EXT:feedback-assistant, a bug reporting tool for backend users

TYPO3 Association Community Budget Ideas 2024 Q1
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by Volker Kemeter

What is your idea about?
"To report issues is always a challenge, especially for technically unskilled users. Aside from sketchy descriptions one can expect screenshots at best. So the idea is to provide a tool which assists the user in bug reporting and to gather data of interest in the background, to supply developers with information they usually don’t receive from the user to solve issues.

The extension will fetch information from and about backend users via a tool accessible in the admin panel for the frontend, respectively in the toolbar for the backend. A GUI will allow the user to give feedback about the current page, while information will be fetched automatically like

  • the current page url
  • user data from the authenticated backend user
  • meta data (browser, resolution, cookie information…)
    as well as creating a screenshot.

This information will be sent via email, but we will also address ticket systems like Jira or Redmine later on. It is also planned to allow the user to write and draw straight onto the screenshot at a later stage."

What do you want to achieve by the end of Q1 2024?
The goal is to provide a tool to lower the inhibition level for users to report issues of a TYPO3 webpage and supply special and for the user difficult to access information to the developer for faster and more efficient bug resolving. Therefore, from technical point of view, the extension will be available and applicable, the user will be able to give feedback about the current frontend or backend page and data will be fetched automatically, as well as a screenshot from the current page will be taken. The gathered information will be forwarded via e-mail. The extension will confirm to TYPO3 contribution standards and will be shipped with a documentation for editors, integrators and developers.

What is the potential impact of your idea for the overall goal?
Developers always suffer from insufficient information provided by users facing our product. This extension will simplify and accelerate the process of reporting issues, will relieve the user from dealing with technical stuff and will supply the developer with information which is usually unattainable. As such a feature is commonly only implemented in fee-based SaaS solutions, being available for the TYPO3 ecosystem might be an interesting improvement for decision makers.

Which budget do you need for your idea?
7.500 Euro

2 Likes
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I’ve seen @volk0r’s presentation of this last year and it would greatly benefit anyone working with end customers. Great idea!

1 Like
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I would like to have the feedback-assistant. But should this only be usable by the TYPO3 core or also by third party TYPO3 extensions (for the developers of the third party extension)? I would find it useful if it can be used for both, in a standardized way. Maybe in another step (divide and conquer)… I always have the problem that I want to help when I encounter a potential bug but having too less knowledge is a hard task to overcome. Often I can’t answer questions from developers in github… mostly because I don’t understand about what they are talking about. :sweat_smile:

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The endpoint [mailaddress, maybe some ticketing system] is configurable per installation?
Which means: we do not send these - somehow sensitive - data to some third party like an extension developer or to the TYPO3 headquarter, but to us, the maintainer of the system?

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hi sandra, sorry for my late reply, but i did not receive any notice, that this thread is in any kind active.

the project ends up in a “normal” typo3 extension. the way you interact is on the website, in the frontend, via the admin-panel (or in later steps, anywhere on the website in the frontend) but also in the backend via the toolbar items.

so, there will be a button in the website, where you can click on and write some text, add the screenshot of the page you are and send informations to a configured email address.

greetings, volker.

6

hi clemens,

yes, you can configure (in the first step) a email address - at least by site-config or maybe by pageUid, that means, you are free to use whatever email address you like. so no external systems needed. if your ticketing system has a email inbox, you can use this of course.

greetings, volker.

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Sounds really great!