Contents

• Overview 
• Pre-Test Checklist 
  1. Decide On a Testing Period 
  2. Review Settings
     • 🔒 Settings You Cannot Change During Testing 
     • 🟢 Settings You Can Change During Testing
  3. Set Test-Friendly Intake & Review Round Deadlines
  4. Plan Your Applicant Testing
  5. Plan Your Reviewer Testing
  6. Tips for Collecting Feedback From Testers
• Next Steps
• Related Articles
   

Overview

This checklist shows Program Admins how to get ready to test their Award Cycle. Completing these steps first will help you get the most out of your testing process.

• To learn more about Test Mode, see ➡️Test Mode vs. Publish 
   

Pre-Test Checklist 

1. Decide On a Testing Window

• Brand New Cycle: If you’re a new user or testing a cycle you’ve never run before, it’s recommended to test over multiple days to allow time for test application submissions, review, and edits.
   
• Duplicated Cycles: If you’re simply duplicating an existing cycle, one day may be enough for testing.
   

2. Review Settings

To make sure you have the best testing experience, review the settings in this section. While many parts of your cycle are editable during testing, a few settings cannot be changed.

🔒 Settings You Cannot Change During Testing

You cannot change these settings while Test Mode is active, so double-check them now. (Note: You can still change them after finishing testing, but before publishing).

•  ➡️Reviewer Auto-Assignments in Review Round:
   
  • Rolling Cycles: Reviewer assignments are locked.
     
  • Deadline-Based Cycles: Locked once the Review Round starts (editable before then). 
•  ➡️Program Setup: 
   
  • Invitation Only: Toggle ON if your live program will be invite-only.
•  ➡️Cycle Setup:
   
  • Rolling Applications: Toggle ON if your live program cycle will allow Program Admins to advance applications through rounds without waiting for deadlines (Learn more here➡️Set Up Rolling Cycles).
     
  • Multiple Applications: Toggle ON if your live program cycle will allow applicants to apply more than once. 

🟢 Settings You Can Change During Testing

(For reference – no action required). 

You can still edit the following while in Test Mode:

PROGRAM-LEVEL FEATURES

• Program Members: Invite or remove admins and testers.
   
• Program Setup: Can update the Title, Description, Financials, and Award Listing details.

CYCLE-LEVEL FEATURES

• All Forms: Fix typos, add/delete questions, or hide fields.
   
• Intake & Review Round Deadlines: Adjust Intake and Review Round deadlines. You can also add rounds in both deadline-based and rolling cycles, and remove rounds in deadline-based cycles.
   
• Award Setup: Edit existing awards. 
   
• Unpublished Award Agreement & Post-Award Report Templates: A template can only be edited before the template is published. (💡Tip: If a template is already published and needs changes, duplicate the template, edit the copy, and use that version instead).
   
• Communications: Email setup can be changed at any time; new templates can be published and added/ removed from setup at any time. 
   

3. Set Test-Friendly Intake & Review Round Deadlines

• Intake Round: Give yourself/testers enough time to submit test applications and move them to review within your testing window.

💡Tip for Deadline-Based Cycles: You cannot start a Review Round until the Intake Round deadline passes. Plan your Intake Round deadlines carefully so you don’t get stuck waiting.

- For Multi-Day Testing: Set the Intake Round to end a few days before you plan to finish testing. This gives time to submit test applications, let the deadline pass, and then start the Review Round. 

- For Single-Day Testing: After submitting test applications, you can manually move the Intake Round deadline to a time earlier that day so you can start the Review Round.

• Review Round: Allow enough time for test reviewers to complete assessments within your testing window.
  
  📌Note: Once the test applications are advanced to the next round/stage, such as another Intake Round or Awarding, reviewers will no longer be able to submit feedback. 
   

4. Plan Your Applicant Testing

This step helps you decide who will test the applicant experience and what they should do. 

A. Decide How Many Test Applications Are Needed 

• Recommendation: Submit 10 or more test applications.
  
  📌 Note: Each tester can submit only one application per account (unless Multiple Applications is turned on). To submit more applications, they must create separate accounts for each submission. 

