The rationale behind the rule about not submitting duplicate bugs is that when the cause of one bug gets fixed, the other occurrences get repaired because they share the exact root cause.

For example, if the bug was caused by an error in the website’s code or database, fixing that error can prevent the same issue from occurring on other pages that use the same code or access the same database. Alternatively, the bug may be related to a specific feature or functionality used across multiple pages. Fixing the issue in that feature can eliminate the problem on all pages that use it.

In addition, website developers often use a code repository or version control system to manage the website's source code. This allows them to track changes to the code over time and easily apply fixes across multiple pages or sections of the website. Once a bug is identified and fixed, the updated code can be deployed to all affected pages, ensuring that the same issue does not occur again.

Overall, when a bug on a website is fixed, it is possible that the same problem on other pages is also resolved if the underlying issue has been addressed or if the fix has been applied across multiple pages or sections of the website.

For instance, the following two submissions were content bugs submitted to the same test cycle:

The heels category shows other shoes.

Women's clothes on men's clothes.

At first, these two bugs might look different because the products are different, other shoes than heels in the first screenshot and women’s clothes on men’s items; nonetheless, these two items share the same root cause. Can you see it?

The cause of both issues is the incorrect categorization of such items. And if you remember the Academy: ❝When a content or a visual problem occurs repetitively, it may only be submitted once, even though each occurrence may have a different URL, link, picture, etc. This is also the case if occurrences are on the same page or on different pages. This single bug report should state that other URLs, links, pictures, etc. are also concerned.❞

Identifying duplicated issues doesn’t matter the product, the category or the page where the bug was found. It will be rejected as a duplicate issue if it does not differ from others already on the Known or Bugs list.

Like Etsy.com, many websites allow users to stand out their products among others for a price; these are ad posts that are not affected by sorting or filtering functionality by default.

Probably you’re thinking: how would I know that? We team leaders also ask the same question to ourselves, but we’ve learnt – out of curiosity, mostly! – that generally, websites offer documentation, like a Help Center, FAQs, etc., usually at the footer, to understand some behaviours like this one:

At first, it looks odd, but if you look closer, notice the items in the first row contain the visible ❝Ads by❞ indicating that these items are different from the others and are placed in a specific section, the ad space: ❝Etsy Ads are distinguished to users from organic content by being marked or referred to as seller ads, sponsored content, promoted listings, or using other distinguishing language, at the listing level or for a designated content area.❞

All websites you will or already have tested come with such documentation; here are the links for each of them:

So, stay on the lookout for any extra information you can get to understand the website’s current design, odd behaviours that most likely are not bugs or, better, to find bugs!

Yes, you’ve heard correctly, to find bugs! If you understand how a product should work, finding bugs becomes easier! Use the cited documentation to look for bugs with promo codes, delivery addresses, you name it.

When testing the search functionality, it is customary to think that every problem might have a functional reason and therefore is common to submit such bugs as functional type.

However, there is one specific bug that has no functional impact on the product but instead a content-related one; the following one:

The user enters the entire product’s name within the search bar, and the search suggestion shows the product, but when the user navigates to the search results page, the product cannot be found there.

As far as the search functionality works: find items related to the term entered, show suggestions if this is implemented, and navigate users to the result pages, the search functionality itself is not compromised.

Not finding the item on the search result page is, therefore, a content bug. As per Academy: ❝Content bugs relate to the actual content of websites or apps: text, labels, pictures, videos, icons, links, data, etc.; hence, typical content bugs are:
· Broken links or images (404s)
· Defective redirections in general
· Missing text, e.g. in an empty tooltip
· Missing content, e.g. empty content area
· Missing content, e.g. if 4 out of 5 icons have a tooltip, 1 doesn't
· Missing translations, e.g. some button on an English website having French labels
· Some products are missing in search results but the search function itself works
· Missing data❞.

This screencast also shows a misconception about the search suggestions and the search results page as if they were the same or similarly implemented; they are not.

Search suggestions and the search results pages are different features that work together!

Search suggestions, or autocomplete or auto-suggest, provide users with a list of possible search queries as they type in the search box. These suggestions are generated based on popular searches, frequently used terms, and previous search queries. The primary purpose of search suggestions is to help users find what they’re looking for more quickly and efficiently and to reduce the likelihood of typos or misspellings.

Search results pages, on the other hand, are the pages that display the actual search results after the user has submitted their query. The search results are typically displayed in a list format, with each result containing a title, description, and a link to the relevant page. The search results page can also include other features such as filters, sorting options, and pagination to help users refine their search and find the necessary information.