546558 - when first cc'd to a bug, send the entire bug's history in the first email

Status: NEW

(Bugzilla :: Email Notifications, enhancement, P3)

Description

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

A common usage pattern in Bugzilla is to cc a user to a bug in order to ask their opinion, get input, or inform them of some change. However when a user gets the first email notification on a bug, there is often a large set of context which they are missing.

Presently, a user must click on the bug link to go to a webpage in order to catch up on the bug's history. Instead, I suggest that the first email send the user the "history-so-far" so that they can have the context in their email client.

// Design
Add an email option which says:
[ ] Include full bug history when I'm cc'd on an existing bug

If checked, then along with the cc notification include a full history of all previous comments and other changes (according to existing email preferences) in a single, large email. This email should have a header like "bugzilla-history-included" to help with mail filtering.

// Edge cases
If a bug has thousands of comments, this could cause undue system load. If this is an implementation concern, a server-configurable flag can be added that limits the amount of context delivered in this first email to the last N updates on a bug.

Comment 1

[Max Kanat-Alexander]

Hmm, this would be valuable just because it would avoid a context switch to the browser?

Comment 2

[(no longer active)]

This should of course only trigger when someone else is CCing you on a bug.  If you're CCing yourself on a bug, then supposedly you've already taken a look at the bug and are aware of the context to some extent.

Comment 3

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

Hm - I think that's probably right, while it might be useful to get the full history in your bugmail anyway, I support Ehsan's addition to the "spec" I posted.

Comment 4

[Max Kanat-Alexander]

I think perhaps sending the last five comments in reverse order would do it, no? I think of the times when somebody CC'ed me but forgot to (or just didn't) comment at the same time as they CC'ed me, and mostly I just want to see the very last comment, although perhaps the last five would be handy as well.

Due to our current architecture around bugmail, this probably won't happen soon if it does happen, but I totally see the utility of it. Perhaps you could do it as a bmo customization next time you upgrade.

Comment 5

[(no longer active)]

(In reply to comment #4)
> I think perhaps sending the last five comments in reverse order would do it,
> no? I think of the times when somebody CC'ed me but forgot to (or just didn't)
> comment at the same time as they CC'ed me, and mostly I just want to see the
> very last comment, although perhaps the last five would be handy as well.

Will it only include comments, or activities, or a combination?  I think it would be useful to send all the activities happened on a bug since the time that the fifth oldest comment was posted in chronological order.

Comment 6

[Max Kanat-Alexander]

That could be a really enormous list of things. I think I'd only send comments.

Comment 7

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

(In reply to comment #4)
> I think perhaps sending the last five comments in reverse order would do it,
> no? I think of the times when somebody CC'ed me but forgot to (or just didn't)
> comment at the same time as they CC'ed me, and mostly I just want to see the
> very last comment, although perhaps the last five would be handy as well.

Personally, I do not think 5 comments would be enough, though perhaps 5 + the original report would do it - ultimately as stated in comment 0, it should be configurable on the server side. It's likely to vary drastically from project to project.

(In reply to comment #6)
> That could be a really enormous list of things. I think I'd only send comments.

You keep on talking like disk space is something that is dear to a user. Welcome to 2010 where you can buy all the disk space you ever owned in the 90s for a tenner.

Comment 8

[Max Kanat-Alexander]

  Oh, no, it has nothing to do with disk space. It has to do with the enormous collection of garbage that would fill up the top of the email. (That's where all the field changes would go, in the current architecture.) Why would I ever care about *disk space*? :-)