Software Issue Manager
Professional Edition Documentation

Author: eMarket Design
Last Updated: 2017-08-02

Introduction

Helps software organizations respond to issues quickly and consistently.

Concepts

The following is the definition(s) of the concept(s) covered in the context of Software Issue Manager app:

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Issues

An issue is anything that might affect the project meeting its goals such as bugs, tasks, and feature requests that occur during a project\'s life cycle.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Members

Members are human resources who could be assigned to handle issues.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Projects

A project is a collection of related issues. Projects have a unique version number, specific start and end dates.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Content Access

Software Issue Manager provides access to content based on a user's role in your organization. A role defines a set of tasks a user is allowed to perform and is assigned to a user when he or she registers into the system. Please check the Roles and Responsibilities section of this document to see the available access roles and the functionality they have access to.

Last Updated: 2017-07-24

Quick Start

Issue Manager Workflow

Most projects fail due to lack of understanding of requirement management and analysis process. Check out a presentation by Dara Duman on "Effective Requirement Collection".

  1. Create a project
  2. Create issues and assign them to that project
  3. Alternatively, assign issues to Products using Easy Digital Download or WooCommerce extensions
  4. Create project members and link them to WordPress users
  5. Assign project members to projects and issues
  6. Update issue and project information as your project moves along in the timeline
  7. If issues are resolved; bugs fixed, feature released or task completed, write down a resolution summary
  8. Ask project members to collaborate on issue resolutions
  9. Repeat this process till you get things done and move on to the next one.

Using Setup assistant

Setup assistant creates default pages automatically.

If you'd like to recreate default pages or click on Skip Setup, you can create default pages by clicking on "Install Pages" button under SIM Pro > Settings > Tools tab. Alternatively, just deactivate and reactivate the plugin to display Setup Assistant.

Activating your license

Keeping your plugin up-to-date is critical to maintaining your software and site in working condition. You must have a valid license to access software updates and support services.

  1. Go to SIM Pro > Licenses page
  2. Enter the license key you receive in your purchase receipt
  3. Click "Save Changes" button
  4. Now, you will see, "Activate License" button and "INACTIVE" right next to your license key
  5. Click "Activate License" button to activate your license
  6. If you see "VALID" message in place of "INACTIVE", you should be able to get your plugin updates.

How to create your first project

Project is a collection of related issues. A project is identified by its name and version.

  1. Click the 'Projects' tab.
  2. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the project list page.
  3. Start filling in your project fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  4. As needed, set project taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  5. When you are ready, click Publish. If you do not have publish privileges, the "Submit for Review" button is displayed.
  6. After the submission is completed, the project status changes to "Published" or "Pending Review".
  7. Click on the permalink to see the project page on the frontend

Alternatively, the project entry form can be used to create projects on the frontend.

How to create your first issue

Issues can be any type of defects, feature requests, improvements etc. An affected project is a project where a particular issue belongs to or affecting its outcome.

Issues are assigned to a member who is responsible for its resolution.

It is a best practice to link an issue to a member who originally identified the issue. By this way, issue participants can contact issue reporter, who may or may not be a participant, for help in issue resolution.

Issues can be related to each other as well. Setting the relationship type of an issue to another one helps you see the effects of a particular issue's impact on others.

  1. Click the 'All Issues' link.
  2. Click “Add New” button in the issue list page.
  3. Start filling in your issue fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  4. As needed, set issue taxonomies. Link issue to one or more projects by linking it under "Affected projects" connection box
  5. When you are ready, click Publish. If you do not have publish privileges, the "Submit for Review" button is displayed.
  6. After the submission is completed, the issue status changes to "Published" or "Pending Review".
  7. Click on the permalink to see the issue page on the frontend

How to create project members

Project members can play different roles in different projects. Software Manager Pro edition separates Project Manager role since a member can play this role in addition to his or her role in the project.

To create member records in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Members' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the member list page.
  4. Start filling in your member fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set member taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. When you are ready, click Publish. If you do not have publish privileges, the "Submit for Review" button is displayed.
  7. After the submission is completed, the member status changes to "Published" or "Pending Review".

How to link project members to WordPress users

Member edit page includes user connection field. User connection field maps members to WordPress users and must be filled out to be able to create a valid record. You must first create a user or modify an existing user assigning her to either one of the following roles:

  • Project Director
  • Team Member
  • Project Client
  • Project Manager

User connection dropdown will be empty if you do not have any user assigned to the roles listed above.

WordPress users and Members have one-to-one relationship. In other words, every member must be linked to a user. This mapping can be done by Administrators by clicking on Operations button in the Members list screen and selecting Map Users tab. After mapping created and saved, existing WordPress users are mapped to members.

If Create members from existing users... checkbox on the same tab is checked, a corresponding member is automatically created based on the mapping when a new WordPress user with the supported role listed above is created. If you do not want to map a field or use a different value than used in the user registration, choose Do not map this field option from the corresponding mapping dropdown.

How to limit access to issue entry and search forms by logged-in users only

If you'd like to limit access to frontend forms, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to SIM Pro menu > Settings page > Forms tab
  2. Click on the form you want access to be limited by logged in users only
  3. Locate Show Register / Login Form field and select from the dropdown which forms needs to show when non-logged-in users access to the form page
  4. Click save changes and done

How to resolve theme related issues

If your theme is not coded based on WordPress theme coding standards and does have an unorthodox markup, you might see some unusual things on your site such as sidebars not getting displayed where they are supposed to or random text getting displayed on headers etc. The good news is you may fix most theme related conflicts following the steps in the documentation.

Please note that if you’re unfamiliar with code/templates and resolving potential conflicts we strongly suggest to hire us or a developer to complete the project for you.

Software Issue Manager Community Edition Documentation - Resolving theme related conflicts

How to customize it to better match your needs

Software Issue Manager can be customized from plugin setting without modifying code or theme templates(most cases)

  • Enable or disable all fields, taxonomies and relationships from backend and/or frontend
  • Create custom fields in the edit area and optionally display them in issue search and entry forms and frontend pages
  • Set slug of any entity and/or archive base slug
  • Set the page template of any entity, taxonomy and/or archive page to sidebar on left, sidebar on right or no sidebar (full width)
  • Hide the previous and next post links on the frontend for single posts
  • Hide the page navigation links on the frontend for archive posts
  • Display any side bar widget on plugin pages using EMD Widget Area
  • Set custom CSS rules for all plugin pages including plugin shortcodes

Working with Issues

Using Software Issue Manager, you can create, modify, delete, and search issue records, associated taxonomies, or relationships.

Last Updated: 2016-01-27

Creating Issues

To create issue records in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Issues' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the issue list page.
  4. Start filling in your issue fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set issue taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. When you are ready, click Publish. If you do not have publish privileges, the "Submit for Review" button is displayed.
  7. After the submission is completed, the issue status changes to "Published" or "Pending Review". Users must have "publish" right to publish issues. Users who do not have "publish" right can still create issues; however, these issues must be reviewed and approved by a user with issue "publish" right. Check Roles and Responsibilities section of this document to see which access groups have issue "publish" right.

Alternatively, you can create issue records using the issue entry form in the frontend by filling out the required fields.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Uploading Issue Documents

Issue Documents file can be linked to Issues using the admin backend or using the "issue" entry form in the frontend when creating a new issue. You can upload unlimited number of Documents.

After the issue is created. Only the users who has "publish" right can upload Documents using the issue edit screen.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Modifying Issues

Issues can be modified by clicking on the "Edit" link under the issue title in the issue list page in the admin area. Make any necessary changes and then click Publish.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Issue Revisions

Issue revisions are stored when you save Issues as a draft or publish an update. The issue revisions allow you to see what changes were made in each revision by dragging a slider (or using the Next/Previous buttons). The display indicates what has changed in each revision - what was added, what remained unchanged, and what was removed. Lines added or removed are highlighted, and individual character changes get additional highlighting. Click the 'Restore This Revision' button to restore a revision.

The revisions page also includes a 'compare any two revisions' mode that allows you to compare any two individual revisions. In this mode, the slider has two handles, one representing the revision you are comparing from and one representing the revision you are comparing to. Drag the handles to see what has changed between any two specific revisions. Note: the 'Restore This Revision' button always restores the revision you are comparing to.

To return top the issue edit screen without restoring a revision, click on the issue title at the top of the page.

Revision history box can be enabled/disabled using the screen option tab at the top of the edit screen. Revision history box details who made the change and when the revision was made.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Searching Issues

In Software Issue Manager, users are only allowed to search issues they have access to. Users who have access to issues can search using the filter system in the issue admin areaor search forms in the frontend You can use drag-and-drop admin interface for sorting, creating/saving complex filters, and ordering columns in the entity list pages.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Scheduling Issues

To schedule Issues for publication on a future time or date in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Issues' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the issue list page.
  4. Start filling in your issue fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set issue taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. When you are ready, click "Edit" in the Publish area next to the words "Publish immediately". You can also change the publish date to a date in the past to back-date Issues. Change the settings to the desired time and date. You must also hit the "Publish" button when you have completed the issue to publish at the desired time and date.
  7. After the submission is completed, the issue status changes to "Published".
Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Password Protected Issues

To create a password protected issue in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Issues' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the issue list page.
  4. Start filling in your issue fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set issue taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. Click the "Edit" link next to Visibility in the publish box and select "Password protected".
  7. Enter a password that will be required to view that issue in the text field. The password is limited to 20 characters.
  8. When you are ready, click the "Publish" button (or "Update" if the issue is already published.)
  9. After the submission is completed, the issue status changes to "Published".

Only an Administrator and users with "publish" right can change the password set for your issue or modify visibility setting by clicking the "Visibility: Edit" link again.

When issue content is password protected, issue title displays the text "Protected: " before the issue Title and the content prints a password form with this text: "This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:".

If multiple issues have the same password, one will only have to enter the required password once. Only one password is tracked at a time so if you visit two different issues with two different password, you must re-enter the issue password to access content. WordPress saves passwords for maximum 10 days. After this period expires, one must reenter the password again to view the protected content.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Private Issues

Issues can be privately published to remove them from issue lists and feeds.

To create a private issue in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Issues' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the issue list page.
  4. Start filling in your issue fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set issue taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. Click the "Edit" link next to Visibility in the publish box and select "Private".
  7. Once you change the visibility to private, the issue status changes to "Privately Published".
  8. When you are ready, click the "UPDATE" button.

