An inbox is similar to a mail box. All open, active issues addressed (assigned) to a particular user or group of users are delivered to the Inbox. It is important not to confuse an Inbox with a user account. Issues are always assigned to inboxes, not to specific users.
The routing rules of Issue Manager automatically dispatch issues to the appropriate inboxes. An issue stays in an inbox until a user acts on it, for example when a developer fixes a bug. Then Issue Manager automatically dispatches the issue to the next inbox, based on your workflow and routing rules. Finally, when an issue is closed, Issue Manager removes the issue from the last inbox.
An issue can also be routed to another inbox when a user with the Reassign issues security privilege manually reassigns it to another inbox.
Users who take action on issues should have an inbox. Developers, QA engineers, and technical writers are in this category. Users who only report or view bugs do not require inboxes. Technical support personnel who routinely report bugs found by customers, but who do not act on bugs may be in this category.
A user can have multiple inboxes. For example, a developer might want two separate inboxes to hold bug reports from two different products. In this case, you might set up the two inboxes Dan - Dev (Product A) and Dan - Dev (Product B).
You can set up inboxes for individual users, groups of users, or subsets of issues. For example, the QA engineers Sarah and Mike might be responsible for verifying bug fixes for different products. In such an instance you would set up the two inboxes Sarah - QA and Mike - QA.
Users can also share inboxes. For example, a Product Management group might need only one inbox into which all enhancements are funneled; periodically, the entire group might meet to review the suggested improvements. In such situation you might set up a single inbox called PM - Inbox.
Another use of an inbox might be as a holding place for a subset of issues. For example, you might want to create an inbox for all deferred issues for Product C. In such a case, creating an inbox called Deferred (Product C) might be appropriate.
When you set up a user account you will assign an inbox to the user account. This inbox is the default inbox of the user. A user can have only one default inbox.
You can view your default inbox by selecting . If the default inbox is not displayed, click My Inbox in the toolbar.
To see an inbox other than the default, select another inbox listed in the Inbox list box. Any user can view any inbox, but only a user with the correct privileges and permissions can act on or reassign an issue.
Issue Manager provides an initial default view of inboxes for all users. You can customize the default view of inboxes for all users.