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Work with an issue

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8 min readUpdated

What an issue record is

An issue record is a report about a documentation problem that the team can review, update, discuss, and move through its status journey. Internal teams use the record to coordinate work after a reader reports a problem.

If you need to…Go to…
Find an existing issueFind and open an issue
Understand the record before changing itRead the issue record
Change triage details or replyUpdate and respond to an issue
Add an issue to a board or filter the listHandle boards, filters, and status branches
Resolve an error or empty stateWhen an issue action does not work
Continue after a status changeKnow what happens next
Review the Issues destination and its viewsIssues overview
Manage boardsManage issue boards
Review status recoveryIssue states and recovery

Before you start

Prerequisites

Have this readyWhy it matters
Access to the project that contains the issueIssues are scoped to a project.
The issue information you need to reviewThe record route requires an existing issue identifier.
A saved issue recordThe record page is opened from the list of existing issues.
The change or response you need to makeThe available work includes triage updates, description editing, replies, internal notes, and closure choices.

The record and list screens declare no required-field marker. The record screen also has no confirmation dialog before its status, description, assignee, priority, comment, close, or board actions.

Find and open an issue

The All Issues view is the list for finding an existing issue and opening its record.

Prerequisites

  • You have access to the project containing the issue.
  • You know enough about the issue to recognise its row.

Steps

  1. Open the All Issues view.

  2. Select All, Open, In Progress, Resolved, or Closed, or choose Category, Type, Priority, Sort, or Group as applicable.

    If you need to…Choose…
    Narrow by statusAll, Open, In Progress, Resolved, or Closed
    Filter by issue detailsCategory, Type, Priority, Sort, or Group
    Search by textSearch issues…
  3. Select the issue row to open its record.

Use the list controls and status counts to locate the issue you need to open.

Result: The issue record opens.

Read the issue record

An issue record brings the report, its current handling details, and its activity into one place.

The top of the record identifies the report and shows its current status, priority, type, and category. The record also shows the reporter, assignee, reported time, reported page, and Status Journey.

AreaWhat you can read or change
What the reader saidThe issue description; use Show more or Show less to change how much text is visible, and Edit to open the editor.
Activity TimelineComments, status changes, and assignments; use All, Comments, or Updates to filter the timeline.
ManageStatus, Priority, and Assignee.
DetailsType, Category, and Reporter.
EnvironmentBrowser, scroll position, and Open reported page when reported environment data exists.
Close IssueFixed, Duplicate, Won't Fix, and Not Reproducible when the issue is not Closed.
Comment composerPublic reply or Internal, followed by Send reply or Add note.

The record's Status options are Open, In Progress, Waiting on customer, Paused, Resolved, and Closed. Its Priority options are Critical, High, Medium, and Low. The Assignee list includes Unassigned and member options.

The record shows Start Working when its status is Open, Mark as Resolved when its status is In Progress, Close as Fixed when its status is Resolved, and Reopen Issue when its status is Closed.

Update and respond to an issue

Updating an issue keeps its triage details and conversation together so the next person can see what has happened.

Change triage details

Prerequisites

  • You have opened the issue record.
  • You know the new status, priority, or assignee to apply.

Steps

  1. In Status, choose Open, In Progress, Waiting on customer, Paused, Resolved, or Closed.
  2. In Priority, choose Critical, High, Medium, or Low.
  3. In Assignee, choose Unassigned or a member option.
  4. Follow the status-specific action that appears: select Start Working, Mark as Resolved, Close as Fixed, or Reopen Issue.

Result: The selected issue detail is submitted for update, and the record is fetched again. When the update succeeds, the message is Assignee updated for an assignee change or the capitalized field name followed by updated for another field.

Edit the description

Prerequisites

  • You have opened the issue record.
  • You have the corrected description ready.

Steps

  1. Select Edit in What the reader said.
  2. Enter the corrected description in the text area.
  3. Select Save.
  4. Select Cancel instead when you want to discard the edit.

Result: The description editor closes; a changed description is submitted, while Cancel discards the edit.

Send a reply or add an internal note

Prerequisites

  • You have opened the issue record.
  • You have the message ready.