Only an Administrator and users with "publish" right for the issue can change visibility setting by clicking the "Visibility: Edit" link again.

Who can publish and see private issues?

Only users with "publish issues", "edit private issues", "read private issues", and "delete private issues" authorization permission levels can create and see private issues. Users who have the same access level with the author but have a relationship-limited access of a private issue can not view the content even if they have access rights to the content. User who have access to the content but not limited by a relationship can still see and modify private issues.

Check Roles and Responsibilities section of this document to see which user roles can privately publish issues.

Last Updated: 2014-12-28

Previewing Issues

To preview issue content press the "Preview" button - a button directly above the “publish” button - in the publish box before officially publishing or sending for review.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Draft Issues

To create a draft issue in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Issues' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the issue list page.
  4. Start filling in your issue fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set issue taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. When you are ready, click "Save Draft" button in the publish box.
  7. After the submission is completed, the issue status stays at "Draft".
Last Updated: 2015-07-23

Issue Author

Once the issue is published the user who created the issue is assigned as the issue author. Issue authors can view and edit the issue. One can change the issue author from the author box. The author box drop down is limited to the users who have issue "publish" right.

Last Updated: 2014-12-28

Creating Issue Discussions

Issue Comments allow having a discussion related to the issue. Issue Comments are automatically enabled when the issue is created.

When you enable Issue Comments on a record, a comment form is displayed under "Issue Comments" section. Using the comment form here users can submit their comments.

Once a Issue Comment is submitted, approve, modify, reply or delete actions can be performed either in the Software Issue Manager dashboard or in the issue edit page. Once Issue Comment is approved, the comment appears under "Issue Comments" section of the issue page right above the comment form.

One can enable or disable Issue Comments in the admin area in two ways.

  • Navigate to the editing screen for the issue, find the “Discussion” box and check or uncheck “Allow Comments.” If you do not see the “Discussion” box on the edit issue page, click “Screen Options” in the upper right corner of the browser window. Make sure the box next to “Discussion” is checked. Save your changes by clicking “Publish”, “Save Draft” or “Update."
  • Alternatively, navigate to the issue list screen, find the one you want and hover your cursor over the title of the issue. You will see several links appear underneath the title. Click "Quick Edit" and check “Allow Comments.” Click “Update” to turn comments on for that issue.
Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Linking Affected Projects

You can create connections between Projects and Issues by clicking on "Create Connection" link in the "Affected Projects" box and then clicking on "Plus" sign adjacent to the record title you would like to connect. Optionally, you can create new record. If you create a new one, the record is created as a draft. You must publish all connected draft records to make the connections valid.

After the connection created, you can update or publish your issue. You can create as many connections as you need.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Linking Assignee

You can create connections between Members and Issues by clicking on "Create Connection" link in the "Assignee" box and then clicking on "Plus" sign adjacent to the record title you would like to connect. Optionally, you can create new record. If you create a new one, the record is created as a draft. You must publish all connected draft records to make the connections valid.

After the connection created, you can update or publish your issue. You can create at most one connection.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Linking Participants

You can create connections between Members and Issues by clicking on "Create Connection" link in the "Participants" box and then clicking on "Plus" sign adjacent to the record title you would like to connect. Optionally, you can create new record. If you create a new one, the record is created as a draft. You must publish all connected draft records to make the connections valid.

After the connection created, you can update or publish your issue. You can create as many connections as you need.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Linking Related Issues

You can create connections between Issues and Issues by clicking on "Create Connection" link in the "Related Issues" box and then clicking on "Plus" sign adjacent to the record title you would like to connect. Optionally, you can create new record. If you create a new one, the record is created as a draft. You must publish all connected draft records to make the connections valid.

After the connection created, set the values to: Relation Type(dropdown). Take a look at the glossary section for dropdown values available. Now, you can update or publish your issue. You can create as many connections as you need.

Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Creating Custom Fields

Software Issue Manager Professional supports creating of custom fields. Creating of custom fields provides a quick way to allow you to extend the content with key/value pairs also known as meta data. Custom fields store arbitrary extra information about issues.

To create a custom fields for your issues

  1. Edit any issue or create a new one in the admin area. You will see the Custom Fields metabox. if you do not see it, enable it from Screen options.
  2. Creating a custom field requires a key and a value. The key is constant, but the value can change for each issue. Click on Enter New link or select a key from the dropdown list.
  3. Enter a value and click Add Custom Field button
  4. Repeat the steps above for creating more fields

You can create as many custom fields as you need. If your custom field key may have multiple values, create a new field and use the same key with different values. You can use HTML code in the value box. Software Issue Manager concatenates each value separated with a space character. By default, WordPress shows 30 custom fields in the dropdown list.

Once you create issue custom fields, they are displayed in the frontend. The custom fields are available to be for your forms too. You can enable or disable them in the form layouts from SIM Pro menu > Settings page > Forms tab . By default all custom fields are disabled.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Setting Browsers

Browser can be set by typing the desired option in the empty text field and clicking "Add" button in "Browsers" box and updating/saving the issue. Setting a value for Browser is optional. Browser is also not organized hierarchically meaning there's no relationship from one Browser value to another.

Software Issue Manager comes with a preset Browsers defined in detail in Glossary section of this document. Administrators can always add/remove/modify the list based on your organizational needs. Some widgets created upon installation are based on predefined Browsers.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Setting Categories

Category can be set by clicking on the desired option in "Categories" box and updating/saving the issue. Setting a value for Category is optional. Category is also not organized hierarchically meaning there's no relationship from one Category value to another.

Software Issue Manager comes with a preset Categories defined in detail in Glossary section of this document. Administrators can always add/remove/modify the list based on your organizational needs. Some widgets created upon installation are based on predefined Categories.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Setting Operating Systems

Operating System can be set by typing the desired option in the empty text field and clicking "Add" button in "Operating Systems" box and updating/saving the issue. Setting a value for Operating System is optional. Operating System is also not organized hierarchically meaning there's no relationship from one Operating System value to another.

Software Issue Manager comes with a preset Operating Systems defined in detail in Glossary section of this document. Administrators can always add/remove/modify the list based on your organizational needs. Some widgets created upon installation are based on predefined Operating Systems.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Setting Priorities

Priority can be set by clicking on the desired option in "Priorities" box and updating/saving the issue. Setting a value for Priority is optional. Priority is also not organized hierarchically meaning there's no relationship from one Priority value to another.

Software Issue Manager comes with a preset Priorities defined in detail in Glossary section of this document. Administrators can always add/remove/modify the list based on your organizational needs. Some widgets created upon installation are based on predefined Priorities.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Setting Statuses

Status can be set by clicking on the desired option in "Statuses" box and updating/saving the issue. Setting a value for Status is optional. Status is also not organized hierarchically meaning there's no relationship from one Status value to another.

Software Issue Manager comes with a preset Statuses defined in detail in Glossary section of this document. Administrators can always add/remove/modify the list based on your organizational needs. Some widgets created upon installation are based on predefined Statuses.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Setting Tags

Tag can be set by typing the desired option in the empty text field and clicking "Add" button in "Tags" box and updating/saving the issue. Setting a value for Tag is optional. Tag is also not organized hierarchically meaning there's no relationship from one Tag value to another.

Tags do not have preset values.

Last Updated: 2015-03-20

Displaying Issues

Displaying Issue archives can be done by creating a link in the Appearance Menus Screen in the admin area.

Alternatively, if you'd like to display a specific Issue, you can select the link from Issue metabox and add it to your menu. If you don't see Issue metabox, check the Screen Options to ensure it is set to display.

To create a custom link for Issue archives:

  1. Goto Appearance in the admin menu and click on Menus link
  2. On the right hand side, pick the menu you’d like to include from Select a menu to edit dropdown
  3. Under Links menu navigation item, type in /issues to the URL field
  4. Type in Issues or another label describing the custom link URL in the Link Text field
  5. Click “Add to menu” button to add the item to the menu
  6. Pick “primary location” under “Menu Settings” below the menu
  7. Save your menu
  8. Go to the frontend and click on the link you created to access Issues. Issue archive page content is only displayed to the authorized users who have access permissions.
Last Updated: 2015-03-20

Email Piping Issues

Issues can be created through emails by purchasing WPAS incoming email extension. After activation of the extension, incoming email link will appear under SIM Pro menu in the admin area. WPAS incoming mail extension allows to poll IMAP or POP3 servers, with or without SSL/TLS to receive emails. Polling frequency can be set to allow processing emails in specified intervals.

Using WPAS incoming email extension. You can define specific message processing rules per Issue:

  • Deleting emails after creating Issues
  • Setting maximum number of emails to post: a handy feature exp; if you want to accept specific number of Issues.
  • Protection against spam or unauthorized Issue creation using email pins, authorized addresses, and banned file names.
  • Allowing visitors(users who do not have publish capability) to create Issues via email
  • Setting default subject for email without any subject line.

  • Setting separate Issue post statuses for users and visitors.
  • Using shortcodes to categorize emails or to set values.

Email processing activity history is recorded for processing errors or validations.

Incoming email settings can be configured by selecting SIM Pro menu in the admin area and clicking on Incoming email link.

Last Updated: 2014-12-28

Locking Issues

In Software Issue Manager, Issues are locked during editing, preventing other users from accessing and modifying the Issue.

If a user clicks to edit one of the Issue records that's currently locked they are presented with three options in a pop-up dialog:

  1. Go Back - Return to the Issues listing.
  2. Preview - Preview the current state of the Issue that's being edited.
  3. Take Over - Lock out the current editor of the Issues and begin editing. (The other user will receive a notification)

The user that has been locked out receives the following dialog, and is no longer able to edit the Issue. It can take up to 15 seconds for the current Issue editor to be notified that another user has taken over.

Working with Members

Using Software Issue Manager, you can create, modify, delete, and search member records, associated taxonomies, or relationships.

Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Creating Members

To create member records in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Members' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the member list page.
  4. Start filling in your member fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set member taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. When you are ready, click Publish. If you do not have publish privileges, the "Submit for Review" button is displayed.
  7. After the submission is completed, the member status changes to "Published" or "Pending Review". Users must have "publish" right to publish members. Users who do not have "publish" right can still create members; however, these members must be reviewed and approved by a user with member "publish" right. Check Roles and Responsibilities section of this document to see which access groups have member "publish" right.

Alternatively, you can create member records using the member entry form in the frontend by filling out the required fields.

