Getting started as a tester

Getting started as a tester

FreeMind is a fairly large project with a very small development team. We need all the extra testing resources we can get, so if you want to help out, this is one of the best places to start.

1. Let us know that you want to help! Visit the Open Discussion Forum and tell us.
2. Download the latest beta release of the software here.
3. Test! Do everything you can think of to break the application, or just use it the way you plan on using it, and let us know what fails.
4. When there's a bug, tell us; to learn how, see reporting bugs, respecting the rules on Handling trackers.
5. You'll find things that you want the software to do that it doesn't do. Those aren't necessarily bugs. You can ask for new features, here.
6. If you are interested in helping with more advanced testing, by writing test scripts, please let us know in the Open Discussion Forum and someone will contact you about it.
7. Reap the rewards by having better software to work with.

Going further <<Proposal>>

Once you've gained some knowledge, you can help even more by following this path:

1. improve the bugs reported by "normal" users, making sure that they comply to the rules and that they contain a clear description of how to reproduce the bug.
2. debug the bug and find out where the bug happens in the code, it helps the developers to fix it quickly.
3. suggest the required corrections yourself and transform the bug into a patch for the developers to integrate into the FreeMind code.
4. become a developer yourself!

In order to do the above tasks, you'll need additional rights that you should request from one of the Project Admins listed on FreeMind's SF page.

See also

• Handling trackers
• Reporting bugs