Steps

  1. Choose the comment visibility that matches the audience.

    If the message is for…Select…
    The reporterPublic reply
    The teamInternal
  2. Enter the message in the comment box.

  3. Select Send reply or Add note according to the message visibility.

    VisibilitySelect…
    Public replySend reply
    InternalAdd note

Result: The comment is submitted and the timeline is fetched again. The success message is Comment added.

Handle boards, filters, and status branches

These choices let you work with the issue in the list or coordinate it on a board without changing the issue's meaning.

Choose a list view

Prerequisites

  • You are in the All Issues view.

Steps

  1. Choose Category, Type, Priority, Sort, Group, Cozy, Compact, or Per page as applicable.

    If you need to…Choose…
    Filter by categoryAll categories, Incorrect, Outdated, Missing info, Unclear, Broken link, Code broken, Typo, or Other in Category
    Filter by typeAll types, Doc issue, Question, Bug, Feature request, or Other in Type
    Filter by priorityAll priorities, Critical, High, Medium, or Low in Priority
    Sort the listNewest first, Oldest first, Priority (high first), or Recently updated in Sort
    Group the listNo grouping, Status, Priority, or Category in Group
    Change row densityCozy or Compact
    Change page size10, 25, 50, or 100 in Per page

Result: The list is displayed using the selected status, filters, order, grouping, density, and page size.

Add an issue to a board

Prerequisites

  • You have opened an issue record or selected issues in the list.
  • You have a board available to choose.

Steps

  1. Select Add to Board.

  2. Enter a board name in Search boards... when you need to narrow the board list.

  3. Select the board name for the action you need.

    Board stateWhat selecting the board name does
    The issue is not on the boardAdds the issue or selected issues to the board
    The issue is already on the boardRemoves the issue from the board

Result: The issue is added to or removed from the selected board. The confirmation names the selected board.

When an issue action does not work

Use the message or empty state on screen to identify the next action.

Successful updates use Assignee updated for an assignee change and the capitalized field name followed by updated for other field changes. Board confirmations read Added <number> issue(s) to "<selected board>" or Removed from "<selected board>".

What you seeWhat it meansWhat to do
Update failedThe field update did not complete.Check the selected value and try the field update again.
Assignee updatedThe assignee update completed.Continue with the issue record.
<capitalized field name> updatedAnother field update completed; the message uses the field name with its first letter capitalized, followed by updated.Continue with the issue record.
Issue closedThe close action completed.Continue with the issue record.
Close failedThe close action did not complete.Choose a close reason again.
Failed to add commentThe comment submission did not complete.Check the comment text and submit it again.
Added <number> issue(s) to "<selected board>"The issue or selected issues were added to the selected board.Continue with the issue record or board work.
Removed from "<selected board>"The issue was removed from the selected board.Continue with the issue record or board work.
Couldn't add to boardAdding the issue to the board did not complete.Choose the board again.
Couldn't removeRemoving the issue from the board did not complete.Choose the board again.
Board-add errorThe app may show an error message or the fallback Couldn't add to board.Follow the message shown on screen and retry the board action.
Board-removal errorThe app may show an error message or the fallback Couldn't remove.Follow the message shown on screen and retry the board action.
Issue not foundThe requested issue record is unavailable.Select Back to Issues, then use the list to choose an issue.
No comments yetThe selected timeline view has no comments.Select All or add a reply.
No updates yetThe selected timeline view has no updates.Select All or change the issue.
No activity yetThe selected timeline view has no activity.Select All or add a reply.
No boards matchThe board search has no matching result.Change the text in Search boards....
No boards yetNo board is available in the picker.Close the picker and continue with the issue record.
No issues yetThe list contains no issues.Check the selected project and list view.
No issues match your filtersThe current list filters return no issues.Select Clear all.

Know what happens next

An issue moves through Open, In Progress, Resolved, and Closed as the team works through it. The status-specific actions show the next available move on the record: Start Working, Mark as Resolved, Close as Fixed, or Reopen Issue.

When the issue needs board coordination, continue with Manage issue boards. For status meanings and recovery, continue with Issue states and recovery. For general help routing, continue with Getting help.

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