User Mapping

Members include user connection field. User connection field maps members to WordPress users and must be filled out to be able to create a valid record. You must first create a user or modify an existing user assigning her to either one of the following roles:

  • Project Manager
  • Project Client

User connection dropdown will be empty if you do not have any user assigned to the roles listed above.

WordPress users and Members have one-to-one relationship. In other words, every members must be linked to a user. This mapping can be done by Administrators by clicking on Operations button in the Members list screen and selecting Map Users tab. After mapping created and saved, existing WordPress users are mapped to members.

If Create members from existing users... checkbox on the same tab is checked, a corresponding member is automatically created based on the mapping when a new WordPress user with the supported role listed above is created. If you do not want to map a field or use a different value than used in the user registration, choose Do not map this field option from the corresponding mapping dropdown.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Uploading Member Photo

Member Photo image file can be linked to Members using the admin backend or using the "member" entry form in the frontend when creating a new member. You can upload at most 1 file.

After the member is created. Only the users who has "publish" right can upload Photo using the member edit screen.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Modifying Members

Members can be modified by clicking on the "Edit" link under the member title in the member list page in the admin area. Make any necessary changes and then click Publish.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Searching Members

In Software Issue Manager, users are only allowed to search members they have access to. Users who have access to members can search using the filter system in the member admin areaor search forms in the frontend You can use drag-and-drop admin interface for sorting, creating/saving complex filters, and ordering columns in the entity list pages.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Scheduling Members

To schedule Members for publication on a future time or date in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Members' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the member list page.
  4. Start filling in your member fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set member taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. When you are ready, click "Edit" in the Publish area next to the words "Publish immediately". You can also change the publish date to a date in the past to back-date Members. Change the settings to the desired time and date. You must also hit the "Publish" button when you have completed the member to publish at the desired time and date.
  7. After the submission is completed, the member status changes to "Published".
Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Password Protected Members

To create a password protected member in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Members' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the member list page.
  4. Start filling in your member fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set member taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. Click the "Edit" link next to Visibility in the publish box and select "Password protected".
  7. Enter a password that will be required to view that member in the text field. The password is limited to 20 characters.
  8. When you are ready, click the "Publish" button (or "Update" if the member is already published.)
  9. After the submission is completed, the member status changes to "Published".

Only an Administrator and users with "publish" right can change the password set for your member or modify visibility setting by clicking the "Visibility: Edit" link again.

When member content is password protected, member title displays the text "Protected: " before the member Title and the content prints a password form with this text: "This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:".

If multiple members have the same password, one will only have to enter the required password once. Only one password is tracked at a time so if you visit two different members with two different password, you must re-enter the member password to access content. WordPress saves passwords for maximum 10 days. After this period expires, one must reenter the password again to view the protected content.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Private Members

Members can be privately published to remove them from member lists and feeds.

To create a private member in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Members' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the member list page.
  4. Start filling in your member fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set member taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. Click the "Edit" link next to Visibility in the publish box and select "Private".
  7. Once you change the visibility to private, the member status changes to "Privately Published".
  8. When you are ready, click the "UPDATE" button.

Only an Administrator and users with "publish" right for the member can change visibility setting by clicking the "Visibility: Edit" link again.

Who can publish and see private members?

Only users with "publish members", "edit private members", "read private members", and "delete private members" authorization permission levels can create and see private members. Users who have the same access level with the author but have a relationship-limited access of a private member can not view the content even if they have access rights to the content. User who have access to the content but not limited by a relationship can still see and modify private members.

Check Roles and Responsibilities section of this document to see which user roles can privately publish members.

Last Updated: 2014-12-28

Previewing Members

To preview member content press the "Preview" button - a button directly above the “publish” button - in the publish box before officially publishing or sending for review.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Draft Members

To create a draft member in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Members' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the member list page.
  4. Start filling in your member fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set member taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. When you are ready, click "Save Draft" button in the publish box.
  7. After the submission is completed, the member status stays at "Draft".
Last Updated: 2016-01-27

Member Author

Once the member is published the user who created the member is assigned as the member author. Member authors can view and edit the member. One can change the member author from the author box. The author box drop down is limited to the users who have member "publish" right.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Linking Assigned Projects

You can create connections between Projects and Members by clicking on "Create Connection" link in the "Assigned Projects" box and then clicking on "Plus" sign adjacent to the record title you would like to connect. Optionally, you can create new record. If you create a new one, the record is created as a draft. You must publish all connected draft records to make the connections valid.

After the connection created, you can update or publish your member. You can create as many connections as you need.

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Linking Issues Assigned

You can create connections between Members and Issues by clicking on "Create Connection" link in the "Issues Assigned" box and then clicking on "Plus" sign adjacent to the record title you would like to connect. Optionally, you can create new record. If you create a new one, the record is created as a draft. You must publish all connected draft records to make the connections valid.

After the connection created, you can update or publish your member. You can create at most one connection.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Linking Issues Participated

You can create connections between Members and Issues by clicking on "Create Connection" link in the "Issues Participated" box and then clicking on "Plus" sign adjacent to the record title you would like to connect. Optionally, you can create new record. If you create a new one, the record is created as a draft. You must publish all connected draft records to make the connections valid.

After the connection created, you can update or publish your member. You can create as many connections as you need.

Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Creating Custom Fields

Software Issue Manager Professional supports creating of custom fields. Creating of custom fields provides a quick way to allow you to extend the content with key/value pairs also known as meta data. Custom fields store arbitrary extra information about members.

To create a custom fields for your members

  1. Edit any member or create a new one in the admin area. You will see the Custom Fields metabox. if you do not see it, enable it from Screen options.
  2. Creating a custom field requires a key and a value. The key is constant, but the value can change for each member. Click on Enter New link or select a key from the dropdown list.
  3. Enter a value and click Add Custom Field button
  4. Repeat the steps above for creating more fields

You can create as many custom fields as you need. If your custom field key may have multiple values, create a new field and use the same key with different values. You can use HTML code in the value box. Software Issue Manager concatenates each value separated with a space character. By default, WordPress shows 30 custom fields in the dropdown list.

Once you create member custom fields, they are displayed in the frontend. The custom fields are available to be for your forms too. You can enable or disable them in the form layouts from SIM Pro menu > Settings page > Forms tab . By default all custom fields are disabled.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Setting Countries

Country can be set by clicking on the desired option in "Countries" box and updating/saving the member. Setting a value for Country is optional. Country is also not organized hierarchically meaning there's no relationship from one Country value to another.

Software Issue Manager comes with a preset Countries defined in detail in Glossary section of this document. Administrators can always add/remove/modify the list based on your organizational needs. Some widgets created upon installation are based on predefined Countries.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Setting States

State can be set by clicking on the desired option in "States" box and updating/saving the member. Setting a value for State is optional. State is also not organized hierarchically meaning there's no relationship from one State value to another.

Software Issue Manager comes with a preset States defined in detail in Glossary section of this document. Administrators can always add/remove/modify the list based on your organizational needs. Some widgets created upon installation are based on predefined States.

Last Updated: 2015-03-20

Displaying Members

Displaying Member archives can be done by creating a link in the Appearance Menus Screen in the admin area.

Alternatively, if you'd like to display a specific Member, you can select the link from Member metabox and add it to your menu. If you don't see Member metabox, check the Screen Options to ensure it is set to display.

To create a custom link for Member archives:

  1. Goto Appearance in the admin menu and click on Menus link
  2. On the right hand side, pick the menu you’d like to include from Select a menu to edit dropdown
  3. Under Links menu navigation item, type in /members to the URL field
  4. Type in Members or another label describing the custom link URL in the Link Text field
  5. Click “Add to menu” button to add the item to the menu
  6. Pick “primary location” under “Menu Settings” below the menu
  7. Save your menu
  8. Go to the frontend and click on the link you created to access Members. Member archive page content is only displayed to the authorized users who have access permissions.
Last Updated: 2014-12-28

Locking Members

In Software Issue Manager, Members are locked during editing, preventing other users from accessing and modifying the Member.

If a user clicks to edit one of the Member records that's currently locked they are presented with three options in a pop-up dialog:

  1. Go Back - Return to the Members listing.
  2. Preview - Preview the current state of the Member that's being edited.
  3. Take Over - Lock out the current editor of the Members and begin editing. (The other user will receive a notification)

The user that has been locked out receives the following dialog, and is no longer able to edit the Member. It can take up to 15 seconds for the current Member editor to be notified that another user has taken over.

Working with Projects

Using Software Issue Manager, you can create, modify, delete, and search project records, associated taxonomies, or relationships.

Last Updated: 2016-01-27

Creating Projects

To create project records in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Projects' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the project list page.
  4. Start filling in your project fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set project taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. When you are ready, click Publish. If you do not have publish privileges, the "Submit for Review" button is displayed.
  7. After the submission is completed, the project status changes to "Published" or "Pending Review". Users must have "publish" right to publish projects. Users who do not have "publish" right can still create projects; however, these projects must be reviewed and approved by a user with project "publish" right. Check Roles and Responsibilities section of this document to see which access groups have project "publish" right.

Alternatively, you can create project records using the project entry form in the frontend by filling out the required fields.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Uploading Project Documents

Project Documents file can be linked to Projects using the admin backend or using the "project" entry form in the frontend when creating a new project. You can upload unlimited number of Documents.

After the project is created. Only the users who has "publish" right can upload Documents using the project edit screen.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Modifying Projects

Projects can be modified by clicking on the "Edit" link under the project title in the project list page in the admin area. Make any necessary changes and then click Publish.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Searching Projects

In Software Issue Manager, users are only allowed to search projects they have access to. Users who have access to projects can search using the filter system in the project admin areaor search forms in the frontend You can use drag-and-drop admin interface for sorting, creating/saving complex filters, and ordering columns in the entity list pages.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Scheduling Projects

To schedule Projects for publication on a future time or date in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Projects' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the project list page.
  4. Start filling in your project fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set project taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. When you are ready, click "Edit" in the Publish area next to the words "Publish immediately". You can also change the publish date to a date in the past to back-date Projects. Change the settings to the desired time and date. You must also hit the "Publish" button when you have completed the project to publish at the desired time and date.
  7. After the submission is completed, the project status changes to "Published".
Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Password Protected Projects

To create a password protected project in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Projects' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the project list page.
  4. Start filling in your project fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set project taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. Click the "Edit" link next to Visibility in the publish box and select "Password protected".
  7. Enter a password that will be required to view that project in the text field. The password is limited to 20 characters.
  8. When you are ready, click the "Publish" button (or "Update" if the project is already published.)
  9. After the submission is completed, the project status changes to "Published".

