How to Write a Call for Testing

When a feature is ready for a betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. audience, post a call for testing to make/core. Use this handy template and checklist when creating your post. Or, skip all of this. Publishing anything and tagging it #needs-testing is sufficient and better than not posting.

Template Template

What is it? What is it?

Describe the feature. Include screenshots. Describe any goals and gating criteria, such as parity requirements.

Top ↑

Where is it? Where is it?

Describe how to get to the feature. Direct links are good.

Top ↑

What to test What to test

Describe the primary flows to test. Consider using bulleted flowFlow Flow is the path of screens and interactions taken to accomplish a task. It’s an experience vector. Flow is also a feeling. It’s being unselfconscious and in the zone. Flow is what happens when difficulties are removed and you are freed to pursue an activity without forming intentions. You just do it.
Flow is the actual user experience, in many ways. If you like, you can think of flow as a really comprehensive set of user stories. When you think about user flow, you’re thinking about exactly how a user will perform the tasks allowed by your product.Flow and Context
or a visual record.

Top ↑

What to expect What to expect

List known issues and shortcomings (bug tracker links are helpful). Set expectations.

Top ↑

How to report How to report

Provide tracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.https://core.trac.wordpress.org/. or githubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ links, include the component.

Top ↑

Timeline for testing Timeline for testing

Express urgency and priority. If there are target dates, provide them.

Top ↑

Checklist Checklist

  • Introduce yourself.
  • Explain the feature or update.
  • Link to the feature.
  • List known issues.
  • Provide a short list of testing steps.
  • Mention how to provide feedback.
  • Include a date for the completion of the testing.
  • Include screenshots from multiple devices.
  • Keep a beta testing audience in mind.
  • TagTag Tag is one of the pre-defined taxonomies in WordPress. Users can add tags to their WordPress posts along with categories. However, while a category may cover a broad range of topics, tags are smaller in scope and focused to specific topics. Think of them as keywords used for topics discussed in a particular post. the post #needs-testing.

Top ↑

GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ Gutenberg

Gutenberg calls for testing are posted on make/test and typically follow this format:
  • Short summary of the type of update.
  • Written statement about the goal of Gutenberg.
  • Download button.
  • Link to Get Setup for Testing in the handbook.
  • Any notes about which WP version to test with (i.e. latest stable vs trunk).
  • List of suggested testing steps.
  • Deprecation notes.
  • Mention where to file bugs or feedback.
  • Invitation to get more involved and ask questions in WP SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..
To come up with the list of suggested testing steps, review the changelog for the release being tested or look at the corresponding milestone in GitHub. Go through each pull request and decide which ones would be most relevant to test. Write a short line explaining how to test the issue and include a link to the pull request for more detail. Typically, the steps are ordered by most important things to test at the top. Generally, it’s good to limit the list to 7 to 12 items and try not to go over 20. If there are a lot of items or a set of items that make sense to break out then you can put those in another section (e.g. AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility), Mobile, i18n, Plugins, or a Bonus section with things that are a bit more difficult to test). See posts tagged “call for testing” on make/test for examples.

Last updated: