This page is meant to help people to manage [https://launchpad.net/support support requests].

New support request

So, you are going to file a new support request. Before you proceed, you should look at existing tickets in order to find similar requests who fit your needs. You can do so by looking at [https://launchpad.net/support support requests page]. This task is very important and helps a lot in order to avoid to duplicate efforts. Remember: it is always a win thing to spend some time here before attempting to insert a new ticket.

Practice

If it is your first time with support request and you do not feel too much confident with Launchpad, you have a [https://staging.launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+tickets staging server] where you can try to insert and modify tickets as you like. It provides the same environment you will find in the real world so feel free to try! It is updated with production server every night so you won't find your yesterday's tickets, unless you inserted them on the real world.

Make a support request

You can add a new ticket by clicking on Request Support link on the top left edge. A new page will be displayed which asks you a brief summary:

Try to follow these rules:

• Be concise as much as possible
• Focus your question in a few words
• Avoid espressions such as "help me" or "I have got a problem" without any clue about the real matter

Once you enter a summary and click Continue, you will be showed a list of tickets which resemble your summary. If you did not search similar tickets before, this is the right time to do it. If no ticket matches your request, insert a detailed description of your problem and click Continue:

Your ticket has been inserted and everyone can post a comment or an answer. That ticket will be marked as Open in the support tracker page.

Manage support requests

Once a support request has been inserted, it is possible to make a lot of things on it. Here is the main ones.

Posting comments

When selecting a support request, a text box is shown at the bottom where you can insert your feedbacks about the selected ticket.

You can also insert URLs by providing full address (such as http://launchpad.net) or bug reports (with this syntax: bug #number), even if the best way to do so is by linking through the apposite function as stated below.

There are three types of feedbacks a user can submit: here they are.

Additional information

If you are ticket's reporter, you can provide additional information by inserting them in the text box and pressing I'm Providing More Information button.

Informations and answers

If you think so, you can ask the reporter to provide more informations on a given ticket by inserting your motivation in the text box and pressing Add Information Request. That ticket will be marked as Needs info in the support tracker page.

If you think you can give an answer to a given ticket, you can do so by inserting a detailed description in the text box and pressing Add Answered. That ticket will be marked as Answered in the support tracker page.

Closing tickets

Once the reporter has received sufficient feedbacks to satisfy her request, she is encouraged to close that ticket. She can do that by providing a detailed description of the procedure followed to resolv a specific issue and clicking on I Solved m Problem button.

If another user posted an answer, the reporter can choose which one solved her problem by clicking on This Solved my Problem located in the given answer box.

This way user who posted that will be marked as the one who solved that ticket.

Once a ticket has been closed, it no longer remains in pending requests pool but it is marked as Solved. This helps new users because they can find a solution quicker without the need to insert a new ticket.

Linking existing bug

The best way to report the existence of a bug report is by clicking on Link Existing Bug on the top left edge of the page.

You will be asked to insert the number of the bug you wish to link. By clicking Link, a new box will appear on the right which lists the bugs currently linked.

Once a bug is linked, you can remove it by clicking on Remove Bug Link. You have to select which bug(s) you want to remove and click on Remove.

Editing requests

If you ever need to modify the summary or the description of a support request, you can easily do so by clicking on Edit Request.

Here you can specify a new summary which best describes a given ticket or edit its description. This way you can fix typos too: some tickets are redundant because reporters chose to open a new request in order to fix such errors

If you think a ticket should be assigned to a specific package, you can modify it by inserting the chosen one directly in the text box on the bottom of the page or by clicking on the link on its right, where you will be able to search among the package list in order to find the right one.

Reopen requests

If you previously closed a ticket and you feel the need to reopen it, you can do so by inserting a valid reason to do so and clicking on I'm Still Having This Problem button. That ticket will be marked as Open in the support tracker page.

Support contacts

Support contacts users receive a copy of new tickets, comments, answers and every event generated by the support tracker. Anyone can join support contacts by clicking on Support Contact link on the top left edge of the page. Users who are support contacts have some abilities in support tracker management.

Rejecting tickets

Support contacts have the option to reject tickets by clicking on Reject Request on the top left edge of the page. They will be asked to provide a short description meant to explain why that ticket will be rejected.

There are situation where you are encouraged to reject support requests such as:

• Duplicate tickets (by reporting a valid ticket)
• Tests
• Offensive content

Sometimes it is not advisable to reject a request, e.g. a user placed an heavy critic about a feature she do not like (see [https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+ticket/1601 ticket #1601]).

More informations about support tracker

[https://help.launchpad.net/SupportTrackerDocumentation Official Support Tracker documentation]

CategoryDocumentation