Only an Administrator and users with "publish" right can change the password set for your project or modify visibility setting by clicking the "Visibility: Edit" link again.

When project content is password protected, project title displays the text "Protected: " before the project Title and the content prints a password form with this text: "This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:".

If multiple projects have the same password, one will only have to enter the required password once. Only one password is tracked at a time so if you visit two different projects with two different password, you must re-enter the project password to access content. WordPress saves passwords for maximum 10 days. After this period expires, one must reenter the password again to view the protected content.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Private Projects

Projects can be privately published to remove them from project lists and feeds.

To create a private project in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Projects' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the project list page.
  4. Start filling in your project fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set project taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. Click the "Edit" link next to Visibility in the publish box and select "Private".
  7. Once you change the visibility to private, the project status changes to "Privately Published".
  8. When you are ready, click the "UPDATE" button.

Only an Administrator and users with "publish" right for the project can change visibility setting by clicking the "Visibility: Edit" link again.

Who can publish and see private projects?

Only users with "publish projects", "edit private projects", "read private projects", and "delete private projects" authorization permission levels can create and see private projects. Users who have the same access level with the author but have a relationship-limited access of a private project can not view the content even if they have access rights to the content. User who have access to the content but not limited by a relationship can still see and modify private projects.

Check Roles and Responsibilities section of this document to see which user roles can privately publish projects.

Last Updated: 2014-12-28

Previewing Projects

To preview project content press the "Preview" button - a button directly above the “publish” button - in the publish box before officially publishing or sending for review.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Draft Projects

To create a draft project in the admin area:

  1. Log in to your Administration Panel.
  2. Click the 'Projects' tab.
  3. Click the 'Add New' sub-tab or the “Add New” button in the project list page.
  4. Start filling in your project fields. You must fill all required fields. All required fields have red star after their labels.
  5. As needed, set project taxonomies and relationships. All required relationships or taxonomies must be set.
  6. When you are ready, click "Save Draft" button in the publish box.
  7. After the submission is completed, the project status stays at "Draft".
Last Updated: 2016-01-27

Project Author

Once the project is published the user who created the project is assigned as the project author. Project authors can view and edit the project. One can change the project author from the author box. The author box drop down is limited to the users who have project "publish" right.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Linking Members

You can create connections between Projects and Members by clicking on "Create Connection" link in the "Members" box and then clicking on "Plus" sign adjacent to the record title you would like to connect. Optionally, you can create new record. If you create a new one, the record is created as a draft. You must publish all connected draft records to make the connections valid.

After the connection created, you can update or publish your project. You can create as many connections as you need.

Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Creating Custom Fields

Software Issue Manager Professional supports creating of custom fields. Creating of custom fields provides a quick way to allow you to extend the content with key/value pairs also known as meta data. Custom fields store arbitrary extra information about projects.

To create a custom fields for your projects

  1. Edit any project or create a new one in the admin area. You will see the Custom Fields metabox. if you do not see it, enable it from Screen options.
  2. Creating a custom field requires a key and a value. The key is constant, but the value can change for each project. Click on Enter New link or select a key from the dropdown list.
  3. Enter a value and click Add Custom Field button
  4. Repeat the steps above for creating more fields

You can create as many custom fields as you need. If your custom field key may have multiple values, create a new field and use the same key with different values. You can use HTML code in the value box. Software Issue Manager concatenates each value separated with a space character. By default, WordPress shows 30 custom fields in the dropdown list.

Once you create project custom fields, they are displayed in the frontend. The custom fields are available to be for your forms too. You can enable or disable them in the form layouts from SIM Pro menu > Settings page > Forms tab . By default all custom fields are disabled.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Setting Priorities

Priority can be set by clicking on the desired option in "Priorities" box and updating/saving the project. Setting a value for Priority is optional. Priority is also not organized hierarchically meaning there's no relationship from one Priority value to another.

Software Issue Manager comes with a preset Priorities defined in detail in Glossary section of this document. Administrators can always add/remove/modify the list based on your organizational needs. Some widgets created upon installation are based on predefined Priorities.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Setting Statuses

Status can be set by clicking on the desired option in "Statuses" box and updating/saving the project. Setting a value for Status is optional. Status is also not organized hierarchically meaning there's no relationship from one Status value to another.

Software Issue Manager comes with a preset Statuses defined in detail in Glossary section of this document. Administrators can always add/remove/modify the list based on your organizational needs. Some widgets created upon installation are based on predefined Statuses.

Last Updated: 2015-03-20

Displaying Projects

Displaying Project archives can be done by creating a link in the Appearance Menus Screen in the admin area.

Alternatively, if you'd like to display a specific Project, you can select the link from Project metabox and add it to your menu. If you don't see Project metabox, check the Screen Options to ensure it is set to display.

To create a custom link for Project archives:

  1. Goto Appearance in the admin menu and click on Menus link
  2. On the right hand side, pick the menu you’d like to include from Select a menu to edit dropdown
  3. Under Links menu navigation item, type in /projects to the URL field
  4. Type in Projects or another label describing the custom link URL in the Link Text field
  5. Click “Add to menu” button to add the item to the menu
  6. Pick “primary location” under “Menu Settings” below the menu
  7. Save your menu
  8. Go to the frontend and click on the link you created to access Projects. Project archive page content is only displayed to the authorized users who have access permissions.
Last Updated: 2014-12-28

Locking Projects

In Software Issue Manager, Projects are locked during editing, preventing other users from accessing and modifying the Project.

If a user clicks to edit one of the Project records that's currently locked they are presented with three options in a pop-up dialog:

  1. Go Back - Return to the Projects listing.
  2. Preview - Preview the current state of the Project that's being edited.
  3. Take Over - Lock out the current editor of the Projects and begin editing. (The other user will receive a notification)

The user that has been locked out receives the following dialog, and is no longer able to edit the Project. It can take up to 15 seconds for the current Project editor to be notified that another user has taken over.

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Dashboard

Software Issue Manager Dashboard offers a drag and drop, real-time interface, showing a graphical presentation of the current status (snapshot), historical trends of your content, and highlighting important information from one place using widgets. Dashboard widgets can enabled or disabled from Screen Options tab.

The following widgets are available:

  • Recent Issues dashboard entity widget available at App Dashboard
  • Issue Counts By Priority pie chart widget available at App Dashboard
  • Issue Counts By Assignee pie chart widget available at App Dashboard
  • Issue Counts By Status pie chart widget available at App Dashboard
  • Issue Counts By Category pie chart widget available at App Dashboard
  • Issue Counts By Project pie chart widget available at App Dashboard
  • Issue Counts By Products By Priority bar chart widget available at App Dashboard
  • Issue Counts By Products By Status bar chart widget available at App Dashboard
  • Issue Counts By Products By Category bar chart widget available at App Dashboard
  • Issue Counts By Products By Created Date Last 4 Weeks column chart widget available at App Dashboard

Widgets

Widgets provide a simple and easy-to-use way of displaying content and features on your sidebars or dashboard.

Sidebar widgets can be added, removed, and rearranged on the WordPress Administration Appearance > Widgets panel. Dashboard widgets can be enabled or disabled using Screen Options tab in your app dashboard page. All widgets have drag-and-drop functionality.

The following sections list the Software Issue Manager widgets:

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Issue Comments sidebar widget

Issue Comments is a comment sidebar widget. It shows latest 5 approved comment records without any page navigation links.

Last Updated: 2015-01-02

Recent Issues dashboard widget

Recent Issues is an entity dashboard widget which is available in Software Issue Manager Dashboard. It shows latest 10 published issue records without any page navigation links.

Last Updated: 2015-01-02

Recent Issues sidebar widget

Recent Issues is an entity sidebar widget. It shows latest 10 published issue records without any page navigation links.

Last Updated: 2015-01-02

Recent Members sidebar widget

Recent Members is an entity sidebar widget. It shows latest 10 published member records without any page navigation links.

Last Updated: 2015-01-02

Recent Projects sidebar widget

Recent Projects is an entity sidebar widget. It shows latest 10 published project records without any page navigation links.

Standards

Standard views display a single type of content in a custom format and can be used in place of archive views. Administrators can display standard views using their shortcodes by choosing the name of the view you want to display from the WPAS component list after clicking on the WPAS toolbar button on any page.

The following sections list the Software Issue Manager standard views available:

Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Project Issues

"Project Issues" is a standard view which displays -1 Issue records per page with a post status of publish in descending order by date. Page navigation is disabled. If you choose to install setup pages during plugin activation, a WordPress page is created with a title of "Project Issues". You can visit this page to access the view. To display it in another page or post, use [project_issues] shortcode or select the view name from the WPAS component list after clicking on the WPAS toolbar button.

Charts

Charts provide a perfect way to visualize data. You can use Software Issue Manager charts to better understand large quantities of data and the relationships between parts of the data.

The following sections list the Software Issue Manager charts you can use:

Last Updated: 2016-01-27

Issue Counts By Assignee

"Issue Counts By Assignee" is a pie chart. It is available in Software Issue Manager dashboard with a title of "Issue Counts By Assignee". If you choose to install setup pages during plugin activation, a WordPress page is created with a title of "Issue Counts By Assignee". You can visit this page to view the chart. To display the chart in another page or post, use [issues_counts_by_member] shortcode or select the view name from the WPAS component list after clicking on the WPAS toolbar button. This chart comes with a full width container. All charts adjust to the browser window size changes.

Last Updated: 2016-01-27

Issue Counts By Category

"Issue Counts By Category" is a pie chart. It is available in Software Issue Manager dashboard with a title of "Issue Counts By Category". If you choose to install setup pages during plugin activation, a WordPress page is created with a title of "Issue Counts By Category". You can visit this page to view the chart. To display the chart in another page or post, use [issue_counts_by_category] shortcode or select the view name from the WPAS component list after clicking on the WPAS toolbar button. This chart comes with a full width container. All charts adjust to the browser window size changes.

