svn commit: r1405138 - /incubator/ooo/site/trunk/content/openofficeorg/orientation/intro-qa.mdtext

[ro...@apache.org]

Author: robweir
Date: Fri Nov  2 20:16:45 2012
New Revision: 1405138

URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc?rev=1405138&view=rev
Log:
Further work on the intro to QA page

Modified:
    incubator/ooo/site/trunk/content/openofficeorg/orientation/intro-qa.mdtext

Modified: incubator/ooo/site/trunk/content/openofficeorg/orientation/intro-qa.mdtext
URL: http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/incubator/ooo/site/trunk/content/openofficeorg/orientation/intro-qa.mdtext?rev=1405138&r1=1405137&r2=1405138&view=diff
==============================================================================
--- incubator/ooo/site/trunk/content/openofficeorg/orientation/intro-qa.mdtext (original)
+++ incubator/ooo/site/trunk/content/openofficeorg/orientation/intro-qa.mdtext Fri Nov  2 20:16:45 2012
@@ -16,13 +16,30 @@ Notice:    Licensed to the Apache Softwa
            specific language governing permissions and limitations
            under the License.
 
-LEVEL 1: INTRODUCTION TO QA<br>
-In this orientation module you will know how a QA works in community.<br>
-To get involved into QA work, firstly you need subscribe mail list:
+In this orientation module you will learn how a Quality Assurance (sometimes called Quality Engineering or QA or QE)
+works in our community.   We will also learn about basic tasks that are easiest to do for new QA Volunteers.
 
-***QA Mailing List***
+##The Purpose of QA
 
-The list is for bug reports, quality assurance for release, beta tests, manual test, automated tests, etc.
+Our goal is to find defects in the Apache OpenOffice product before it is released to the general public.  We do
+this by a combination of manual and automated tests that we perform on pre-release builds of OpenOffice.  We also
+review and try to reproduce defects reported by end-users and submitted to us.
+
+Since OpenOffice is a core software application for millions of users, the role of QA is critical.  Although our
+programmers are wonderful, talented and very experienced, mistakes do happen.  Our task is to find these mistakes,
+report, prioritize them, and verify the fixes when they are made.
+
+QA is a discipline with many best-practices related to process and methodology, tools, techniques and theory.  
+Although professional QA practitioners are welcome in this project, we are also happy to welcome those with no
+prior experience, or those who are learning about QA, perhaps as a possible career.  Aside from the satisfaction 
+of improving the Apache OpenOffice product, you can learn or practice new skills.
+
+##QA Mailing List
+
+To get involved as QA volunteer, you first need to subscribe to our dedicated QA mail list.
+
+The mailing list is for bug reports, quality assurance for release, beta tests, manual test, automated tests, 
+etc.  This is where the QA community coordinates its activities.
 
 Subscribe: [ooo-qa-subscribe@incubator.apache.org](mailto:ooo-qa-subscribe@incubator.apache.org)<br>
 Post (after subscription): [ooo-qa@incubator.apache.org](mailto:ooo-qa@incubator.apache.org)<br>
@@ -33,7 +50,7 @@ Archives:
   - [Markmail](http://markmail.org/search/+list:org.apache.incubator.ooo-qa)
   - [Apache](http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-ooo-qa/)
 
-Post mail using special tag to identify QA activities:
+We use the following special subject tags to identify QA activities:
 
  * [QA REPORT] - topic related with  status report
  * [QA AUTOMATION] - topic related with automation tools, scripts and scope
@@ -45,43 +62,79 @@ Post mail using special tag to identify 
 
 After you subscribe QA mail list then you can post your topic in the mail group.
 
-***Bug Handling***:
+##Apache OpenOffice Test Builds
+
+Since our job is to find bugs in OpenOffice, we must run pre-release builds that contain many bugs.  These bugs 
+could be major or minor.  They could include document corruption bugs, crashes, even (in rare cases) bugs that 
+could make your system unstable.    So QA volunteers generally try to separate their QA work from their normal
+desktop activities.  You don't want to write your thesis on a test build!
+
+Some volunteers simply use two machines:  one dedicated to their testing work.   If things become unstable they can
+then reinstall the operating system and start fresh.   
+
+A more sophisticated approach is to use virtual machines,
+which can work quite well.  [VirtualBox](http://www.virtualbox.org) is a popular visualization package.
+
+Feel free to ask questions on the ooo-qa list about effective ways to manage a test environment.
+
+Once you have your test environment set up, you need to download and install the latest OpenOffice build. 
 
