Contents

• Overview 
• Before You Finish Testing 
  • What Happens When You Finish Testing
• How to Finish Testing 
• Next Steps
   

Overview

This article shows Program Admins how to finish testing an Award Cycle in Next. 

• You’ll learn:
  • What to check before finishing testing to make sure nothing is missed.
  • The steps to officially finish testing an award cycle.

⚠️IMPORTANT: Only click “Finish Testing” when you are certain you no longer need to submit test applications or test your workflow. Once finished, you cannot run another test on the award cycle.

💡 Tip: If you finish by mistake, you can duplicate the award cycle to run another test. For help, see ➡️Duplicate (Copy) an Award Cycle. You can have multiple cycles in Test Mode at once, but we recommend only one or two at a time. Changes in one cycle won’t show up in the others. 
 

Before You Finish Testing 

Before clicking Finish Testing, make sure you’ve:

1. Tested all applicant scenarios
   • Completed applications for all applicant types in your program cycle (individual, organization, or both).
   • Submitted multiple test applications if needed.

Need help? If you haven't submitted your test applications yet, see ➡️How to Submit Test Applications.

2. Tested the full workflow, including:
   • Intake process
   • Review process
   • Awarding process
3. Made and verified edits to your forms and workflow (where applicable)
   • Tested these corrections in Test Mode. After finishing testing, you will not be able to submit new test applications to double-check edits.

What Happens When You Finish Testing 

• All test data in the cycle will be removed (e.g., test applications, workflow deadlines, reviews, reviewer auto-assignments, awards, reports, etc.).
   
• You cannot submit test applications to the cycle. 
   
• Any logins or profiles testers used will remain. You can reuse these accounts in future test cycles if needed.
   

How to Finish Testing

📌Note: Only Organization Owners, Program Owners, and Program Managers can click Finish Testing. 

1.  Open the Award Cycle you want to test: Program Settings > All Award Cycles > Open. 

2. On the Cycle Settings page, click Workflow in the top menu. 

3. Select Workflow Builder from the left menu, if not already selected. 

4. Click Finish Testing in the upper-right corner. 

5. In the confirmation pop-up, click Confirm. (Note: All test data will be deleted). 

📌Note: Clicking Confirm does not publish your cycle. It just marks your workflow as ready to publish. After finishing testing and before publishing, you can still edit forms and workflow, but you will not be able to run another test.

6. A notification appears in the bottom-left confirming that your test data is being deleted. The text in the upper-right corner changes to “Workflow ready to Publish.” 
 

7. You have now completed testing for this award cycle.
 

Next Steps 

• After finishing testing, prepare your award cycle for publishing live to applicants. 
   
  • Review the ➡️Go-Live Checklist (coming soon): Use this guide to do one final check before you officially publish your award cycle.
     
  • Learn How to Go-Live: When you’re ready to publish your cycle, follow this guide ➡️How to Publish an Award Cycle.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Only publish your cycle once you’re confident all settings, forms, and workflows are correct; many parts of the cycle cannot be changed after you go live.

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