Last Updated: 2016-01-27

Issue Counts By Priority

"Issue Counts By Priority" is a pie chart. It is available in Software Issue Manager dashboard with a title of "Issue Counts By Priority". If you choose to install setup pages during plugin activation, a WordPress page is created with a title of "Issue Counts By Priority". You can visit this page to view the chart. To display the chart in another page or post, use [issue_counts_by_prio] shortcode or select the view name from the WPAS component list after clicking on the WPAS toolbar button. This chart comes with a full width container. All charts adjust to the browser window size changes.

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Issue Counts By Products By Category

"Issue Counts By Products By Category" is a bar chart. It is available in Software Issue Manager dashboard with a title of "Issue Counts By Products By Category". If you choose to install setup pages during plugin activation, a WordPress page is created with a title of "Issue Counts By Products By Category". You can visit this page to view the chart. To display the chart in another page or post, use [iss_by_edd_product_by_category] shortcode or select the view name from the WPAS component list after clicking on the WPAS toolbar button. This chart comes with a full width container. All charts adjust to the browser window size changes.

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Issue Counts By Products By Created Date Last 4 Weeks

"Issue Counts By Products By Created Date Last 4 Weeks" is a column chart. It is available in Software Issue Manager dashboard with a title of "Issue Counts By Products By Created Date Last 4 Weeks". If you choose to install setup pages during plugin activation, a WordPress page is created with a title of "Issue Counts By Products By Created Date Last 4 Weeks". You can visit this page to view the chart. To display the chart in another page or post, use [dwl_counts_by_pdate_4weeks] shortcode or select the view name from the WPAS component list after clicking on the WPAS toolbar button. This chart comes with a full width container. All charts adjust to the browser window size changes.

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Issue Counts By Products By Priority

"Issue Counts By Products By Priority" is a bar chart. It is available in Software Issue Manager dashboard with a title of "Issue Counts By Products By Priority". If you choose to install setup pages during plugin activation, a WordPress page is created with a title of "Issue Counts By Products By Priority". You can visit this page to view the chart. To display the chart in another page or post, use [iss_by_edd_product_by_priority] shortcode or select the view name from the WPAS component list after clicking on the WPAS toolbar button. This chart comes with a full width container. All charts adjust to the browser window size changes.

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Issue Counts By Products By Status

"Issue Counts By Products By Status" is a bar chart. It is available in Software Issue Manager dashboard with a title of "Issue Counts By Products By Status". If you choose to install setup pages during plugin activation, a WordPress page is created with a title of "Issue Counts By Products By Status". You can visit this page to view the chart. To display the chart in another page or post, use [iss_by_edd_product_by_status] shortcode or select the view name from the WPAS component list after clicking on the WPAS toolbar button. This chart comes with a full width container. All charts adjust to the browser window size changes.

Last Updated: 2016-01-27

Issue Counts By Project

"Issue Counts By Project" is a pie chart. It is available in Software Issue Manager dashboard with a title of "Issue Counts By Project". If you choose to install setup pages during plugin activation, a WordPress page is created with a title of "Issue Counts By Project". You can visit this page to view the chart. To display the chart in another page or post, use [issue_counts_by_project] shortcode or select the view name from the WPAS component list after clicking on the WPAS toolbar button. This chart comes with a full width container. All charts adjust to the browser window size changes.

Last Updated: 2016-01-27

Issue Counts By Status

"Issue Counts By Status" is a pie-donut chart. It is available in Software Issue Manager dashboard with a title of "Issue Counts By Status". If you choose to install setup pages during plugin activation, a WordPress page is created with a title of "Issue Counts By Status". You can visit this page to view the chart. To display the chart in another page or post, use [issue_counts_by_status] shortcode or select the view name from the WPAS component list after clicking on the WPAS toolbar button. This chart comes with a full width container. All charts adjust to the browser window size changes.

Forms

Forms allow users to enter data that is sent to Software Issue Manager for processing. Forms can be used to enter or retrieve search results related to your content.

The following sections list the Software Issue Manager forms:

Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Issue entry

"Issue entry" form is used for entering issue records from the frontend. You can use [issue_entry] shortcode to display it in a page or post of your choise as well.

The following are the fields used in the form:

  • Priorities (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Statuses (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Categories (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Tags (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • Browsers (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • Operating Systems (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • Title (text)
  • Content (wysiwyg)
  • ID (hidden_func)
  • Identified DateTime (datetime)
  • Due Date (date)
  • Documents (file)
  • Form Name (hidden)
  • Form Submitted By (hidden_func)
  • Form Submitted IP (hidden_func)
  • Affected Projects (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • Assignee (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Participants (select-multiple selection allowed)
Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Issue entry public

"Issue entry public" form is used for entering issue records from the frontend. You can use [issue_entry_public] shortcode to display it in a page or post of your choise as well.

The following are the fields used in the form:

  • Priorities (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Statuses (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Categories (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Tags (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • Browsers (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • Operating Systems (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • Title (text)
  • Content (wysiwyg)
  • ID (hidden_func)
  • Identified DateTime (datetime)
  • Due Date (date)
  • Documents (file)
  • Form Name (hidden)
  • Form Submitted By (hidden_func)
  • Form Submitted IP (hidden_func)
  • Affected Projects (select-multiple selection allowed)
Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Issue search

"Issue search" form is used for searching issue records from the frontend. You can use [issue_search] shortcode to display it in a page or post of your choise as well.

The following are the fields used in the form:

  • Priorities (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Statuses (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Categories (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Tags (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • ID (hidden_func)
  • Due Date (date)
  • Affected Projects (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • Assignee (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Participants (select-multiple selection allowed)
Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Issue search public

"Issue search public" form is used for searching issue records from the frontend. You can use [issue_search_public] shortcode to display it in a page or post of your choise as well.

The following are the fields used in the form:

  • Priorities (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Statuses (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Categories (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Tags (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • ID (hidden_func)
  • Due Date (date)
  • Affected Projects (select-multiple selection allowed)
Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Member entry

"Member entry" form is used for entering member records from the frontend. You can use [member_entry] shortcode to display it in a page or post of your choise as well.

The following are the fields used in the form:

  • States (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Countries (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Photo (file)
  • Salutation (select)
  • First Name (text)
  • Last Name (text)
  • User Name (selectadv)
  • Job Title (text)
  • Email (text)
  • Office Phone (text)
  • Mobile Phone (text)
  • Fax (text)
  • Primary Address (textarea)
  • City (text)
  • Zip Code (text)
  • Form Name (hidden)
  • Form Submitted By (hidden_func)
  • Form Submitted IP (hidden_func)
  • Assigned Projects (select-multiple selection allowed)
Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Member search

"Member search" form is used for searching member records from the frontend. You can use [member_search] shortcode to display it in a page or post of your choise as well.

The following are the fields used in the form:

  • States (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Countries (select-only single selection allowed)
  • First Name (text)
  • Last Name (text)
  • User Name (selectadv)
  • Job Title (text)
  • Email (text)
  • City (text)
  • Zip Code (text)
  • Assigned Projects (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • Issues Assigned (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Issues Participated (select-multiple selection allowed)
Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Project entry

"Project entry" form is used for entering project records from the frontend. You can use [project_entry] shortcode to display it in a page or post of your choise as well.

The following are the fields used in the form:

  • Statuses (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Priorities (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Content (wysiwyg)
  • Name (text)
  • Version (text)
  • Start Date (date)
  • Target End Date (date)
  • Documents (file)
  • Form Name (hidden)
  • Form Submitted By (hidden_func)
  • Form Submitted IP (hidden_func)
  • Members (select-multiple selection allowed)
Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Project entry public

"Project entry public" form is used for entering project records from the frontend. You can use [project_entry_public] shortcode to display it in a page or post of your choise as well.

The following are the fields used in the form:

  • Statuses (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Priorities (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Content (wysiwyg)
  • Name (text)
  • Version (text)
  • Start Date (date)
  • Target End Date (date)
  • Documents (file)
  • Form Name (hidden)
  • Form Submitted By (hidden_func)
  • Form Submitted IP (hidden_func)
Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Project search

"Project search" form is used for searching project records from the frontend. You can use [project_search] shortcode to display it in a page or post of your choise as well.

The following are the fields used in the form:

  • Statuses (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Priorities (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Name (text)
  • Version (text)
  • Start Date (date)
  • Target End Date (date)
  • Actual End Date (date)
  • Members (select-multiple selection allowed)
Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Project search public

"Project search public" form is used for searching project records from the frontend. You can use [project_search_public] shortcode to display it in a page or post of your choise as well.

The following are the fields used in the form:

  • Statuses (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Priorities (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Name (text)
  • Version (text)
  • Start Date (date)
  • Target End Date (date)
  • Actual End Date (date)
Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Public member search

"Public member search" form is used for searching member records from the frontend. You can use [public_member_search] shortcode to display it in a page or post of your choise as well.

The following are the fields used in the form:

  • States (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Countries (select-only single selection allowed)
  • First Name (text)
  • Last Name (text)
  • User Name (selectadv)
  • Job Title (text)
  • Email (text)
  • City (text)
  • Zip Code (text)
  • Assigned Projects (select-multiple selection allowed)
  • Issues Assigned (select-only single selection allowed)
  • Issues Participated (select-multiple selection allowed)
Last Updated: 2017-07-31

Roles and Capabilities

The following table shows the capabilities and the access roles available in Software Issue Manager app. "Red" color means the users who belong to the corresponding role do not have the capability. "Green" color means the users who belong to the corresponding role have the capability.

