Diederik van Liere dvanliere@gmail.com writes:
I am not following this line of reasoning: how can adding guidance / instructions on how to write a good bug report turn people away?
I don't think it would … as long as it is simply guidance and not a required field.
If we pre-fill the textarea, for example, with suggestions for the sort of information to provide, then this would help. People do ask me on IRC: “What sort of information should I put?”
That is the second most common response I've heard, next to “What do I select for ‘Component'? Do I have to put anything in ‘Assign To'?”
I've a feeling that this is the feedback you're getting: a major part of the problem is the overwhelming amount of information people are asked for when they just want to say “When I do X, Y happens. And it shouldn't.”
An UploadWizard-style guide for people to report bugs might be helpful but the first step should be to reduce the amount of information that users are asked for.
Mark.