A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Create an Issue in GitLab

GitLab is a powerful tool for version control and project management, and its issue tracking feature is essential for efficient collaboration. In this step-by-step guide, we will explore how to create an issue in GitLab, from understanding the basics to leveraging advanced features. By the end of this guide, you will have a solid understanding of how to effectively use GitLab’s issue tracking system.

Key Takeaways

• GitLab is a comprehensive platform for version control and project management.
• Issue tracking in GitLab enables efficient collaboration and organization.
• Creating a GitLab account is the first step towards using its issue tracking feature.
• Navigating the GitLab interface is essential for managing and creating issues.
• Collaboration features like commenting, mentioning team members, and attaching files enhance issue management.

Understanding GitLab and Issue Tracking

What is GitLab?

GitLab is an open core DevSecOps platform that you can make your own. It offers better collaboration and faster innovation. With GitLab, you can customize your DevSecOps platform to suit your needs.

Why Use GitLab for Issue Tracking?

GitLab provides a robust and efficient platform for issue tracking, making it an ideal choice for teams and organizations. With GitLab’s issue tracking features, you can easily manage and prioritize tasks, collaborate with team members, and track the progress of your projects.

Here are a few reasons why GitLab is a great tool for issue tracking:

• Collaboration: GitLab allows team members to easily collaborate on issues by commenting, mentioning each other, and attaching files and images. This promotes effective communication and ensures everyone is on the same page.
• Organization: GitLab provides a structured and organized approach to issue tracking. You can assign labels and milestones to issues, making it easier to categorize and prioritize tasks.
• Advanced Features: GitLab offers advanced issue tracking features like issue boards, issue templates, and time tracking. These features enhance productivity and help streamline your workflow.

In summary, GitLab’s issue tracking capabilities provide a seamless and efficient way to manage and track tasks, collaborate with team members, and ensure the success of your projects.

Creating a GitLab Account

Signing up for a GitLab Account

To get started with GitLab, you’ll need to sign up for an account. Follow these steps to create your GitLab account:

1. Visit the GitLab website at www.gitlab.com.
2. Click on the ‘Sign in / Register’ button at the top right corner of the page.
3. On the login page, click on the ‘Register’ tab.
4. Fill in the required information, including your username, email address, and password.
5. Optionally, you can choose to sign up with your Google, GitHub, or Bitbucket account.
6. Once you’ve filled in all the necessary details, click on the ‘Register’ button to create your account.

After signing up, you’ll receive a verification email. Make sure to verify your email address to complete the registration process.

Verifying Your Email Address

After signing up for a GitLab account, the next step is to verify your email address. This is an important security measure to ensure that only authorized users have access to your account.

To verify your email address, follow these steps:

1. Check your email inbox for a verification email from GitLab.
2. Open the email and click on the verification link.
3. You will be redirected to the GitLab website, where you will see a confirmation message.

It’s important to complete the email verification process to fully activate your GitLab account and start using all the features and functionalities it offers.

If you don’t receive the verification email, make sure to check your spam or junk folder. If you still can’t find it, you can request a new verification email from your GitLab account settings.

Remember, verifying your email address is an essential step in securing your GitLab account and ensuring a smooth user experience.

Navigating the GitLab Interface

Exploring the Dashboard

Once you’ve logged into GitLab and accessed your project, it’s time to explore the dashboard. The dashboard serves as the central hub for all your project activities and provides a quick overview of the project’s status and progress.

You’ll find various sections and widgets on the dashboard, each serving a specific purpose. For example, the Activity Feed displays recent updates and activities related to your project, allowing you to stay up-to-date with the latest developments.

Additionally, the Issues widget provides a summary of the open issues in your project, making it easy to track and prioritize tasks. You can also customize the dashboard by adding or removing widgets to suit your preferences and workflow.

Overall, the dashboard is designed to provide a comprehensive view of your project, helping you stay organized and informed.

Understanding Project Pages

Project Pages in GitLab provide a way to showcase your project’s documentation, demos, or any other static content. They are a great tool for creating a website to accompany your project. With Project Pages, you can easily create and manage web pages directly within your GitLab repository.

To create a Project Page, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to your project’s repository.
2. Create a new branch specifically for your Project Page.
3. Add your HTML, CSS, and other static files to the branch.
4. Commit and push your changes to the branch.
5. Enable the Project Pages feature in your project’s settings.
6. Choose the branch that contains your Project Page files.

