Initial Redmine tooling and local plugin forks

docs/pre_existing_issues.md

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+# Pre-Existing Issues Log
+
+This log tracks bugs, warnings, and confusing behaviors noticed while working on
+the Redmine 3.4.4 local fork. It is not a task tracker; it is a place to keep
+context so future plugin edits do not have to rediscover old problems.
+
+## 2026-04-21 - Duplicate Contact/Helpdesk Avatar IDs
+
+- Area: `redmine_contacts`, `redmine_contacts_helpdesk`
+- Status: observed/analyzing
+- Symptom: pages that display multiple contact/user avatars may show or behave
+  as if every row has the same thumbnail/avatar.
+- Relevant code:
+  - `redmine_contacts/lib/redmine_contacts/helpers/contacts_helper.rb`
+  - helpdesk/contact views that call `link_to ..., :id => "avatar"` repeatedly
+- Current assessment:
+  - Several views/helpers render repeated `id="avatar"` attributes on lists of
+    contacts, issues, notes, deals, and helpdesk journals.
+  - Repeated DOM ids are invalid HTML and can cause JavaScript, tooltip, popup,
+    or CSS selectors using `#avatar` to bind to the wrong element or reuse the
+    first matching element.
+  - This is a better fit for the long-standing "same thumbnail for every user"
+    symptom than the Rails cache digest warning below.
+- Next diagnostic/fix idea:
+  - Replace repeated `:id => "avatar"` with `:class => "avatar"` where no unique
+    id is required.
+  - Where an id is required, generate stable unique ids such as
+    `contact-avatar-#{contact.id}` or `journal-avatar-#{journal.id}`.
+  - Test on a page that currently displays multiple contacts/users with distinct
+    avatars.
+
+## 2026-04-21 - `attachments/contacts_thumbnail` Cache Digest Warning
+
+- Area: `redmine_contacts`
+- Status: observed/analyzing
+- Log message:
+
+```text
+Couldn't find template for digesting: attachments/contacts_thumbnail
+```
+
+- Relevant code:
+  - `redmine_contacts/lib/redmine_contacts/patches/attachments_controller_patch.rb`
+  - route: `attachments/contacts_thumbnail/:id(/:size)`
+- Current assessment:
+  - `AttachmentsController#contacts_thumbnail` streams a generated thumbnail via
+    `send_file` or returns 404; it normally does not render a view template.
+  - Rails 4 cache digesting still probes for a conventional action template and
+    logs the missing-template warning.
+  - This is likely log noise and probably not the cause of the duplicate-avatar
+    symptom.
+- Possible fix:
+  - Add a blank placeholder template at
+    `redmine_contacts/app/views/attachments/contacts_thumbnail.html.erb` with a
+    local fork comment explaining that the action streams files.
+  - Do this only after confirming it does not mask the duplicate-avatar bug.
+
+## 2026-04-21 - Helpdesk Search Manual URL Confusion
+
+- Area: local `redmine_contacts_helpdesk` search API change
+- Status: mitigated in current working copy and LAN deployment
+- Symptom:
+  - Visiting `/helpdesk_search/issues` or `/helpdesk_search/issues/1` produced
+    `ActionController::RoutingError` stack traces in `production.log`.
+- Current assessment:
+  - The originally implemented API route was
+    `/helpdesk_search/issues/:issue_id/ticket`.
+  - Manual browser tests naturally tried the shorter paths.
+- Mitigation:
+  - Added usage routes for `/helpdesk_search`, `/helpdesk_search/issues`, and
+    `/helpdesk_search/contacts`.
+  - Added `/helpdesk_search/issues/:issue_id` as an alias for the ticket lookup.
+
+## 2026-04-21 - `acts_as_list` Redmine 4 Deprecation Warning
+
+- Area: Redmine core/plugin compatibility
+- Status: observed; low urgency while Redmine 3.4.4 remains the baseline
+- Log message:
+
+```text
+DEPRECATION WARNING: The acts_as_list plugin will be removed from Redmine 4 core, use the acts_as_list gem or similar implementation instead. (called from acts_as_list at /usr/share/redmine/lib/plugins/acts_as_list/lib/active_record/acts/list.rb:34)
+```
+
+- Current assessment:
+  - This is an upgrade-compatibility warning from the Redmine/Rails stack, not a
+    current runtime failure.
+  - It means some installed plugin or model uses `acts_as_list` from Redmine
+    core. Redmine 4 removes that bundled implementation, so any future Redmine 4+
+    migration would need an explicit `acts_as_list` gem or a local replacement.
+  - Since the near-term baseline is Redmine 3.4.4 and upgrading is not currently
+    a goal, this should not block helpdesk search work.
+- Next diagnostic/fix idea:
+  - If upgrade work resumes, search installed plugins and app models for
+    `acts_as_list`, then decide whether to add the gem or patch each caller.