Selenium/Ruby/Workshops/Pair programming for fun and profit/2013-11-21

[15:26:16] <zeljkof> hi sanvi
[15:26:22] <sanvi> hi
[15:26:41] <sanvi> how are you? zljkof
[15:26:44] <zeljkof> I have almost given up :)
[15:26:52] <sanvi> sorry for delay
[15:27:08] <zeljkof> no problem, did you have problems connecting to IRC?
[15:27:32] <sanvi> no, i had to take care of the child and give it to parents..
[15:27:38] <zeljkof> ok
[15:27:40] <sanvi> i connected to here
[15:27:43] <zeljkof> let's start
[15:27:46] <sanvi> okay
[15:27:57] <zeljkof> before we start, do you have any questions, or should I lead?
[15:28:12] <sanvi> not right now
[15:28:16] <zeljkof> anjana, chrismcmahonbrb (and others) feel free to participate too
[15:29:20] <zeljkof> ok sanvi, let me introduce myself :)
[15:29:40] <sanvi> k
[15:29:54] <zeljkof> my name is Željko Filipin, I live in Zagreb (Croatia, Europe) and I work as a software tester for
Wikimedia Foundation (WMF)
[15:30:24] <sanvi> work online or onsite
[15:31:08] <zeljkof> I work from home, WMF office is in San Francisco, California, USA
[15:31:13] <zeljkof> I am a software tester for the last 10 or so years, mostly doing exploratory testing and browser
automation with tools like Selenium
[15:31:29] <zeljkof> can you tell a sentence or two about yourself?
[15:31:29] <sanvi> that's great
[15:31:39] <zeljkof> but keep in mind this is a public chat
[15:31:52] <zeljkof> so do not share anything you want to keep private
[15:33:19] <sanvi> My name is Trinitha, I was born in india and living in USA, trying to get my first job as a QA. I am
joining wikimedia for hands on experince
[15:33:41] <sanvi> i went on utest did some  exploratory testing and
[15:33:45] <sanvi> reported bugs
[15:34:33] <sanvi> i have a question actually
[15:34:37] <zeljkof> go ahead
[15:35:35] <sanvi> what is actually exploratory testing? because all i did on utest test the website links, etc.
functionality and did bug report...i found it easy
[15:35:45] <sanvi> i thought to myself thr should be more to it lol
[15:36:23] <zeljkof> "Exploratory testing is an approach to software testing that is concisely described as simultaneous
learning, test design and test execution."
[15:36:28] <zeljkof> from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploratory_testing
[15:36:56] <zeljkof> it is easy to get started, but like chess, it can take you a lifetime to become good at it
[15:37:35] <sanvi> ya
[15:37:46] <zeljkof> as far as I am concerned, we use term exploratory testing for a type of testing that does not
involve programming skills
[15:38:09] <sanvi> okay, while testing wikimedia we will just report bugs
[15:38:11] <sanvi> or more to it?
[15:38:29] <zeljkof> so, when you click links, fill forms… and inspect the results yourself, that is exploratory testing
[15:38:39] <sanvi> k
[15:38:42] <zeljkof> ok, so let's go a step back
[15:38:52] <zeljkof> there are a few terms here that you should understand
[15:39:01] <sanvi> k
[15:39:18] <zeljkof> wikimedia, is a movement
[15:39:18] <zeljkof> http://www.wikimedia.org/
[15:39:28] <zeljkof> Wikimedia is a global movement whose mission is to bring free educational content to the world.
[15:39:42] <zeljkof> wikimedia foundation is a non profit
[15:40:05] <zeljkof> The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to encouraging the
growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual, educational content, and to providing the full content of
these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge. The Wikimedia Foundation operates some of the largest
collaboratively edited reference projects in the world, including Wikipedia, a top-ten internet property.
[15:40:09] <zeljkof> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home
[15:40:25] <zeljkof> so, we have covered wikimedia and wikimedia foundation
[15:40:35] <zeljkof> now let's cover the tech part
[15:40:48] <zeljkof> what we do is test mediawiki
[15:40:57] <zeljkof> it is a wiki
[15:41:11] <zeljkof> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
[15:41:26] <zeljkof> a type of web application that allows users to edit content of the site
[15:41:52] <zeljkof> mediawiki is one of available wiki web applications
[15:41:56] <zeljkof> https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki
[15:41:59] <sanvi> media wiki is a tester site for wikimedia?
[15:42:09] <zeljkof> no
[15:42:28] <zeljkof> mediawiki.org is a site that documents mediawiki software (web application)
[15:42:56] <zeljkof> you are free to edit the documentation
[15:43:13] <sanvi> mediawiki is where everyone testing?