CAPABILITYAdministratorEditorAuthorContributorSubscriberProject ManagerProject ClientEDD Shop ManagerEDD Shop WorkerEDD Shop AccountantEDD Shop VendorWooCommerce Shop ManagerWooCommerce Customer
Edit Projects
Delete Projects
Edit Others Projects
Publish Projects
Read Private Projects
Delete Private Projects
Delete Published Projects
Delete Others Projects
Edit Private Projects
Edit Published Projects
Manage Operations Projects
Set Author Projects
Edit Members
Delete Members
Edit Others Members
Publish Members
Read Private Members
Delete Private Members
Delete Published Members
Delete Others Members
Edit Private Members
Edit Published Members
Manage Operations Members
Set Author Members
Edit Issues
Delete Issues
Edit Others Issues
Publish Issues
Read Private Issues
Delete Private Issues
Delete Published Issues
Delete Others Issues
Edit Private Issues
Edit Published Issues
Manage Operations Issues
Manage Issue Responses Issues
Set Author Issues
Limit by Author Backend Projects
Limit by Author Frontend Projects
Limit by Author Backend Issues
Limit by Author Frontend Issues
CAPABILITYAdministratorEditorAuthorContributorSubscriberProject ManagerProject ClientEDD Shop ManagerEDD Shop WorkerEDD Shop AccountantEDD Shop VendorWooCommerce Shop ManagerWooCommerce Customer
Manage Priorities
Edit Priorities
Delete Priorities
Assign Priorities
Manage Statuses
Edit Statuses
Delete Statuses
Assign Statuses
Manage Categories
Edit Categories
Delete Categories
Assign Categories
Manage Tags
Edit Tags
Delete Tags
Assign Tags
Manage Statuses
Edit Statuses
Delete Statuses
Assign Statuses
Manage Priorities
Edit Priorities
Delete Priorities
Assign Priorities
Manage States
Edit States
Delete States
Assign States
Manage Countries
Edit Countries
Delete Countries
Assign Countries
Manage Browsers
Edit Browsers
Delete Browsers
Assign Browsers
Manage Operating Systems
Edit Operating Systems
Delete Operating Systems
Assign Operating Systems
CAPABILITYAdministratorEditorAuthorContributorSubscriberProject ManagerProject ClientEDD Shop ManagerEDD Shop WorkerEDD Shop AccountantEDD Shop VendorWooCommerce Shop ManagerWooCommerce Customer
Limit by Assigned Projects
Limit by Issues Assigned To
Limit by Issues Participated By
CAPABILITYAdministratorEditorAuthorContributorSubscriberProject ManagerProject ClientEDD Shop ManagerEDD Shop WorkerEDD Shop AccountantEDD Shop VendorWooCommerce Shop ManagerWooCommerce Customer
View Recent Issues
CAPABILITYAdministratorEditorAuthorContributorSubscriberProject ManagerProject ClientEDD Shop ManagerEDD Shop WorkerEDD Shop AccountantEDD Shop VendorWooCommerce Shop ManagerWooCommerce Customer
All Forms are open to public.
CAPABILITYAdministratorEditorAuthorContributorSubscriberProject ManagerProject ClientEDD Shop ManagerEDD Shop WorkerEDD Shop AccountantEDD Shop VendorWooCommerce Shop ManagerWooCommerce Customer
All Views are open to public.

Notifications

Notifications are email alerts Software Issue Manager sends when new modifications, additions or changes occur.

Notifications tab can be accessed from Settings > Software Issue Manager Settings page in the admin area. Using Notifications tab you can:

  • Enable or disable notifications
  • Choose where the notification will be triggered from
  • Customize email content or subject using tags
  • Include CC, BCC, Reply to
  • Choose who will receive notification either by changing Send to address or selecting appropriate relationship checkbox.

For notifications to work, you must be able to send emails from the server Software Issue Manager enabled. The following sections list the notifications available for Software Issue Manager:

Last Updated: 2015-03-20

Issue Comment Addition

When any Issue Comment:

  • added
  • changed

The following get notified:

  • Comment Author Email
  • Assignee
  • Participants

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Issue Updated

When any Issue record:

  • changed

The following get notified:

  • Assignee
  • Participants

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

New Issue

When any Issue record:

  • added from frontend
  • added from backend

The following get notified:

  • Assignee
  • Participants

Administration

Plugins are managed from the Plugins screen in the Administration Screens of your WordPress site. All Plugins listed on this screen are found in your wp-content/plugins directory. Each Plugin has a description in its header section of what it does, an author and website to refer to, and a version number. Find Software Issue Manager from the list.

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Installation

To install your Software Issue Manager Plugin using the built-in plugin installer:

  1. Download Software Issue Manager Plugin to your desktop.
  2. Go to Plugins "Add New".
  3. Under Upload, click "Browse".
  4. Find the software-issue-manager-professional-VERSION.zip file.
  5. Click Install Now to install the Software Issue Manager Plugin.
  6. A popup window will ask you to confirm your wish to install the Plugin.
  7. Click Proceed to continue with the installation. The resulting installation screen will list the installation as successful or note any problems during the install.
  8. If successful, click Activate Plugin to activate it, or Return to Plugin Installer for further actions.

Replace VERSION in instructions with the version number of Software Issue Manager you want to install. After the activation, the Software Issue Manager plugin setup may display notification asking if you if you'd like to install setup pages or skip setup page installation, click the appropriate button.

Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Uninstallation

To uninstall your Software Issue Manager Plugin using the built-in plugin installer:

  1. Go to Plugins screen.
  2. Find the Software Issue Manager Plugin you wish to deactivate and uninstall.
  3. Click Deactivate.
Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Plugin Updates and Upgrades

WordPress auto-update system displays notification in the Admin Bar and also on the plugins page when new version of the Software Issue Manager is available.

To install the new version, simply hit the "Update automatically" button. WordPress will automatically download the new package, extract it and replace the old files. No FTP, removing old files, and uploading is required.

Upgrading your plugin

We offer different plugin editions to better match your needs. If you purchased a different edition of Software Issue Manager, follow the steps below to upgrade your plugin:

  1. Go WordPress plugins page and deactivate and optionally delete the current Software Issue Manager Professional edition.
  2. Install the new edition based on the instructions in WordPress Codex
  3. Activate the new edition
  4. Go to Plugin Settings page and save settings

Upgrading Software Issue Manager Professional edition does not have any impact on your existing data but it is always a good idea to back up your WordPress database as a rule of thumb before any changes.

Using Plugin Extensions

Software Issue Manager Professional edition is configured to work with many plugin extensions. Most plugin extensions work regardless of the edition unless specified specifically in the plugin page.

if you purchased a plugin extension, follow the instructions in WordPress Codex to install and activate your plugin extension like any other WordPress plugin.

If your extension comes with a license key, you must save and activate your license key to get software updates and support.

Maintaining your plugin

Keeping your plugin up-to-date is very important. At emdplugins.com, we regularly update our products to offer plugin or WordPress related bug fixes, product enhancements, patches for security vulnerabilities and more. Ability to receive these updates is critical to maintaining your software and site in working condition.

To be able to see the update notifications and receive updates, you must have a valid, activated license at all times. If your existing license is expired, you must renew it manually if you opted out of automatic renewals.

Please also note that you must have a valid license to get support for your plugin.

To activate your license:

  1. Go to SIM Pro > Licenses page
  2. Enter the license key you receive in your purchase receipt
  3. Click "Save Changes" button
  4. Now, you will see, "Activate License" button and "INACTIVE" right next to your license key
  5. Click "Activate License" button to activate your license
  6. If you see "VALID" message in place of "INACTIVE", you should be able to get your plugin updates.

If you followed the steps above and still are not able to get the plugin updates, there could be additional configuration needed for your site.

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Import/Export/Reset Content

Administrators can import/export from/to CSV files or reset Software Issue Manager entities, taxonomies and relationships by clicking on Operations button in entity list pages. You must be able to get a backup of your content and files before starting importing/exporting or resetting. Operations page is divided into Import, Export, and Reset tabs.

Importing

Import tab is used to visually import existing records into an entity, its taxonomies and relationships. Each fields to be imported must be mapped to the app design.If you have custom fields in your CSV files, these fields can be imported as well. By default, custom fields are not mapped and they do not have a mapped label. You need to specify custom field's label in the corresponding textbox to import it correctly. The imported custom fields are created for every record with the corresponding value specified in the CSV file.

In you import large files with a lot of images or files attached, your server may be temporarily unavailable and return a white screen. This is due to the extended time needed by WordPress to process and create image thumbnails. If you get a white screen, open up a browser screen and monitor the activity in Media library. If you see images getting created, wait until all activity stops. After image or file addition stops, check if all your records are imported correctly. As a sanity check, you can do the import again but this time checking the Update existing data based on unique field(s) option.

Updating and syncing with external systems

Update option checks the existing records against the CSV file and see if there is a change. If there is a change, it finds the difference and updates the record. For example, if an image is added, the new image is added. If the incoming record does not include an existing image, the existing image which is not included in the incoming record gets deleted. All deletions are permanent. If the incoming record is not there, new record is created. You can use the update option to sync your existing records with external systems.

Exporting

Export tab is used to export the content of an entity as a CSV file. If an entity has relationships, they must be exported separately from the main entity. You will see additional export buttons if this is the case. When you export records, all custom fields are exported as well.

Resetting

Reset tab is used to permanently delete the content of an entity including all the attached images and files. You can also choose to delete all entity content, relationships, or taxonomies. Make sure you have a backup of your content, attached images and/or files before any reset action.

You can take a backup of your content to CSV using export tab. However, you need to take a backup of your attached files manually. In addition, if you need to re-import after the reset using the exported CSV, you must modify the URLs of your attached images to the new or backup location to import them back correctly.

Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Modifying Form Fields

Administrators can show, hide, and resize form elements by clicking on the Settings page under SIM Pro menu. In addition, form captcha element can be set to "Visitors Only","Always Show", or "Never Show".

Required fields can not be disabled however you can change the column size. The optional fields can be enabled, disabled, or modified to occupy more or less space in the form layout.

Make sure to save your changes after any modification otherwise your changes will not take effect.

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Changing Entity Base Slug

The default entity base slug can be changed within entity tab of settings page in SIM Pro menu. After you update, make sure to refresh your site's Permalinks under Settings. You can only change base slug if post name based permalink structure is selected.

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Resolving theme related conflicts

For the most part, Software Issue Manager templates will integrate nicely with most WordPress themes. However you may run into issues when the default Software Issue Manager content wrappers do not match your chosen theme or your theme's CSS rules overwrite Software Issue Manager CSS rules.

Theme related issues manifest themselves by;

  • Breaking your layout on Software Issue Manager pages and shifting your sidebars into incorrect positions
  • Some random text getting displayed in header or footer of your site
  • Some sections in plugin pages not getting displayed as in the plugin's demo site.

Theme related issues can potentially affect all single, taxonomy, archive and shortcode pages because Software Issue Manager uses templates of its own to display these pages and it’s impossible for eMDPlugins to know exactly what markup or CSS rules your theme uses.

The following is a Developer level documentation. If you’re unfamiliar with code/templates and resolving potential conflicts, we strongly suggest to hire us or a developer to complete the project for you. Please also note that our complimentary support team is unable to assist with customization per our Support Policy.

