This section explains a few high-level concepts that will assist you in getting started working with Issue Manager.
Security privileges determine the specialized tasks that you can perform in Issue Manager beyond the basic functions that are available to all users. As an individual user, you have a certain set of specialized privileges. As a member of a workgroup, you have an additional set of privileges.
Procedure To view your security privileges:
1 From the Issue Manager Configuration unit, select User Accounts from the Configuration column on the left.
2 Find your user name in the list of system user and click it.
Note If you know that you have been assigned to a work group, you can use the Group drop-down list at the top of the page to filter down the list of users to only those users who are in your workgroup.
3 The User Settings dialog appears. This dialog lists the workflow routing rules that have been defined for you, your inbox assignment, and the security privileges that have been granted to you. Privileges are organized into categories including:
• Groups, inboxes and user accounts
• Products
• Other privileges relating to reassigning and verifying issues and administering Issue Manager
Note Talk to your administrator if you feel that your security privileges are inadequate for your job responsibilities.
Changing your password
When your user account is created, your administrator can specify an initial password for you. During the first session or any subsequent session, it is recommended that you change your password.
Your organization’s production database
The production database used by your organization may differ considerably from the sample database you use to become familiar with Issue Manager’s functionality. Consider asking your administrator the following questions:
• Have any user interface customizations been made to the production database?
• Do I have an inbox? Where will I find the issues that pertain to me? How are inboxes organized (product and issue type; product and workgroup; individual user)?
• Are my security privileges sufficient for my responsibilities?
Using Issue Manager
Users in different workgroups will use Issue Manager in different ways. QA engineers may spend most of their time entering issues. Managers may run administrative queries and reports more often. Developers and technical writers may view their inboxes periodically to address issues that must be fixed. Technical support users may only use Issue Manager to run predefined queries on the status of bugs and enhancements that they have entered.
Issue Manager’s workflow is project based. Only those issues associated with the active project can be viewed or processed. You must select a project (via the Projects unit) before you can gain access to individual issues. The selected project will remain the default selected project each time you access Issue Manager, until you select an alternate project to work with, at which point the newly selected project will become the default.
Projects are created, configured, and managed via the SilkCentral Administration module. See the SilkCentral Administration Guide for details on creating, configuring, and managing projects.
Once a project has been created via the SilkCentral Administration module, it must be initialized for use as an Issue Manager project. See “Working with Projects” for details.
During the project initialization process, you have the option of creating a sample database for use with Issue Manager. The sample data enables you to interact with Issue Manager’s functionality. See “Working with Sample Data” for details.