An inbox is similar to a mail box to which all open, active issues addressed (assigned) to a particular user or group of users are delivered. It is important not to confuse an inbox with a user account. Issues are always assigned to inboxes, not to users specifically.
Note Archived issues do not appear in inboxes.
How issues are routed to inboxes
Issue Manager’s routing rules automatically dispatch issues to the appropriate inboxes. An issue stays in an inbox until a user acts on it (e.g., when a developer fixes a bug). Then Issue Manager automatically dispatches the issue to the next inbox, based on your workflow and routing rules. Finally, when an issue is closed, Issue Manager removes the issue from the last inbox.
An issue can also be routed to another inbox when a user with the Reassign issues security privilege manually reassigns it to another inbox.
Which users need inboxes?
Users who take action on issues should have an inbox. Developers, QA engineers, and technical writers are in this category.
Users who only report or view bugs do not require inboxes. Technical support personnel who routinely report bugs found by customers, but who do not act on bugs may be in this category.
How many inboxes does a user need?
A user can have multiple inboxes. For example, a developer might want two separate inboxes to hold bug reports from two different products. You might set up Dan - Dev (Product A) and Dan - Dev (Product B), for example.
There is no practical limit to the number of inboxes you can set up in Issue Manager. Remember however that the more inboxes you have, the more difficult it is to keep track of issues.
Note Inboxes are associated with groups; therefore, groups must be set up prior to inboxes.
Individual and group inboxes
Inboxes can be set up for individual users, groups of users, or subsets of issues. For example, QA engineers Sarah and Mike might be responsible for verifying bug fixes for different products. In such an instance you would set up two inboxes (Sarah - QA and Mike - QA).
On the other hand, users can also share inboxes. For example, a Product Management group might need only one inbox into which all enhancements are funneled; periodically, the entire group might meet to review the suggested improvements. In such situation you might set up a single inbox called PM - Inbox.
Another use of an inbox might be as a holding place for a subset of issues. For example, you might want to create an inbox for all deferred issues for Product C. In such a case, creating an inbox called Deferred (Product C) might be appropriate.
Assigning a user’s default inbox
In this chapter you will learn how to define inboxes. In “Setting Up User Accounts” you will assign an inbox to a user’s account. This inbox is the user’s default inbox. A user can have only one default inbox.
Viewing default and other inboxes
Users can view their default inboxes by selecting Issue Manager/Tracking (Click the My Inbox button on the toolbar if the default inbox is not already visible).
To see an inbox other than the default, users can select another inbox listed in the Inbox drop-down list. Any user can view any inbox, but only a user with the correct privileges and permissions can act on or reassign an issue.
System default view
Issue Manager provides an initial default view of inboxes for all users. You can customize the default view of inboxes for all users, as described in “Setting Up System Default Inbox View”.