There are three methods to resolve theme related issues;

  • Copying and modifying your theme's header.php and footer.php
  • Copying and modifying your theme's page.php
  • Adding custom CSS rules

Modifying header.php and footer.php

  1. Go to your theme's folder -- wp-content/themes/YOURTHEME/
  2. Copy header.php of your theme as header-emdplugins.php
  3. Copy footer.php of your theme as footer-emplugins.php
  4. Remove the conflicting code from header-emdplugins.php and/or footer-emplugins.php.
  5. This will make Software Issue Manager use these newly created header and footer instead of your theme's default header and footer. Save the files. You’re done.

Copying and modifying your theme's page.php

If the issue can not be resolved through simply modifying the header and footer templates, you need to modify your theme's page.php.

Please note that this approach eliminates Your ability:

  • To set page templates for single, archive and taxonomy pages
  • To remove page navigation from archive and taxonomy pages.

from SIM Pro, settings page.

To set up this template page:

  1. Duplicate your theme’s page.php file, and name it sim-pro.php. This file should be found like this: wp-content/themes/YOURTHEME/sim-pro.php.
  2. Open up your newly created sim-pro.php in a text editor, or the editor of your choice.
  3. Next you need to find the loop (see The_Loop). The loop usually starts with a:

    <?php if ( have_posts() ) :

    and usually ends with:

    <?php endif; ?>

    This varies between themes. Once you have found it, delete it. In its place, put:

    <?php sim_pro_content(); ?>
  4. This will make your theme use Software Issue Manager’s loop instead. Save the file. You’re done.

Adding CSS rules

You add custom CSS rules in the Custom CSS field of Tools tab under SIM Pro menu, settings page to overwrite your theme's default CSS. The custom css rules added in the settings are not deleted when your plugin gets updated.

You can learn CSS language by completing the tutorials at w3schools.com

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Localization(l10n)

Software Issue Manager can be translated into any language by editing sim-pro-emd-plugins.pot and sim-pro.pot files.

  • sim-pro-emd-plugins.pot file is for the components used in Software Issue Manager.
  • sim-pro.pot file is for the Software Issue Manager specific strings that need to be translated.

Follow the steps below to fully translate Software Issue Manager into the desired language:

  1. Copy sim-pro-emd-plugins.pot as language specific .po file such as sim-pro-emd-plugins-tr_TR.po.
  2. Copy sim-pro.pot as language specific .po file such as sim-pro-tr_TR.po.
  3. Use your favorite PO file editor and complete translation strings in the .po files you created.
  4. When translations are completed, create .mo file of each .po file.
  5. Create wp-content/languages/sim-pro directory
  6. Put translated .mo files and .po files in the directory above to protect them from getting deleted during plugin updates.
  7. Change the language to the translated language from Settings > General > Site Language.
  8. Repeat the process until you get all strings translated
  9. .
Last Updated: 2014-12-14

Screen Options

Screen Options is displayed as a hanging tab under the toolbar. Click on the Screen Options tab to expand the options available for a particular Screen, check (or uncheck) the desired options, then click the Screen Options hanging tab to collapse the Screen Options. Each screen may have a different set of Screen Options.

Edit page screen options allow the user to decide the edit boxes ,such as taxonomies, relationships or specific boxes such as authors, are presented in the edit area. You can turn on and off the ones that are not needed for a particular edit session.

List page screen options allow users to set the number of records displayed in the list table.

Creating Shortcodes

Shortcodes are small blocks of reusable code that can be inserted in a page to generate dynamic and often complex functionality. There is no limit in number of shortcodes that can be created and used. Multiple shortcodes can be used in the same page.

Examples

The following shortcode creates a Project Issues page with issues of Browsers category.

[project_issues filter="tax::browser::is::YOUR TAXONOMY VALUE;"]

The following shortcode creates a Project Issues page with issues of Browsers category.

[project_issues filter="attr::blt_title::is::YOUR ATTRIBUTE VALUE;"]

The following shortcode creates a Project Issues page with issues of Browsers category where Title is blt_title .

[project_issues filter="attr::blt_title::is::YOUR ATTRIBUTE VALUE;tax::browser::is::YOUR TAXONOMY VALUE;"]

The following shortcode creates a Project Issues page with the published issues of Browsers category where Title is blt_title in descending order by comment count, displaying 15 issues with no pagination.

[project_issues filter="attr::blt_title::is::YOUR ATTRIBUTE VALUE;tax::browser::is::YOUR TAXONOMY VALUE;misc::post_status::is::publish;misc::order::is::DESC;misc::posts_per_page::is::15;misc::has_pages::is::false;misc::orderby::is::comment_count;"]

Note: Replace YOUR ATTRIBUTE VALUE with the value stored for that attribute and YOUR TAXONOMY VALUE with the slug of the corresponding taxonomy value.

Last Updated: 2016-06-01

Using Visual Shortcode Builder

Software Issue Manager Professional comes with Visual Shortcode Builder(VSB) module which allows creating advanced custom shortcodes without manually writing code. To use Visual Shortcode Builder:

  1. Create a new page
  2. Click on WPAS button right next to Add Media button
  3. Find and select the view or form you'd like to use a base from the drowdown list
  4. Modify the shortcode by adding filters from taxonomy, attribute, relationship or misc categories
    • Don't forget to click + icon every time you add a filter
    • You can create as many filters as you need in the same shortcode
  5. When you finished, click Insert Shortcode button. The shortcode will be inserted to the page
  6. Update or publish the page to see the shortcode result
  7. Repeat the same process for all your shortcodes
Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Customizations

Software Issue Manager offers extensive customization options from plugin settings, settings page. The following customizations can be done without changing your theme's template files:

  • Enable or disable all fields, taxonomies and relationships from backend and/or frontend
  • Set any entity and/or archive base slug
  • Set the page template of any entity, taxonomy and/or archive page to sidebar on left, sidebar on right or no sidebar (full width)
  • Hide the previous and next post links on the frontend for single posts
  • Hide the page navigation links on the frontend for archive posts
  • Display or hide any custom field
  • Display any side bar widget on plugin pages using EMD Widget Area
  • Set custom CSS rules for all plugin pages including plugin shortcodes

If your customization requirements are more complex and can not be resolved through the list of options provided above, you need to implement advanced customization techniques.

Advanced Customizations

Note:The following is a Developer level documentation. If you’re unfamiliar with code/templates/localization and resolving potential conflicts, we strongly suggest to hire us or a developer to complete the project for you. Please also note that our complimentary support team is unable to assist with customization per our Support Policy.

Software Issue Manager advanced customization can be done on 3 different areas;

  • Look & Feel - changing layout and overall presentation of content
  • Functionality - adding, deleting or modifying existing plugin functionality
  • Strings - changing the field names

Plugin customization can be implemented by using 4 different methods:

Customizing functionality

If you'd like to modify the functionality, you need to modify the plugin design (sold separately) using WP App Studio ProDev API access (sold separately and monthly development plans are available).

Customizing look & feel

If you like to customize how HTML elements are to be displayed on screen, you can add custom CSS rules with higher specificity to your theme's style.css file.

If you'd like to customize layouts of Software Issue Manager, Please follow the steps below:

  1. Create "emd_templates" directory under your theme's directory.
  2. Copy the layout files that you want to customize into "emd_templates" directory which you created in step 1 from PLUGIN-ROOT/layouts directory
  3. Modify the file based on your needs

The layout files you added in the "emd_templates" has always precedence over the plugin's layout files. If the customized files get deleted, the layouts which came with your plugin are displayed. We recommend that you create a child theme if you'd like to minimize the risk of accidental deleting of the "emd_templates" directory because of theme updates.

The following layout file types can be customized:

  • Single view page
  • Archive view page
  • Taxonomy view page
  • Search form result page
  • Standard list page
  • Integration page
  • Org chart record and tooltip layout page

Customizing strings

Software Issue Manager labels and messages can be customized to better match your needs through language files. The customization is very similar to localization but recommended for US English users only. If your language is different than US English, you should localize instead of customize. The customization can be done for the strings included in sim-pro-emd-plugins.pot and sim-pro.pot files.

The following steps cover the string customization of labels and messages.

  • sim-pro-emd-plugins.pot file is for the translatable strings of components used in Software Issue Manager.
  • sim-pro.pot file is for the Software Issue Manager specific strings that need to be translated.

Follow the steps below to fully customize Software Issue Manager labels and messages:

  1. Copy sim-pro-emd-plugins.pot as language specific .po file such as sim-pro-emd-plugins-en_US.po.
  2. Copy sim-pro.pot as language specific .po file such as sim-pro-en_US.po.
  3. Use your favorite PO file editor or plugin and complete customization of strings in the .po files you created.
  4. When customization are completed, create .mo file of each .po file.
  5. Create wp-content/languages/sim-pro directory.
  6. Put customized .mo files and .po files in the directory above to protect them from getting deleted during plugin updates.
  7. Repeat the process until you get all strings customized. If you do not need a string to be customizes, leave it as it is.

All customization can be done by yourself or emarketdesign.com. Open a support ticket, if you prefer us to do the customization for you.

Glossary

Below is the list of attribute and taxonomy definitions.

Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Issue

An issue is anything that might affect the project meeting its goals such as bugs, tasks, and feature requests that occur during a project\'s life cycle.

Title
Title is a required field. Title does not have a default value.
Content
Content does not have a default value.
ID
Sets a unique identifier for an issue. Being a unique identifier, it uniquely distinguishes each instance of Issue entity. ID is filterable in the admin area. ID does not have a default value.
Sequence
Sets the priority sequence of an issue. Sequence does not have a default value.
Identified DateTime
Sets the date and time that an issue was identified. Identified DateTime does not have a default value.
Due Date
Sets the targeted resolution date for an issue. Due Date does not have a default value.
Resolution DateTime
Set the actual time and date on which an issue was resolved. Resolution DateTime does not have a default value.
Resolution Summary
Sets a brief summary of the resolution of an issue. Resolution Summary does not have a default value.
Documents
Allows to upload files related to an issue. Documents does not have a default value.
Form Name
Form Name is filterable in the admin area. Form Name has a default value of "admin".
Form Submitted By
Form Submitted By is filterable in the admin area. Form Submitted By does not have a default value.
Form Submitted IP
Form Submitted IP is filterable in the admin area. Form Submitted IP does not have a default value.
Browser
Sets the browser version that an issue may be reproduced in. Browser accepts multiple values like tags. Browser does not have a default value.

The following are the preset values for "Browser:"

Chrome 33, Internet Explorer 11, Safari 7.0, Opera 20, Firefox 29

Category
Sets the category that an issue belongs to. Category accepts multiple values like tags. Category has a default value of: 'bug'.

