Developer FAQ

Q1: I have a new project on the software forge and I am TRAC_ADMIN, am I able to read and write to the repository automatically?

A1: No, you need to give yourself developer access before you can write to the repository. To do this, log into the project and click on the "Admin" button. Click on "Permissions". Fill in the panel called "Add Subject to Group" with your user name and the group "developer". The new permission will take immediate effect in the wiki, but it takes up to an hour to take effect in the repository.

Q2: I am developer on project Sandbox. NewUser has asked for read access, which we do not grant anonymously. What do I do?

A2: While logged onto the project as a user that has TRAC_ADMIN permission on the project there will be an "Admin" button, click it. Select General : Permissions on the left. At the bottom right you then have a panel "Add Subject to Group". The subject is "NewUser" and the group is "user". Once filled in hit the "Add" button in that panel.

Q3: I've done that, but the user still can't check out from the repository!?

A3: The user has to wait for up to one hour. They can use the source browser in the wiki in the meantime. You have changed only the access to the trac environment (wiki, tickets, source browser etc.). Once every hour a cron job will collect access permission information from all projects and compose a new, equivalent set of svn access permissions. So by within the hour, the svn repository should be available to the user.

Q4: NewUser wants to be developer on our project, and we agree. How do we set that up?

A4: While logged onto the project as a user that has TRAC_ADMIN permission on the project there will be an "Admin" button, click it. Select General : Permissions on the left. At the bottom right you then have a panel "Add Subject to Group". The subject is "NewUser" and the group is "developer". Once filled in hit the "Add" button in that panel.

Q5: I suppose the new developer on our project can't commit to the repository until the new permissions have been propagated from the trac environment to the svn repository?

A5: That's correct. Should be no longer than an hour.

Q6: I am a developer on our project, I have the "Admin" button, but there is no trace of permission management!?

A6: Developer access includes some *_ADMIN permissions, but not TRAC_ADMIN itself. You can reconfigure milestones, ticketing and the wiki, but you cannot reconfigure access rights. Find a project admin and ask them to give you TRAC_ADMIN permission in addition to the developer permission you already have. Be sure you keep the explicit developer permission, otherwise you will lose write access to the repository.

Q7: I am an admin on our project, how do I make NewUser an admin?

A7: While logged onto the project as a user that has TRAC_ADMIN permission on the project there will be an "Admin" button, click it. Select General : Permissions on the left. At the top right you then have a panel "Grant Permission". The subject is "NewUser" and the action is "TRAC_ADMIN". Once filled in hit the "Add" button in that panel.

Q8: Help, the tickets on our project are being spammed! What can I do?

A8: Two things. First, you can remove the spam. To do so you have to enable the TicketDelete plugin; this has to be done only once for the project. Use your TRAC_ADMIN privileges, click on the Admin button and select the General : Plugins item on the left. Amongst the plugins listed, click on the name TracTicketDelete, tick Enabled and click the Apply Changes button. From now on when you view tickets - and while you have the permission to do so - you will see a Delete button by every ticket or comment added to the ticket. You can use that to delete a comment or a whole ticket.

Q9: OK, but how can I prevent the spam?

A9: That's the second thing. If you give "anonymous" any permission higher than "reader" then any spammer can create a ticket and can comment on an existing ticket. You have to either block all access for "anonymous" or restrict it to "reader". "reader" is a new permission group introduced to address this problem. A "reader" can only read the wiki and tickets, they cannot make or modify tickets and cannot read the repository.

Q10: Hmm, but how then can anyone make tickets that I want them to make?

A10: Since "anonymous" can no longer create tickets, you will have to bite the bullet and find out the Forge user names of all the people that may want to create tickets. Give those named users access level "ticket" (or "user" or "developer").