Once your Project Page is set up, it will be accessible at a URL based on your GitLab instance and project name. You can customize the URL by configuring the project’s settings.

Project Pages are a powerful feature that allows you to create a professional-looking website for your project without the need for external hosting services.

Creating a New Issue

Opening the Issue Tracker

To open the issue tracker in GitLab, follow these steps:

1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
2. Select Settings > Integrations.
3. Select Custom issue tracker.
4. Under Enable integration, select …

Filling in the Issue Details

When filling in the issue details, it is important to provide clear and concise information. Use bold formatting for important keywords and italics for subtle emphasis. If the content is structured and quantitative, consider using a Markdown table. For less structured content, like steps or a series of related items, use a bulleted or numbered list. Remember to regularly update the issue description with the latest information and its current status, especially when important decisions were made during the discussion. The issue description should be the single source of truth. Avoid assigning someone to an issue if you want them to review it; instead, @-mention them in an issue comment. Lastly, do not forget to mention someone in an issue comment if you want to inform them about an issue or assign a task to them. Keep the content organized into short paragraphs for better readability.

Assigning Labels and Milestones

When creating a new issue in GitLab, it is important to assign appropriate labels and milestones to help organize and track your project. Labels provide a way to categorize and filter issues based on their characteristics, such as priority, type, or status. By assigning labels, you can easily identify and prioritize issues that require immediate attention.

Additionally, milestones allow you to group related issues together and track their progress towards a specific goal or deadline. They provide a visual representation of the project’s timeline and help you stay on track with your development milestones.

To assign labels and milestones to an issue, simply navigate to the issue tracker and locate the relevant issue. From there, you can select the appropriate labels from the available options and assign a milestone if applicable. Remember, using descriptive labels and setting realistic milestones can greatly enhance your project management and collaboration efforts.

Note: GitLab Ultimate offers advanced features for issue tracking, including customizable issue boards, issue templates, and time tracking. These features can further streamline your workflow and improve team productivity.

Collaborating on Issues

Commenting on Issues

Commenting on issues is an essential part of collaborating and providing feedback. It allows team members to discuss and make important decisions. Here are some best practices for commenting on issues:

• Use clear and concise language to express your thoughts.
• Be respectful and professional in your comments.
• Mention team members using the @ symbol to notify them.
• Provide constructive feedback and suggestions.
• Avoid duplicating comments or repeating information.
• Use markdown formatting to highlight important points or emphasize certain words or phrases.

Remember, effective communication through comments helps to keep everyone informed and ensures that discussions are productive and focused.

Mentioning Team Members

Just @-mention them, if multiple people were working on something try @-mentioning each person. When announcing a completed project, list the key contributors. Please be as timely as possible with your recognition. If possible please include a link with your thanks that points to the subject matter that you are giving thanks for, for example a link to a merge request. Please do not mention working outside of working hours, we want to minimize the pressure to do so. Please do not celebrate GitLab contribution graphs that include working for uninterrupted weeklong cycles, as this does not foster healthy work/life harmony.

Attaching Files and Images

When working on an issue in GitLab, you may need to attach files or images to provide additional context or information. Attaching files and images is a straightforward process that can be done directly within the issue tracker.

To attach a file or image to an issue, follow these steps:

1. Open the issue you want to attach the file or image to.
2. Scroll down to the ‘Attachments’ section.
3. Click on the ‘Choose file’ button to select the file or image from your local device.
4. Once selected, the file or image will be uploaded and attached to the issue.

It’s important to note that there is a file size limit for attachments in GitLab. If your file exceeds the limit, you may need to consider alternative methods of sharing the file, such as using cloud storage services or sharing a download link.

Remember, attaching files and images can greatly enhance collaboration and help provide a clearer understanding of the issue at hand.

Managing Issues

Updating Issue Status

When updating the issue status, it’s important to keep the Health Status accurate and up-to-date. This helps to surface any risks or concerns quickly and facilitates collaboration to get the issue back on track. Assignees should update the Health Status as appropriate throughout the milestone, and can override automatic degradation if they disagree. Additionally, the automation policy can be disabled for individual issues by adding the ~"Untrack Health Status" label. Here are the Health Status Definitions for Plan:

• On Track: We are confident this issue will be completed and live for the current milestone
• Needs Attention: There are concerns, new complexity, or unanswered questions that, if left unattended, will result in the issue missing its targeted release. Collaboration is needed to get back on track
• At Risk: The issue in its current state will not make the planned release, and immediate action is needed to rectify the situation

It’s also important to keep the issue discussions flowing and to close issues in a timely manner. Assigning an issue to yourself as soon as you start to work on it, updating the issue description regularly, and setting due dates for updates are all good practices to ensure effective issue management.

