What's not obvious: The difference between "Report errors" and "Debug output"

mronkko
This is a followup to the what is not obvious in Zotero

I understand the difference between report errors and debug output and why these are needed. However, for an average user having two systems can be confusing.

This could be made more simple with the following changes
-Remove the "Submit to Zotero Server" button from the preferences
-Add a new checkbox "Include additional debug output" to the "Zotero Error Report" dialog that appears when you choose "Report errors"
-If debug output was not enabled, the checkbox would be unchecked and disabled and there would be short help text on how to enable the additional debug information.

This way from the user interface perspective, there would be only one mechanism for reporting errors and the user would be able to choose whether or not to include additional information.
  • dstillman
    edited November 2, 2011
    We could have debug output include error output too (for the rare occasions when we need both), but as I noted in that other thread, debug output covers a specific time period and needs to be started/cleared (for performance/memory reasons) and sometimes viewed, so it doesn't work as a simple menu option like Report Errors. The only way people are going to understand how to use debug output is by reading the instructions, and once you do you know how to generate it. I don't think this is a big deal.
  • mronkko
    I understand that it needs to be started and that there is really a need for different logs because of performance issues.

    What I am saying is that the system would be easier for the user if there would be two changes

    1) Sending reports about problems to Zotero would be done from one place only instead of two places

    2) This one place (the report errors dialog) would explain how to enable debug mode to submit more detailed information to the developers.
  • dstillman
    The only time we need debug output is when we request it, in which case we provide a link. Otherwise it's a waste of people's time.
  • adamsmith
    "We could have debug output include error output too (for the rare occasions when we need both)"

    I think that'd be helpful - I've seen a number of threads when either both was requested or a user submitted a debug instead of an error ID. Why not save that extra back and forth?
  • dstillman
    Done.

    https://github.com/zotero/zotero/commit/25ba8c70063d791b54b4529bf6386c914c3e2fc6
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