B. Choose Who Will Submit Test Applications: 

• Program Members (including yourself): Program Owners, Members, Staff, and Reviewers can all submit test applications; they must create test applicant accounts. 
   
• External Testers: Individuals who are not part of your program can also submit test applications; they also must set up a test applicant account. 

C. Give Your Test Applicants Guidance

Provide your testers with the following details to ensure the process runs smoothly:

• How to access the test cycle: Share the Test Cycle URL, which is automatically generated after you activate Test Mode. 
   
• How to create a test applicant account and submit applications: 
   
  • Each tester must create a test applicant account. Share this article for detailed instructions ➡️How to Submit Test Applications.
     
  • Tell testers: 

1. Submission Volume: How many applications they should submit. 

If they need to submit more than one, explain whether they must create separate accounts (if Multiple Applications is not turned on), or if they can use one account (if Multiple Applications is turned on). 

2. Applicant Type: Whether they should submit as an individual, organization, or both

3. Eligibility Questions (if applicable): If your cycle includes an Eligibility Form, make sure testers know how you want them to answer the questions. 

• Timeline: When they’ll receive the Test Cycle URL and the exact deadline for submitting test applications. (Make sure this matches the deadline you set in your Intake Round)
   
• What to test: What specific feedback you want from them.
   
• How to report issues: Who they should contact if they run into issues.
   
• How to give feedback: Where they should submit their notes or suggestions.
   

5. Plan Your Reviewer Testing

This step helps you decide who will test the reviewer experience and what they should do. 

A. Decide Who Will Test the Reviewer Experience

• Program Members (including yourself): Program Owners, Managers, and Staff can be assigned as Test Reviewers. 

💡Tip: Testing the reviewer experience yourself is especially helpful if you’re using Scoring (to verify calculations and averages) or Groups (to confirm group assignments).

• External Testers: You can invite external users in the “Reviewer” role. They must be invited to the Program before you can assign them to Review Rounds. For help, see ➡️Add New Program Members. 

B. Assign Test Reviewers to Review Round(s): 

• Add Yourself: Assign yourself to every Review Round to see the reviewer experience without creating a separate test reviewer account. 
   
• Add Additional Test Reviewers (Optional): Assign other test reviewers to the rounds they need to check. For help, see ➡️ Assign Reviewers to the Review Round. 
  
  📌 Note: During testing, new reviewers can be assigned manually if needed (See ➡️Assign Reviewers Manually). After testing, you’ll update the assignments to the intended reviewers before publishing. 

C. Give Your Test Reviewers Guidance: 

• What to test: What specific feedback you want from them (e.g., notify you of errors, suggest improvements). 
   
• Timeline: When they’ll receive the Test Cycle URL, review assignments, and the exact deadline to complete their reviews

📌 Note:  Once Test Mode is active and applications are moved to review, reviewers will receive an email notification with instructions to log in and view their assignments. 

💡Tip: If you've moved applications into review and reviewers don't see any review assignments in their account, have them copy-paste the Test Cycle URL into their browser. If you have other test cycles (or an active cycle) in the program, the system sometimes directs them to the incorrect area.

• How to report issues: Who they should contact if they run into issues.
   
• How to give feedback: Where they should submit their notes or suggestions.
   

6. Tips for Collecting Feedback from Testers

• Decide who will be the main point of contact for questions from test applicants and reviewers.
• When collecting edits, feedback, or suggestions from testers, consider keeping them in a central location, like a shared folder or spreadsheet.
• Set reminders to check in with testers and keep them on schedule.
   

Next Steps 

➡️ How to Activate Test Mode: Follow this step-by-step guide when you’re ready to initiate Test Mode for your Award Cycle. 

➡️Accessing & Sharing a Test Cycle URL: After activating Test Mode, review this article to learn how to access your Test Cycle URL and share it with testers. 
 

Related Articles

➡️Test Mode vs. Publish 

➡️(Video) How to Test Your Program and Go Live

What did you think of this article? Please leave a comment below! 
Your feedback helps us improve the experience for everyone.