Bug Tracker/FAQ

Tip: This FAQ gets into technical details for those who are interested. If that's not your kind of thing, go back to the main Issue Tracker page.

What's the difference between Bugs & New Features?

• Bug - Something does not work correctly compared to the way it was designed or should be expected to.
• New Feature - Something that Second Life doesn't do, but you think it would be a great idea or improvement if it could.

What kind of behavior is allowed on the Issue Tracker?

^ Useful, helpful behavior. Click through for our rules.

What software powers your Issue Tracker?

JIRA from Atlassian, which you can read the general documentation to. If you find a bug with JIRA itself, contact Atlassian.

How do I customize my settings?

• View your User Profile - Some details, like your Username and email address, are tied to your main Second Life info. If you want to change those, visit Your Dashboard.
• Edit Your Preferences - A few options can be customized. You can also change your language here.

Can I write my bug report in another language?

While we have a growing number of Lindens who are multilingual, to have your issue understood broadly by the Linden Lab's developers, please have a friend help you with an English translation.

How do I keep up with what's going on?

On the left of each issue is a Watch it link you can click. When the issue is updated, you'll get an email notification. You can also view Your Watches.

Check the Release Notes for what's new in Second Life. Release Notes highlight features and bug fixes, as well as known issues to be aware of. This context may help you understand whether a change was intentional.

Also, make sure your graphics drivers are update. Many historical bugs have been fixed by newer drivers.

Our Bug Triagers review issues on a regular basis; join in if you'd like to participate! Our engineers may require additional information from the issue reporter or other contributors.

What are Projects and Components?

• Projects - Used to sort issues into sensible groups. One big project is "VWR" for our Second Life Viewer, the software package you download to use Second Life.
• Components - The specific area of a problem within a project.

More Projects and Components are added over time as needed.

Examples

• Second Life Viewer - VWR
  • Component = Avatar/Character - "My avatar clothing is all black after installing a video driver update"
  • Component = Inventory - "Objects in my inventory don't remain sorted in the correct order after relogging"
• Second Life Service - SVR
  • Component = Performance and/or Teleport - "Server performance decreases when several avatars teleport into the Region at once"
  • Component = Scripts - "My scripted objects are not able to talk to the outside world after Second Life Grid downtime"
• Second Life Website - WEB
  • Component = wiki.secondlife.com - "Wiki blocks login for Residents with a 'y' in their name"
  • Component = jira.secondlife.com. - "The Issue Tracker always forces me to authenticate, even if I save my login information"
• Second Life Miscellaneous - MISC - Issues which don't fit into another existing component
  • Component = Miscellaneous - "The TOS doesn't allow me to edit the Viewer source code"

Who is WorkingOnIt Linden?

A group account used to mark status when an issue is being investigated internally by Linden Lab. This is more communicative than the issue being "Unassigned". Various Lindens can access the account.

What's the difference between the "Fixed" and "Fix Pending" resolutions?

• Fixed - The fix is available in a version of the Second Life Viewer you can download, right now.
• Fix Pending - The fix has been made within Linden Lab's code and has not been released publicly/broadly yet. It may need to undergo quality assurance, or requires merging from a branch, before being available to you. Think of it as a "Coming soon!" notice.

Why was my issue resolved with a status of "Expected Behavior"?

Often, the Second Life software is behaving exactly as designed, but it can seem wrong if you're not aware of reasons behind the behavior. "Expected Behavior" is used for such cases — where what you saw happen was not a bug, but you're asking for a new behavior we haven't thought of yet.

If you would like to push for a change in that behavior:

1. Go to the issue's page and click Reopen Issue on the left. Be sure to state WHY in the comments.
2. Then, click Edit on the left, change the Issue Type to New Feature by moving it.
3. Go through the steps and click Move to confirm.