.. _tracker-terminology: Terminology and common features ------------------------------- Before we explain the features of the tracker service, it's worth spending some time on the terminology used in the tracker service as well as on some of the features that are shared by all trackers. As the Tracker Service is meant to track virtually any kind of item, the generic term "**artifact**\ " will be used throughout this document to designate items that are being tracked - be it bug, task, support request, user stories or other such type. Defining a tracker is just a matter of assigning it a name, choosing the fields that are going to be used in the tracker, and what values will be allowed in those fields. In addition to the project definable fields and field values there is a **Follow-ups** section that is permanently attached to a tracker artifact. This one allows you to follow the artifact lifecycle (values changed and free text comments attached to an artifact and posted by users). In this section you can also add a **follow-up comment** that will be added in the follow-ups flow.