9 Bug Report Templates to Boost Your QA Process

In the ever-evolving SaaS landscape, maintaining a seamless user experience is paramount. However, while striving to achieve a successful product delivery, bugs can disrupt the process.

This issue, if not addressed efficiently, can lead to delays and a decline in user engagement and satisfaction.

To tackle this challenge, an effective bug-reporting process is essential. An effective bug report ensures that issues are relayed and resolved quickly. Using a structured bug report template enhances communication among teams. Let’s look at the best bug report templates ****that you can use to enhance your QA process.

What Is a Bug Report?

A bug report is a document that details an issue or defect found in a product’s features. It provides information about the problem so that it can be resolved. The purpose is to provide information such as the issue description, actual outcome, and details about the area where the bug was found.

Benefits of an Effective Bug Report

A good bug report has all the essential information about the bug, which can be used in the debugging process. Here are some benefits:

• A structured bug report eliminates unnecessary confusion and assumptions.

• It helps debug at an early stage, thereby saving costs and time.

• It prevents bugs from disrupting the user experience.

• It helps to identify the cause of the problem and provides clues for solutions.

• A well-documented bug report enhances communication between developers and users.

Elements a Bug Report Template Should Have

• ID/Name: It should be brief and clear. The feature affected by the bug should be mentioned. Example: can’t add new items to cart.

• Description: The issue should be explained briefly with a few words. Specific keywords that can be searched in the bug tracker should be used.

• Environment: Websites can act differently across environments (browser, OS, screen size). The technical setup must be made known to the developers.

• Console logs: These logs contain JavaScript errors and warnings that help developers reproduce and fix bugs.

• Source URL: It makes it easy for developers to spot problems by including the URL of the page where the issue is found.

• Visual proof: Developers understand the problem faster with the availability of a screenshot or video.

• Steps to reproduce: Describe in detail the steps on how you encountered the bug to help developers find solutions.

• Expected results vs. actual results: Be specific and explain what you expected to happen; also describe what you experienced.

• Additional information: Relevant information about the issue should be entered. Extra information like serenity (major, minor, trivial) and priority (high, medium, low).

9 Best Bug Report Templates

Bug report templates are needed to save time. They are used to log issues efficiently and prevent potential problems promptly to ensure better product and customer satisfaction.

1. Jira

Jira is a popular and versatile product management tool used for product tracking and bug reporting. It is designed for development teams and used to collect internal bug reports.

Template Elements:

Jira has all the elements of a well-reported bug. They are:

• Name/ID

• Summary

• Description.

• Priority and severity

• Reporter

• Visual proof

• Environment

• Source URL

• Console logs

• Steps to reproduce

• Expected vs. actual results

2. Frill as a Bug Report Template

Frill is not built specifically for bug reporting and tracking. It is a user feedback and engagement tool primarily designed to help teams collect, organize, and act on user input.

Using Frill for Bug Reporting

While it isn't strictly a bug-tracking tool, it can be used effectively in a bug-reporting workflow, especially for managing user-reported issues alongside feature requests and other feedback. It can facilitate bug reporting in the following ways:

• Feedback Boards for Bug Reports: Frill allows you to create dedicated feedback boards where users can report issues (e.g., bugs). Users or team members can describe the issue, provide screenshots, and categorize the report.

• Prioritizing Bugs Alongside Feedback: You can categorize bug reports, assign them priorities, and manage them alongside feature requests. Upvoting features enable users or team members to highlight critical issues, ensuring the most impactful bugs are addressed first.

• Integrations with Development Tools: Frill integrates with tools like Jira, Slack, and Trello, so bug reports collected in Frill can be easily transferred to a dedicated bug tracking or project management system for resolution.

• Transparency for User-Reported Issues: Teams can use Frill's changelog and announcements feature to inform users about fixes for reported bugs, enhancing user trust and satisfaction.

• Customizable Workflow: Teams can adapt Frill to collect not just feedback and feature requests but also detailed bug reports by tweaking forms and templates.

Frill is an excellent tool for collecting and managing user-reported bugs in a user-friendly way, especially when combined with its feedback and roadmap features. However, for highly technical and detailed bug tracking, it is better used in conjunction with a dedicated bug-tracking tool like Jira or GitHub.

3. ClickUp

ClickUp is a good bug report template. It contains everything you need for successfully reporting bugs. Despite being new, it has recorded growth due to its functionalities, ease of use, and extensive internal tools.

Template Elements:

• Task title

• Description

• Source URL

• Console log

• Custom fields

• Attachments

• Assignee

4. Trello

Trello is a flexible and easy-to-use tool for project and issue management. It is also used for bug tracking and organizing tasks.

Template Element:

• Card title

• Description

• Checklist

• Labels

• Attachments

• Comments

• Name/ID

• Visual proof

• Environment

• Source URL

• Console logs

• Steps to reproduce

• Expected vs. actual results

5. GitHub

GitHub is one of the most popular tools for project and issue management. It is specifically designed for software developers. It helps track and manage bug reports. Creating a bug report template on GitHub is easy and straightforward.

Template Element:

• Name/ID

• Summary

• Description.

• Priority and severity

• Reporter

• Visual proof

• Environment

• Source URL

• Console logs

• Steps to reproduce

6. Asana

Asana is a project management tool that can also be used for bug tracking. It is also great for keeping track of tasks.

Template Elements:

• Task title

• Description

• Subtask

• Custom fields.

• Attachments

• Assignee

7. Teamwork

Teamwork is another powerful and easy-to-use project management tool that supports bug reporting.

Template Elements:

• Task title

• Description

• Source URL

• Attachments

• Comments

• Expected vs. actual results

8. Slack

A popular communication tool where product teams and users can leave bug reports. With Slack, your team can better manage, prioritize, and fix bugs.

Template Elements:

• Message Title

• Description

• Expected vs. actual results

• Steps to reproduce

• Environment

• Attachments

• Priority and severity

• Channel/Assignee

9. Monday

Monday.com is a powerful and versatile work operating system (similar to ClickUp) that can also be used to track bugs. Monday.com brings teams together. It breaks communication barriers and aligns everyone involved in the project.

Template Elements:

• Name/ID

• Description

• Status column

• Priority column

• Attachments

FAQs

What Is a Bug Report?

A bug report is a document that contains all the detailed information about a software issue or defect found in a product’s features and functionalities. This document is needed to ensure a seamless user experience. A bug report helps developers identify and fix issues quickly.

Is Bug Report Important?

Yes, it is. Bug reporting is crucial for successful product delivery. It helps in identifying and addressing the product's issues on time. Through bug reports, your development teams will know what features and functionalities to concentrate on.

What Are the Best Bug Report Templates?

There are different bug templates to use for your bug-reporting process. However, choosing the best tool for your product management is important. Some of the popular tools are Jira, ClickUp, Monday.com, Asana, Trello, and so on.

What Are the Elements That Should Be Included in a Bug Report Template?

An effective bug report template should contain the following elements: name/ID, description, attachments, comments, visual proof, environment, source URL, console logs, steps to reproduce, and expected vs. actual results.