[15:43:14] <zeljkof> especially the docs related to testing and/or QA
[15:43:17] <chrismcmahon> sanvi: you can read about our test environments at
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Quality_Assurance#Test_environments
[15:43:29] <zeljkof> chrismcmahon: I was just about to talk about that :)
[15:43:44] <zeljkof> sanvi: no, we do not test at mediawiki.org
[15:43:52] <sanvi> hmm k
[15:44:05] <zeljkof> we have several other sites where we test the functionality of mediawiki
[15:44:09] <chrismcmahon> and I just found a typo :-)
[15:44:17] <zeljkof> one of the sites is called test2
[15:44:19] <sanvi> hi chris
[15:44:20] <sanvi> i will
[15:44:25] <sanvi> k
[15:44:32] <zeljkof> https://test2.wikipedia.org
[15:44:48] <zeljkof> test2 is a test wiki, it has no real content, it is just used for testing
[15:44:57] <zeljkof> you can do anything you want to the content there
[15:45:27] <zeljkof> test2 is updated every week or two, chrismcmahon will know
[15:45:44] <zeljkof> you should create an account there, if you already do not have one
[15:45:58] <zeljkof> if you have a wikipedia account, you can log in with it at test2
[15:46:24] <sanvi> okay
[15:46:25] <sanvi> i will
[15:46:39] <zeljkof> test2, mediawiki.org and all wikipedias (english, german…) share the same login database
[15:46:42] <chrismcmahon> it helps to understand the deployment schedule:
https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Deployment
[15:47:13] <zeljkof> so if you have an account at any of those accounts, you can log in at any of mentioned sites
[15:47:28] <zeljkof> another test site that we use is this oen
[15:47:30] <zeljkof> this one
[15:47:45] <zeljkof> http://en.wikipedia.beta.wmflabs.org/
[15:48:21] <sanvi> all this sites listed somewhere
[15:48:26] <zeljkof> yes
[15:48:27] <zeljkof> here
[15:48:36] <zeljkof> https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Quality_Assurance#Test_environments
[15:48:41] <zeljkof> and as you can see
[15:48:53] <zeljkof> we use mediawiki.org to document stuff
[15:49:03] <sanvi> okay
[15:49:07] <sanvi> got it
[15:49:29] <zeljkof> en.wikipedia.beta.wmflabs.org is a site on a different cluster, it is not connected to
test2/mediawiki/wikipedia
[15:49:39] <zeljkof> so you have to create a separate user for it
[15:49:47] <zeljkof> and that site is updated several times a day,
[15:49:48] <sanvi> oh k
[15:49:56] <zeljkof> so all new code is there
[15:50:02] <sanvi> k
[15:50:09] <zeljkof> test2 is more stable, but en.wikipedia.beta.wmflabs.org has the latest code
[15:50:11] <sanvi> so, which should be tested
[15:50:16] <sanvi> test2 or beta
[15:50:25] <sanvi> both?
[15:50:29] <zeljkof> yes, both
[15:50:32] <sanvi> k
[15:50:44] <sanvi> and we report bugs on the email list
[15:50:47] <zeljkof> test2 is actually a production site
[15:50:47] <sanvi> or bugzila
[15:50:51] <zeljkof> like english wikipedia
[15:50:55] <sanvi> k
[15:51:00] <zeljkof> yes
[15:51:13] <zeljkof> so, when you find a bug, you can report it to QA mailing list
[15:51:24] <sanvi> k
[15:51:27] <zeljkof> or even better, you should create a bug in Bugzilla
[15:51:41] <zeljkof> https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/
[15:51:58] <zeljkof> you will have to create a separate account for Bugzilla
[15:52:00] <sanvi> ya i created account thr with hurry with my actual ID can i delete and create new one?
[15:52:08] <sanvi> ya i know
[15:52:23] <sanvi> anyways i will figure it out.
[15:52:24] <sanvi> continue
[15:52:30] <zeljkof> sanvi: I did not understand, what is wrong with your existing bugzilla account?
[15:52:57] <sanvi> nothing it says that i should make sepreate account
[15:53:05] <sanvi> as the email be public
[15:53:12] <sanvi> i have created with my main email id
[15:53:15] <sanvi> in hurry
[15:53:25] <zeljkof> I have my public e-mail there too :)
[15:53:33] <sanvi> k
[15:53:57] <zeljkof> you can change your e-mail here
[15:53:57] <zeljkof> https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/userprefs.cgi?tab=account
[15:54:12] <sanvi> thank u
[15:54:54] <zeljkof> if you have any questions about bugzilla and it's usage and public e-mail, ask at the QA list,
Andre will know the answer
[15:55:14] <zeljkof> or ping andre__ in #mediawiki channel
[15:55:24] <zeljkof> we have 5 more minutes
[15:55:29] <chrismcmahon> sanvi: one way to think of it: you are more likely to find a bug in the beta labs test
environment, that's where we find and fix most problems.  but if you find a bug in the test2 wiki, that is more 
important,  because that is code that is on the way to production.
[15:55:34] <zeljkof> I have another meeting then
[15:55:57] <zeljkof> sanvi: do you have any closing questions?
[15:56:37] <sanvi> hmm
[15:56:47] <sanvi> i mean i just do explortary testing
[15:56:49] <sanvi> on both
[15:56:51] <sanvi> and report it
[15:56:56] <sanvi> or anythingelse
[15:57:05] <sanvi> what is my FIRST step
[15:57:06] <sanvi> of testing
[15:57:51] <zeljkof> well, the first step would be picking an area to test
[15:58:16] <zeljkof> visual editor is an important project, I would recommend testing it
[15:58:30] <sanvi> how do i get that site
[15:58:33] <sanvi> what is the link
[15:58:33] <zeljkof> I really have to go in a minute, so I will keep it short
[15:58:40] <sanvi> or it is software i havet o download
[15:58:43] <zeljkof> this is visual editor (VE) home page
[15:58:43] <chrismcmahon> sanvi: read the top of the page here, follow the links:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Quality_Assurance
[15:58:44] <sanvi> okay
[15:58:55] <chrismcmahon> sanvi: read a LOT :-)
[15:59:01] <zeljkof> sanvi: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/VisualEditor
[15:59:04] <sanvi> okay
[15:59:18] <zeljkof> and visual editor is already enabled at test2 and beta
[15:59:29] <sanvi> well, chris and zeljkof thank you.
[15:59:30] <zeljkof> go to bugzilla, find VE bugs and try to reproduce them
[15:59:34] <zeljkof> I have to go now
[15:59:36] <sanvi> okay
[15:59:39] <sanvi> ya thanks again
[15:59:52] <zeljkof> if you have any questions, ask here, but I will be able to reply in an hour or so
[15:59:57] <zeljkof> or ask at the mailing list
[16:00:17] <sanvi> okay