The Request Tracker in WebGUI is an easy way to keep track of things like software bugs or requests for enhancement.

The Request Tracker is an example of an asset prototype.

1. Choose the Request Tracker asset from the New Content menu of the Admin Bar.

2. The “Add Collaboration System” screen will open.
   
   

3. Give the tracker a title in the “Title” field.

4. The “Menu Title” is the title as it appears in site navigation. You can leave this blank and WebGUI will fill it in for you (by default WebGUI will use the “Title”).

5. “URL” can also be left blank. WebGUI will generate a URL for you.

6. Enter a brief explanation of what the tracker is for in the “Description” field.

7. If you want to enable archiving of requests, set the “Enable Archiving?” field to Yes.

8. The “Archive After” field determines the time that may pass after a post is last updated before it will be archived.

9. The “Attachments Per Post” field determines how many attachments may be included in a post. Consider this field if you want to allow users to post images or screenshots.

10. If the “Use preview?” field is toggled to Yes, a preview of the post will be shown to the user before it is posted to the tracker, allowing the user a final opportunity to make edits or delete.

11. Toggle the “Enable Avatars?” field to Yes if you want to allow users to include an avatar with their posts. The avatar field in the User Profile will need to be enabled, and the user will have to upload an avatar.

12. Set your display options in the “Display” tab. This is the default Display tab for Collaboration Systems. See the chapter on Collaborations Systems for a definition of each field.

13. Set your security settings in the “Security” tab. See the Collaboration System chapter for more specific information.

14. The Metadata tab is the standard Metadata screen common amongst all assets. If you need to handle metadata for the purposes of content profiling you can do so here.

15. The “RSS Tab” allows you set specific information regarding the RSS feed generated by this asset. See the Collaboration System chapter for more information.

16. The “Mail” tab allows you to give the users the ability to post submissions via email. This is where you set the email address for this asset.
    
    

1. Auto subscribe to thread?: if toggled to Yes, any user who posts to the collaboration system will be automatically subscribed to the thread. This will only work if “Require subscription for email posts?” is set to No.

2. Require subscription for email posts?: if toggled to Yes, the user not only has to be in the group to post, but must also subscribe to be in the collaboration system or thread in order to post to it.

3. Server: specify an IP address or hostname of a mail server.

4. Account: the account name (username, email) to use to log into the mail server.

5. Password: the password to use to log into the account.

6. Address: the email address users will send posts to.

7. Prefix: text that will appear before the subject line of all emails sent out from this collaboration system.

8. Get mail?: if toggled to yes, the collaboration system will fetch posts from an email account.

9. Check Mail Every: how often the collaboration system will check for mail on the server.

10. Collaboration System, Notification Template: this is the template used to generate emails for users subscribed to this asset.

17. When all settings are complete, click save to create the request tracker.

18. Users post to the request tracker by clicking on the “Add” link.

19. The “Edit Message” screen will open. Users can post their messages to the request tracker via this screen.
    
    

1. Subject: enter a title or short description of the post.

2. Severity: if the request tracker is being used to report problems, such as a software bug, this is the field in which to indicate the severity of the problem.

3. Description: enter text describing your request.

4. Attachment: allows you to upload a file or image to include with your post, such as a screenshot of a software problem or an example of what you are requesting.

5. Subscribe: if toggled to Yes, the user will be subscribed to the thread.

6. Lock and Make Sticky: these are administrative functions not normally seen by a normal user.

20. Click save to post the message.

Users can click on the subject of the post to view its entire description. The subject of the post appears at the top with the description below. On the right you can see the user who created the post, the date on which the post was created, the severity, how many views this post has had, its rating (per other users), and its current status (when the post’s request has been fulfilled, click the Close link in the Status field to remove it from the request tracker). If replies have been made to the post, they will display below the original post.