Assigning Issues to Yourself

When you start working on an issue, assign it to yourself. This ensures that the issue is linked to your current Issue list, which you can access by clicking the Issues icon at the right corner of the page. Assigning the issue to yourself signals that you are responsible for working on it. If you need someone else to take the next step, you can re-assign the issue to that person. Remember to clearly state the desired outcome in the issue title, especially for bugs. Regularly update the issue description with the latest information and its current status, especially after important decisions have been made. The issue description should be the single source of truth. If you want someone to review the issue, mention them in an issue comment instead of assigning them to it. Use the issue comment to inform someone about an issue or assign a task to them. Avoid adding them to the description as it may create a false signal. When mentioning someone in an issue comment, a to-do item will be generated for them. If you want to reference a specific commit or file in the issue, use a permalink to ensure the reference remains valid even if the file changes.

Closing and Reopening Issues

When closing an issue, it’s important to leave a comment explaining why you are closing the issue and what the Minimum Viable Change (MVC) outcome was of the discussion. This helps provide clarity and transparency to the team. Additionally, be proactive and consistent with communication on discussions that involve external stakeholders, such as customers. Keeping communication flowing and everyone up to date is crucial. Issues can appear stale if there haven’t been recent discussions or a clear definition of when another update will be provided. It’s recommended to avoid closing an issue until it is completely done. It’s okay to explicitly ask for everyone’s agreement on how to move forward, whether to iterate, close the open issue, or create a subsequent merge request to implement a Minimum Viable Change (MVC).

Advanced Issue Tracking Features

Using Issue Boards

Issue boards are a powerful tool in GitLab that allow you to visualize and manage your project’s workflow. With issue boards, you can easily track the progress of your issues and collaborate with your team more effectively. Parent-child relationships in issue boards enable you to organize your issues hierarchically, making it easier to manage complex projects. Here are some key features of issue boards:

• Visualize your workflow: Issue boards provide a visual representation of your project’s workflow, allowing you to see the status of each issue at a glance.
• Drag and drop functionality: You can easily move issues between different columns on the board by simply dragging and dropping them.
• Filter and search: Issue boards allow you to filter and search for specific issues based on various criteria, such as assignee, label, or milestone.

Using issue boards can greatly improve your project management experience in GitLab, making it easier to track and prioritize your work.

Creating Issue Templates

When creating new issues in GitLab, you have the option to use issue templates. Issue templates provide a standardized format for creating issues, ensuring that important information is included and making it easier for team members to understand and address the issue. To create an issue template, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the ‘Issues’ tab in your GitLab project.
2. Click on the ‘New issue’ button.
3. In the issue description field, enter the template content. You can use Markdown formatting to structure the template and add emphasis where needed.
4. Click on the ‘Save changes’ button to save the template.

Using issue templates can save time and improve collaboration by providing a consistent framework for issue creation. It also helps ensure that all necessary information is captured right from the start, making it easier to track and resolve issues effectively.

Tracking Time with Time Tracking

GitLab provides a built-in time tracking feature that allows you to estimate and track the time spent on tasks such as issues and merge requests. With the GitLab time tracker, you can easily keep track of your work and ensure accurate time reporting. This feature is especially useful for teams that need to monitor their progress and allocate resources effectively.

To use the time tracking feature in GitLab, simply navigate to the issue or merge request and click on the ‘Time Tracking’ tab. Here, you can enter the time spent on the task and add any additional comments or notes. The time tracking data can then be used to generate reports and analyze the team’s productivity.

If you prefer a more structured view of your time tracking data, you can use a Markdown table to present the information. This allows you to organize and compare the time spent on different tasks or by different team members. Here’s an example of how a time tracking table could look like:

Task	Time Spent
Issue #123	2 hours
Merge Request !456	1.5 hours

In addition to tracking time, GitLab also provides other advanced features for issue management and collaboration. These include issue boards for visualizing and organizing tasks, issue templates for streamlining the issue creation process, and the ability to assign issues to specific team members. By leveraging these features, you can streamline your workflow and improve collaboration within your team.

