There are many facets to your event, and your Event App is one crucial piece of the puzzle. To ensure that everything goes smoothly, it's incredibly important to carefully examine and test all aspects of your Event App.

This article explains how to test your Event App before giving attendees access, including test user creation and management, basic testing protocols and best practices, and instruction templates tailored for different kinds of testers.

Prep your Event App for testing

First, you must publish your Event App before testers can access it.

Testing is only effective if your Event App's features and content are completely configured. Add and fill in all of your Event App's features so your testers experience the Event App like your attendees will.

When your Event App is ready, you may need to create hidden groups so you can hide features while testing. Keep reading to learn more.

Create a hidden group (optional)

If there are already attendees using the Event App, hiding features temporarily will ensure your testing goes unnoticed. This is especially useful if you want to test Wall posting, sending chats, entering Game codes, or starting live streams. 🙈 No attendees? No problem! Simply skip to the 'Add tester attendee profiles' section of this article.

To hide features, you must first create a hidden group:

In your Event navigation bar, click Attendees.
Click Groups to open the Groups page.
Click the New Group button.
In the 'New group' modal, enter a name for the testing group, pick a color, and select Hidden from attendees under the 'Visibility' heading.
Click Save changes to finish creating the group.

Hide features (optional)

After creating a hidden testing group, you can hide existing features or add test versions of features like the Wall, Live Stream, and even Sessions. When you're done testing, follow the instructions in the 'Cleanup' section of this article.

💡 Keep in mind, if attendees are already using features in your Event App, consider creating separate test features associated with each test group so that only your testers can access them. It's always a good idea to add a Live Stream feature dedicated solely to testing live streaming with Webex Events.

To hide features before testing:

In your Event navigation bar under 'Event App', click Features.
If needed, add features dedicated solely to testing.
On the Features page, hover over the feature you want to hide and click the Settings (⚙️) icon.
In the feature's Settings modal, click the Visible To drop-down and select your hidden group.
Click Save Changes.

Now, add attendee profiles for your testers.

Add tester attendee profiles

The more testers you have, the more chances you'll have to find problems before your attendees do, so get your whole team involved! Here's how to create test accounts for each of your testers:

In your Event navigation bar, click Attendees.
On the Attendees page, click New attendee.
In the 'New attendee' modal, add information to the required fields. We include detailed instructions for adding an attendee in our article about adding Attendees.
💡 Keep in mind, the email address you add to tester profiles should not be the same address the testers will use during the actual event. Ask your testers for an alternate email address.
Click the Exclusive group drop-down and select the hidden test group you created.
If there are multiple groups restricting visibility in different ways, use the Groups drop-down to assign only one of the groups at a time. For example, if you want to test features that are only visible to virtual attendees and some that are only visible to in-person attendees, assign the in-person group, test, then unassign it and assign the virtual group and test again.
Click Save changes when you're done.

After creating profiles for your testers, use the templates later in this article to invite them to test!

Time to test!

Now you're ready to test! Every event is different, so our best advice is to go wild! Work your way down the list of features on the Mobile App and Web App and click on everything. Pay attention to the smallest details of images and text. Make sure there's nothing strange, broken, or off-center. Act like an attendee in any way you can think of. If you leave a mess, don't worry — it's easy to clean up the Event App. 🧹

Access the Event App as an attendee

Whether you published your Event App to the Webex Events App or a Branded App, simply access the Event App promo page and download the Mobile App or open the Web App to start testing.

Testing tips

Beyond being aware of how the app and its features will appear and behave for attendees, there are some specific areas we always recommend testing. Follow the links for details on how each of these works:

Sending announcements - Send a few announcements to the hidden test group and check how they display on the Web App and Mobile App.
Q&A moderation - Test Q&A moderation in Agenda Sessions and Live Stream features, if you have both. Try approving and dismissing posts.
Activating and deactivating polls - Test polls in Agenda Sessions and Live Stream features, if you have both.
Wall posting and moderation - Post text and images to the Wall feature and test out moderating these posts.
Run a Test with the Webex Events Production Studio - This article guides you through the whole process of testing with the Webex Events Production Studio. Use these steps to do a rehearsal with your speakers.
Video Room moderation - This article offers best practices and instructions on moderating and removing people from Video Rooms.
Do you have 'Open link in external browser' unchecked for any links? If any of the links don't display embedded content in the Web App when you click on them, refer to our article about troubleshooting embedded websites and videos for advice.
Are you using the Pass data to URL function for anything? Check to ensure the data from Webex Events is flowing to the external website correctly.
Using Onsite? Have your resident Onsite expert and staff set up your Onsite hardware and test print badges the day before your event and first thing the day of. This is the best way to ensure a smooth check-in experience for you and your attendees.
Read our article about testing Lead Retrieval if you or your exhibitors are using it at your event.
Your sponsors, speakers, and moderators can be testers, too. Use the following testing instruction templates to get everyone involved.

