Opening Tickets

First off, thank you for taking the time to want to improve the Glowstone server.
Every time you post a bug or feature that can be fixed, it will further advance and improve the project, so we can not thank you enough for taking the time to do it.

With both bugs and feature requests please open each bug / feature request in a separate issue. It allows for far easier administration of the project.

Bugs

Getting Started

Before you even click the new issue button, please ensure...

• you can reproduce the issue
• you are running the latest version of Glowstone
• there is not already a similar issue

Opening your issue

Everything has checked out and you match all the criteria so it's time to open a new issue.

Choose a good title! Make sure you use a descriptive name for the issue, do not use a title like "thing broke". Instead, title your issue "wooden doors won't open" so that developers can quickly fix your issue. It also cleans up the issue tracker, as duplicate issues will not be opened as often.

Go into detail! Tell us a novel if you have to. Make sure to describe the bug, how you encountered the bug, and any relevant messages or errors. Please provide your operating system name and version, and your java version.

Preview your issue! Sometimes markdown can be a pain for people. That's why you should click the preview tab before submitting your issue, to avoid embarrassments like walls of text or formatting errors. For better readability, get familiar with markdown.

Keeping your issue up to date

Make sure you keep tabs on your issue. People may ask you for more information, so check back at least once per day if you can. It helps us help you help us.

If you find anything new with the bug, make sure to post a new comment.

Closing your issue

If you realize the bug was caused by your humanity, you can close the issue, but make sure that you fully describe what you did wrong, because more often than not, others will make the same mistakes as you.

If you see something about a commit, that means someone coded something to fix your bug. It will link to the commit, which shows the changes the developer did to fix the bug. If your problem is still not fixed, reopen the issue, and fill us in with the details.

Requesting a new feature

Features are things you want added to Glowstone. They are like bugs, but they have some different steps.

Getting Started

Before you even go to the new issue button, it is important to check the following

• Is there a feature suggestion like this already open?
• Does it meet the goals / requirements of the Glowstone Project
• Is this something that can be used for everyone using glowstone?

As long as you have checked all of these then you are good to go!

Opening your issue

Everything has checked out and you match all the criteria so its time to open a new issue.

1. Make sure you use a useful name for the issue. Issues like "I want a thing" or "Thingie needs to be added right now" make it difficult for the developers to find the issue at a glance and decide if it's worth investigating further. Remember that if the developers don't look your issue, it probably won't get added!
2. Go into detail. When typing in the body of your issue it is of absolutely no use to anybody if you just copy and paste what you have already said in the title and leave it like that. Go into as much detail as you can. One thing that is always helpful is to go into detail on how the feature would work, what type of commands would be added, would you get effects as a side effect, etc. All of these things should be explained if possible, along with anything else that may be helpful for everyone to know!
3. Make sure you preview before submitting. The last thing anybody wants or needs is dodgy markdown making it impossible to read! Just click preview and make sure it looks as good as you planned!

Keeping your issue up to date

It is important that you keep in touch with your issue. Developers may want you to give them more detail, or they might be needing to just confirm something with you. Just check in on it from time to time, and keep an eye for a blue dot on the tray icon at the top of every GitHub page! Depending on your settings, you may even get email notifications for these updates.

It's also very important that you keep us updated on the same issue if the bug changes or if you find out more about it.

Closing your issue

Normally you will not need to close your issue, as it will be done by the developers. You should only need to close a feature request if you realize that it is already in Glowstone, or has already been posted as an issue.

Most of the time, a developer will close the issue, either with a commit or manually. When a commit closes an issue, you will normally get a message similar to "mastercoms closed this issue from a commit 22 days ago: 'Added Amazing new feature to create random rainbows. Resolves #322'". A developer may also close an issue if there is a workaround to the issue, with your "bug" being intended. Don't be afraid to speak up if a developer closed an issue wrongly and you feel like it still needs some work. If not, your job is done!