-Apache Bugzilla:
+  - [AOO nightly build](http://ci.apache.org/projects/openoffice/index.html) are built each night and are our "rawest"
+builds, with many possibilities for finding new bugs.
+  - [Snapshot builds](https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OOOUSERS/Development+Snapshot+Builds), are made
+generally every few weeks, are built in multiple languages and platforms.
+
+
+##Bug Handling
+
+Apache Bugzilla is where we track defects:
 
  * [http://issues.apache.org/ooo](http://issues.apache.org/ooo)
 
 Bugzilla related documents:
 
  * Bug lifecycle introduction [Issue Lifecycle](http://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Issue_lifecycle)<br>
- * A guide for opening bug: [How to file bug](http://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/QA/HowToFileIssue)
+ * A guide for reporting a new bug: [How to file bug](http://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/QA/HowToFileIssue)
+
+To open a new bug, you need to register your Bugzilla account first. [Account Request](https://issues.apache.org/ooo/createaccount.cgi)
+
 
-To open a new bug, you need register your bugzilla account firstly. [Account Request](https://issues.apache.org/ooo/createaccount.cgi)
+##Easy QA Tasks
 
-Now you can work as a QA role, starting from verifying fixed bugs to get familiar with AOO product.
+The two easiest tasks for a new QA Volunteer are:
+
+  - Verify bug fixes.  This helps you gain familiarity with the OpenOffice product, and our process.  This 
+verification is also very important, since a good percentage of bug fixes either fail to fix the bug, or cause
+a new bug.
+  - Manual testing.  This gains you further familiarity with QA process, by executing pre-defined test cases and
+writing up defect reports for any new defects found
+ - Writing new test cases.  This is a more advanced topic, but after mastery of the above two steps, and learning
+to "think like a bug", you will be ready for this.
+
+### Verifying Fixed Defects
 
-To verify fixed defect, you need to get latest build. AOO nightly build are available at build bot: [AOO buildbot](http://ci.apache.org/projects/openoffice/index.html)
 
 You can get resolved bug list from this query: [All fixed bugs after AOO 3.4 release](https://issues.apache.org/ooo/buglist.cgi?cmdtype=runnamed&namedcmd=Fixed_After_340&list_id=36979)
 
 Select the bug you want to verify:
 
- 1. First you need to understand which fault does the bug is referring to.
+ 1. First you need to understand which fault does the defect report is referring to.
  1. Install the latest build.
- 1. Follow the reproduce steps to check if the defect has been fixed.
+ 1. Follow the steps to reproduce and check to see if the defect has been fixed.
  1. Add additional comments to the bug with your test result. e.g. build revision number, platform you have been tested etc.
- 1. Change defect status to "Verified"(this action requires "CanEdit" privilege" in Bugzilla system, if you cannot do that then send mail to mailing list and ask other QA do this for you.)
-
-
+ 1. "Test around" the bug to make sure that nothing was broken when fixing it.  You will develop and intuition for
+this as you learn to "think like a bug".
+ 1. Change defect status to "Verified" (this action requires "CanEdit" privilege" in Bugzilla system, if you cannot do that then send mail to mailing list and ask other QA do this for you.)
 
-***Manual Testing***
+###Manual Testing
 
 To get more familiar with AOO, now you can try to perform some manual test cases.
 
-Browse test management tool, [Testlink](http://aootesting.adfinis-sygroup.org) to find available test cases.<br>
-Read this guide if you are not familiar with Testlink tool. [Testlink usage guide](http://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/QA/Testlink )
+  - Browse test management tool, [Testlink](http://aootesting.adfinis-sygroup.org) to find available test cases.<br>
+  - Read this guide if you are not familiar with Testlink tool. [Testlink usage guide](http://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/QA/Testlink )
 
-After some practices on test case execution, now you can start writing new test cases.
+###Test Case Authoring
+After some practice on test case execution, now you can start writing new test cases.
 
 Useful guide for writing manual test cases: