Assigning ownership of issues

The Assigned field on Drupal project issues allows you to assign an issue to yourself -- or, depending on your role in the project, to someone else. This field may be used differently from one project to another.

Assigning ownership of a Drupal core issue

Contributors to Drupal core are discouraged from using the "assigned to" field unless they have a very good reason to use it. In most cases it is more appropriate to create a comment indicating that you are working on the issue and specifying which part of the issue you are working on. Then update the issue from time to time with reports on any progress made or roadblocks encountered.

Assigning an issue to yourself is problematic for several reasons.

1. It is very easy to forget to "unassign" the issue after a specific tasks is complete, leaving others with the impression that they should avoid working on that issue.
2. Often, there are several tasks that can be worked on in a specific issue and there is no reason to assign the entire task to one individual.

Assigning ownership of a Security advisory coverage applications issue

As an applicant, you should never assign ownership to a review issue.

When an application reaches RTBC status, a git administrator will be assigned to the application review issue for a final review and (if the application passes) promotion.

Assigning ownership of other project issues

Given the many projects that use the issue queues, different teams may choose to use the "assigned to" field in different ways. Please, watch the specific issue queue or ask the project maintainer for guidance.

1. Assigning ownership can be useful when an issue is limited to a single task and that task might take some time to complete. By assigning ownership to an individual you can prevent duplication of effort (Note: This can also be accomplished through effective use of comments.)
2. It can also be useful, when input is needed from a specific individual before an issue can move forward.
3. It is also useful for a critical issue when the maintainer(s) deliberately wish to discourage others from spending time on the issue.