GitHub Label Usage

The following labels exist for this repository:

1. bug
2. document
3. duplicate
4. feature
5. question
6. task
7. wontfix

While some of these should be self-explanatory the following definitions should provide some guidance on when to include certain labels for issues in GitHub.

Mutually Exclusive Labels

The following labels are mutually exclusive and shall not appear on the same issue:

1. bug
2. feature
3. task
4. question

Labels to apply before closing an issue

The following label should only be applied when closing an issue:

1. wontfix
2. duplicate

bug

The bug label should be applied if the issue is identifying something that is wrong with either the documentation, diagrams, or source code. For example, if there is a spelling or grammatical error in a document, or the wrong shape was used in a diagram, and of course, if there is a clear problem with the software that needs fixed: use the bug label.

document

This should be applied in addition to either bug, feature, or task to indicate that it has to do with the documentation (instead of the source code).

duplicate

If any issue is found to be a duplicate of another issue, one of the issues should be marked as duplicate and a link should be provided in the description/comments to indicate which issue it duplicates. This will help track when there are duplicate issues in the system so that both can be closed when someone marks one of them as closed.

feature

A feature is a new feature added to either a document, diagram, or the software itself.

question

If there is a question or we would like to track a discussion (that might then result in later issues being made), use the question label. With the team's use of Slack, it is likely there won't be many issues created to track questions, but if there are questions that come up in the channel that might generate one or more other issues, then please make a new issue with the question label.

task

A task is small unit of work that modifies a pre-existing document, diagram, or the software. This is different from a feature in that it generally requires less work (i.e. less planning and development time) than features. If there is confusion about whether to use a task or feature label, just use a feature label instead and the team can update it if they feel it's necessary.

Examples of tasks might be: adding authors to the documents, adding JavaDoc or inline comments to source code if there is a lack, etc. These are then relatively minor issues that simply enhance or otherwise improve the quality of our work.

wontfix

Use the wontfix label when closing issues of other types when the issue is to be rejected because it is deemed to be invalid or otherwise unnecessary.