You can browse snippets by clicking the "Browse" link.
You can browse snippets by Language or by Category. The resulting table shows the list of all snippets of the Language/Category. You can click on the snippet number to view the detail of the snippet.

Modifying a snippet

You cannot modify an existing snippet, but you can add a new version of the snippet by clicking on the Submit a new version link on the bottom part of the detail page of the snippet.
Adding a new version does not delete the old version, all previous versions will be available.

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