Introduction

Hello and welcome to the newly revised Help Desk Guide entitled "How to: Submit a Bug Report". A lot has changed since the last time this guide was released and rather then refresh the old guide via an edit we have decided it's best to deliver this and each and every other 'How to' guide as new guides.

Before Submitting your Inquiry

There are a two main areas you should always check before filing a Bug Report. These two areas are the deviantART Status Forum and the deviantART Inc. > Help & FAQ section of the News.

If the issue you experience is listed in one of these sections, there is no need to report the issue as we're already aware. If you do not see the issue you are experiencing listed or see something you think may be it but are not sure, please feel free to submit a report.

Another thing to remember before submitting a report is, if your browser allows for the use of extensions or themes to be installed that you should try to temporarily disable them to see if this fixes the problem. As most often such addons will interfere with how the site really works. If disabling them does not help, please feel free to submit your report.

Please also make sure you are using the most up to date version of your browser.

Contacting the Help Desk

Assuming you already know how to contact the Help Desk, this next step will be easy. Once on the Help Desk contact page you will need to select 'Bug Report' from the 'Category' drop down menu. After you have selected the category for your inquiry, proceed by typing up your report.


Information you should include in your Report:

1.) To the best of your knowledge please list the day this issue started happening. If you're unsure, simply do not include this information. Listing no start day at all is better than exaggerating the day it started.

2.) A brief description of the problem occurring. Where it occurs and how to duplicate it. If you are unsure how to duplicate the issue, you can leave this out.

3.) Be sure to also include the browser as well as version # and operating system you use. If applicable, be sure to also list other browsers you have tried.



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Examples of how a proper report should look:

1.) Since 6pm Eastern Standard Time I am unable to submit any artwork because every time I try to select a category the category picker appears blacked out leaving me unable to select a category for my submission and proceed further.

This problem occurs in Internet Explorer only and I am using version 7.


2.) Since Tuesday morning I am unable to add new users to my devwatch listing. Anytime I try to add a user their name does not appear in my friends listing, I have clicked on update with no luck.

I am using Windows XP and Firefox 2.0.0.7 and I have also tried in Internet Explorer with no luck.




Examples of a bad report:

1.) OMG my page is just broke!

2.) My dev thinger-a-ma-bobber won't work. Why?

3.) My email will not change! FIX IT NOW!!!!!!!

4.) There is just a mess all over the page. FIX IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5.) My dog ate my homework and now I cannot submit anything. He is a good dog really, but if I do not give him his breakfast in time he will often chew things that he should not and speaking of breakfast. This morning I made myself some pancakes with strawberries on them and it was the best breakfast in the world and yeah. So could you fix my submission issue?


In other words, the more information we have on the issue you experience, the better our chances at finding a fix for the issue will be. But by all means, please do not tell us about your dog or your breakfast.


Pstttt Hexe! This Guide is great and all but I have one problem! I cannot login to the Help Desk because the site will not let me login at this time. Can I still contact the Help Desk? Yes you can, you may do so by emailing us @ help@deviantart.com .

We hope you have found the above information helpful.

Previous guides can be located by clicking here

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Much ,
The Help Desk Team
$hexentanz , $ewm and $y2jenn