The following are the preset values and value descriptions for "Category:"

BugBugs are software problems or defects in the system that need to be resolved.
Feature RequestFeature requests are functional enhancements submitted by clients.
TaskTasks are activities that need to be accomplished within a defined period of time or by a deadline to resolve issues.
Priority
Sets the priority level assigned to an issue. Priority accepts multiple values like tags. Priority has a default value of: 'normal'.

The following are the preset values and value descriptions for "Priority:"

CriticalCritical bugs either render a system unusable (not being able to create content or upgrade between versions, blocks not displaying, and the like), cause loss of data, or expose security vulnerabilities. These bugs are to be fixed immediately.
MajorIssues which have significant repercussions but do not render the whole system unusable are marked major. An example would be a PHP error which is only triggered under rare circumstances or which affects only a small percentage of all users. These issues are prioritized in the current development release and backported to stable releases where applicable. Major issues do not block point releases.
NormalBugs that affect one piece of functionality are normal priority. An example would be the category filter not working on the database log screen. This is a self-contained bug and does not impact the overall functionality of the software.
MinorMinor priority is most often used for cosmetic issues that don\'t inhibit the functionality or main purpose of the project, such as correction of typos in code comments or whitespace issues.
Status
Sets the current status of an issue. Status accepts multiple values like tags. Status has a default value of: 'open'.

The following are the preset values and value descriptions for "Status:"

OpenThis issue is in the initial state, ready for the assignee to start work on it.
In ProgressThis issue is being actively worked on at the moment.
ReopenedThis issue was once \'Resolved\' or \'Closed\', but is now being re-visited, e.g. an issue with a Resolution of \'Cannot Reproduce\' is Reopened when more information becomes available and the issue becomes reproducible. The next issue states are either marked In Progress, Resolved or Closed.
ClosedThis issue is complete.
Resolved - FixedA fix for this issue has been implemented.
Resolved - Won\'t FixThis issue will not be fixed, e.g. it may no longer be relevant.
Resolved - DuplicateThis issue is a duplicate of an existing issue. It is recommended you create a link to the duplicated issue by creating a related issue connection.
Resolved - IncompleteThere is not enough information to work on this issue.
Resolved - CNRThis issue could not be reproduced at this time, or not enough information was available to reproduce the issue. If more information becomes available, reopen the issue.
Tag
Allows to tag issues to further classify or group related issues. Tag accepts multiple values like tags. Tag does not have a default value.

There are no preset values for "Tag":

Operating System
Sets the operating system(s) that an issue may be reproduced in. Operating System accepts multiple values like tags. Operating System does not have a default value.

The following are the preset values for "Operating System:"

Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows XP (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit), Windows Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows Server 2003 (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows 2000 SP4, Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (32-bit and 64-bit), Mac OS X 10.7 Lion (32-bit and 64-bit), Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (32-bit), Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, Linux (32-bit and 64-bit versions, kernel 2.6 or compatible)

Affected Projects
Allows to display and create connections with Projects. One instance of Issues can associated with many instances of Projects, and vice versa. The relationship can be set up in the edit area of Issues using Affected Projects relationship box. This relationship is required when publishing new Issues.
Assignee
Allows to display and create connections with Members. One instance of Issues can associated with only one instance of Members. The relationship can be set up in the edit area of Members using Issues Assigned or in the edit area of Issues using Assignee relationship boxes.
Related Issues
Allows to display and create connections with Issues. One instance of Issues can associated with many instances of Issues, and vice versa. The relationship can be set up in the edit area of Issues using Related Issues relationship box. After a relationship is setup by pressing the plus icon, you may fill out relationship fields to complete connection creation.
Participants
Allows to display and create connections with Members. One instance of Issues can associated with many instances of Members, and vice versa. The relationship can be set up in the edit area of Members using Issues Participated or in the edit area of Issues using Participants relationship boxes.
Relation Type
The type of relation of one issue to another. Relation Type is an attribute of Related Issues relationship and can be set after the connection created. Supported values are;
  • Child
  • Parent
  • Dependent
  • Duplicate
  • Refers to
Relation Type does not have a default value.
Last Updated: 2017-01-20

Member

Members are human resources who could be assigned to handle issues.

Photo
Allows to upload a member photo. Photo does not have a default value.
Salutation
Sets the salutation used for a member. Salutation does not have a default value. Salutation is displayed as a dropdown and has predefined values of: mr, mrs, ms, dr, prof.
First Name
Sets the member\'s first name. First Name is a required field. Being a unique identifier, it uniquely distinguishes each instance of Member entity. First Name is filterable in the admin area. First Name does not have a default value.
Last Name
Sets the member\'s last name. Last Name is a required field. Being a unique identifier, it uniquely distinguishes each instance of Member entity. Last Name does not have a default value.
User Name
Sets the system user corresponding to a member. User Name is a required field. Being a unique identifier, it uniquely distinguishes each instance of Member entity. User Name does not have a default value.
Job Title
Sets the job title of a member. Job Title does not have a default value.
Email
Sets the email address which belongs to a member. Email is a required field. Email does not have a default value.
Office Phone
Sets the office phone number which belongs to a member. Office Phone does not have a default value.
Mobile Phone
Sets the mobile phone number which belongs to a member. Mobile Phone does not have a default value.
Fax
Sets the fax number which belongs to a member. Fax does not have a default value.
Primary Address
Sets the primary address of a member. Primary Address does not have a default value.
City
Sets the city of a member\'s address. City does not have a default value.
Zip Code
Sets the zip code of a member\'s address. Zip Code does not have a default value.
Form Name
Form Name is filterable in the admin area. Form Name has a default value of "admin".
Form Submitted By
Form Submitted By is filterable in the admin area. Form Submitted By does not have a default value.
Form Submitted IP
Form Submitted IP is filterable in the admin area. Form Submitted IP does not have a default value.
Country
Sets the country of a member's address. Country accepts multiple values like tags. Country does not have a default value.

The following are the preset values for "Country:"

Afghanistan, Åland Islands, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antarctica, Antigua And Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia And Herzegovina, Botswana, Bouvet Island, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote D\'ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Heard Island And Mcdonald Islands, Holy See (Vatican City State), Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Islamic Republic Of, Iraq, Ireland, Isle Of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Democratic People\'s Republic Of, Korea, Republic Of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People\'s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic Of, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Federated States Of, Moldova, Republic Of, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestinian Territory, Occupied, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts And Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre And Miquelon, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome And Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Georgia And The South Sandwich Islands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Svalbard And Jan Mayen, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Province Of China, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Republic Of, Thailand, Timor-leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad And Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks And Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands, British, Virgin Islands, U.S., Wallis And Futuna, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

State
Sets the state that of a member's address. State accepts multiple values like tags. State does not have a default value.

The following are the preset values and value descriptions for "State:"

ALAlabama
AKAlaska
AZArizona
ARArkansas
CACalifornia
COColorado
CTConnecticut
DEDelaware
DCDistrict of Columbia
FLFlorida
GAGeorgia
HIHawaii
IDIdaho
ILIllinois
INIndiana
IAIowa
KSKansas
KYKentucky
LALouisiana
MEMaine
MDMaryland
MAMassachusetts
MIMichigan
MNMinnesota
MSMississippi
MOMissouri
MTMontana
NENebraska
NVNevada
NHNew Hampshire
NJNew Jersey
NMNew Mexico
NYNew York
NCNorth Carolina
NDNorth Dakota
OHOhio
OKOklahoma
OROregon
PAPennsylvania
RIRhode Island
SCSouth Carolina
SDSouth Dakota
TNTennessee
TXTexas
UTUtah
VTVermont
VAVirginia
WAWashington
WVWest Virginia
WIWisconsin
WYWyoming
Assigned Projects
Allows to display and create connections with Projects. One instance of Members can associated with many instances of Projects, and vice versa. The relationship can be set up in the edit area of Projects using Members or in the edit area of Members using Assigned Projects relationship boxes.
Issues Assigned
Allows to display and create connections with Issues. One instance of Members can associated with many instances of Issues. The relationship can be set up in the edit area of Members using Issues Assigned or in the edit area of Issues using Assignee relationship boxes.
Issues Participated
Allows to display and create connections with Issues. One instance of Members can associated with many instances of Issues, and vice versa. The relationship can be set up in the edit area of Members using Issues Participated or in the edit area of Issues using Participants relationship boxes.
Last Updated: 2015-06-08

Project

A project is a collection of related issues. Projects have a unique version number, specific start and end dates.

Content
Content does not have a default value.
Name
Sets the name of a project. Name is a required field. Being a unique identifier, it uniquely distinguishes each instance of Project entity. Name is filterable in the admin area. Name does not have a default value.
Version
Sets the version number of a project. Version is a required field. Being a unique identifier, it uniquely distinguishes each instance of Project entity. Version is filterable in the admin area. Version has a default value of "V1.0.0".
Start Date
Sets the start date of a project. Start Date is a required field. Start Date is filterable in the admin area. Start Date does not have a default value.
Target End Date
Sets the targeted end date of a project. Target End Date is filterable in the admin area. Target End Date does not have a default value.
Actual End Date
Sets the actual end date of a project. Actual End Date is filterable in the admin area. Actual End Date does not have a default value.
Documents
Allows to upload project related files. Documents does not have a default value.
Form Name
Form Name is filterable in the admin area. Form Name has a default value of "admin".
Form Submitted By
Form Submitted By is filterable in the admin area. Form Submitted By does not have a default value.
Form Submitted IP
Form Submitted IP is filterable in the admin area. Form Submitted IP does not have a default value.
Priority
Sets the current priority of a project. Priority accepts multiple values like tags. Priority has a default value of: 'medium'.

The following are the preset values for "Priority:"

Low, Medium, High

Status
Sets the current status of a project. Status accepts multiple values like tags. Status has a default value of: 'draft'.

The following are the preset values for "Status:"

Draft, In Review, Published, In Process

Project Issues
Allows to display and create connections with Issues. One instance of Projects can associated with many instances of Issues, and vice versa. The relationship can be set up in the edit area of Issues using Affected Projects relationship box. This relationship is required when publishing new Projects.
Members
Allows to display and create connections with Members. One instance of Projects can associated with many instances of Members, and vice versa. The relationship can be set up in the edit area of Projects using Members or in the edit area of Members using Assigned Projects relationship boxes.