Resolving Issues and Closing the Loop

Resolving Issues with Merge Requests

When resolving issues in GitLab, it is best practice to start a discussion with a Merge Request (MR) instead of an issue. An MR is associated with a specific change that is proposed and transparent for everyone to review and openly discuss. The nature of MRs facilitates discussions around a proposed solution to a problem that is actionable. An MR is actionable, while an issue will take longer to take action on. Always open an MR for things you are suggesting and/or proposing. Whether something is not working right or we are iterating on a new internal process, it is worth opening a merge request with the minimal viable change instead of waiting for an issue to be resolved.

To ensure effective collaboration and resolution of issues, consider the following:

• Submit your first merge request for at most 20 lines of code or content.
• Do not leave MRs open for a long time; stakeholders should have a clear understanding of what changed and what they are ultimately approving or rejecting.
• Make a conscious effort to prioritize your work based on factors such as urgency, impact, and the number of people affected.

Remember, every MR is a proposal, and if the author of an MR is unresponsive, take ownership and complete it. Cross-link related conversations by documenting MR links in relevant tickets or issues. When approving or rejecting an MR, provide a reason or response from the related ticket or issue.

By following these guidelines, you can ensure efficient issue resolution and effective collaboration within your GitLab projects.

Closing Issues and Referencing Merge Requests

When closing issues and referencing merge requests, it’s important to follow these best practices:

• Close issues only when they are done: Avoid closing an issue until all the necessary actions have been completed. It’s okay to explicitly ask for agreement on how to move forward before closing the issue.

• Update the description with documentation links: Once a feature is completed, update the issue description to include a link to the corresponding documentation. This helps users find relevant information about the feature.

• Cross-link issues and merge requests: When cross-linking issues or merge requests, include a preview of the content you are linking. This facilitates communication and provides context without the need to navigate to different threads.

• Avoid auto-closing issues: If any follow-up actions are required after a merge request is merged, avoid auto-closing the issue. This prevents confusion and ensures proper reporting back to stakeholders.

• Assign multiple reviewers: If a project requires multiple approvals for a merge request, feel free to assign multiple reviewers. This helps ensure thorough review and prevents delays.

• Keep merge requests up to date: It’s important to keep merge requests up to date with recent discussions and provide clear updates on when further updates will be provided. This helps prevent confusion and keeps stakeholders informed.

• Take ownership of unresponsive merge requests: If the author of a merge request is unresponsive, take ownership of it and complete it. Some improvement is better than none.

• Follow GitLab documentation and best practices: Refer to the GitLab documentation for more information on advanced issue tracking features, GitLab CI/CD integration, and other best practices.

Resolving Issues and Closing the Loop

Conclusion

In conclusion, creating an issue in GitLab is a straightforward process that can greatly enhance collaboration and project management. By following the step-by-step guide outlined in this article, you can easily create and track issues, assign them to team members, and keep everyone informed about the progress. Remember to provide clear and concise descriptions, use labels and milestones effectively, and utilize the various features and integrations available in GitLab to streamline your workflow. With GitLab, managing and resolving issues has never been easier!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GitLab?

GitLab is a web-based Git repository manager that provides a complete DevOps platform for managing the entire software development lifecycle.

Why should I use GitLab for issue tracking?

GitLab’s issue tracking feature allows you to easily track and manage tasks, bugs, and feature requests for your projects in a centralized and collaborative manner.

How do I sign up for a GitLab account?

To sign up for a GitLab account, go to the GitLab website and click on the ‘Sign up’ button. Fill in the required information and follow the instructions to create your account.

How do I verify my email address on GitLab?

After signing up for a GitLab account, you will receive an email with a verification link. Click on the link to verify your email address.

How do I navigate the GitLab interface?

The GitLab interface consists of a dashboard that provides an overview of your projects and project pages where you can view and manage specific projects. Use the navigation menu on the left side to access different sections of GitLab.

How do I create a new issue in GitLab?

To create a new issue in GitLab, open the issue tracker for your project and click on the ‘New issue’ button. Fill in the necessary details such as the issue title, description, and assignee, and click ‘Submit’ to create the issue.

How do I collaborate on issues in GitLab?

You can collaborate on issues in GitLab by commenting on issues, mentioning team members using ‘@username’, and attaching files and images to provide additional information or context.

How do I manage issues in GitLab?

You can manage issues in GitLab by updating the issue status, assigning issues to yourself or other team members, and closing or reopening issues as needed.