Testing instruction templates

Replace the text in {{braces}} with the correct information from your Event App before sending these templates. Here are some tips:

Consider adding screenshots or creating a short Vidcast to help guide people through the testing process.
If you're using collaboration forms for speakers, sponsors, or exhibitors, consider including the link to their collaboration form so that they can submit changes to their profile if needed. To learn how to find the link for each profile, read our article about setting up and using collaboration forms.

⚠️ Caution! These templates are meant to be a starting point, and not everything in them will apply to you and your Event App. Read the templates carefully and remove anything that isn't relevant before sending.

Sponsor/Exhibitor template

Thank you for being a part of {{event name}}!

We want you to be comfortable with the Event App before show time, so I've set you up with a test user account. Simply follow the URL below and download the Mobile App to your device, or click Access on the web. Next, enter {{test email address}} on the login form and create a password.

After you log in, go to the {{sponsors/exhibitors}} feature and locate your {{sponsor/exhibitor}} profile. Make sure all the images, links, text, and buttons are accurate. The application displays differently depending on whether you're on the web version or the Mobile App, so please review both versions. Feel free to also explore the other features of the Event App.

If you find that anything is missing, incorrect, or not working, let us know!

When you're done reviewing the Event App, tell us so we can remove your test account. Your official user account will be under {{email address}}.

Speaker template

Thank you for being a part of {{event name}}!

We want you to be comfortable with the Event App before show time, so I've set you up with a test user account. You can use the test account to try out chat, make Wall posts, and try out anything else you might do during the actual event. Simply follow the URL below and download the Mobile App to your device, or click Access on the web. Enter {{test email address}} on the login form and create a password.

After you log in, go to the {{speakers}} feature and locate your profile. Make sure all the images, links, and buttons are accurate. The application displays differently depending on whether you're on the web version or the Mobile App, so please review both versions. Feel free to also explore the other features of the Event App — make posts, leave comments, and request follow-ups.

If you find that anything is missing, incorrect, or not working, let us know!

When you're done reviewing the Event App, let us know so we can remove your test account. Your official user account will be under {{email address}}.

[[Note: If you're using Webex Events Production studio and the speaker will present in a live stream, include the following paragraph.]]

Please also review the Speaker Instructions so you know what to expect during a live stream. We'll schedule a live stream test session to get you comfortable with the streaming studio and process.

Moderator template

Thank you for being a part of {{event name}}!

We want you to be comfortable with the tools you'll use to moderate the Event App before show time. Please follow the instructions in the Moderating an Event App article to log in and get familiar with moderating an Event App.

Your admin account is set up under {{admin email}}.

You can also use this email to log in to the Event App as an attendee. Simply follow the URL below and download the Mobile App to your device, or click Access on the web. Enter {{admin email}} on the login form and create a password.

If you find that anything is missing, incorrect, or not working, or if you have questions about your duties, let me know!

Cleanup

Block test attendee

Whether you're camping or testing an Event App, leave no trace! After everyone is done testing, it's time to block those test attendees to hide all their posts, chats, and other activities.

In your Event navigation bar, click Attendees.
If everyone is in a hidden testing group, click the filter drop-down and select the test group. If you didn't use a hidden test group, simply use the search function to quickly find a test attendee.
Now, click the Settings (⋯) icon next to a tester.
Select Block.

💡 Keep in mind, the Event App Metrics will still include blocked user interactions, minus Wall posts.

Unhide features

If you chose to hide any of your features during testing, simply remove the hidden group from the feature using the steps described in the 'Hide features' section of this article.

That's it! Blocking test attendees has removed their posts, chats, and game interactions from the Event App, and your features are no longer hidden.

Now that you've tested your Event App, read our best practices for launching and promoting your Event App to attendees. 🚀 Don't forget to do live stream rehearsals with your speakers, too!

Questions? Chat with us, email support@socio.events, or attend a Face to Face session.