Every year changes will have taken place within the StudyPlace service that will make testing imperative to your Set Up process. Even if your Readiness Check comes out clean it is important not to skip this step. It is especially important to test new features that you may be using this year that you haven't used in the past. Keep in mind that you are not only testing that the operation itself is working the way you expect it to, but that the financial transactions associated with the operation has the impact you intend. It is also critical because you need to be prepared to help families and/or teachers that request your support.

All testing takes place on the Test Server. The Test Server is a copy of your Production Server. The Test Server uses a blue interface while the Production Server uses a black one to make it easier to distinguish one from the other. The Test Server will perform virtually all of the same functions as the Production Server with the exception of sending emails and should be used throughout the year to practice how to perform tasks and to see the related impact of the tasks performed.

The Test Server for your database will use a URL that looks something like this: https://test-xyz.studyplace.us . The "xyz" is a placeholder for where your organization's acronym should appear. If you want to go to the Admin interface on the Test Server add "/admin" to the end of the URL. If you want to go to the Teacher interface add "/teacher" to the end of it and "/family" for the family interface.

Before starting to test, make sure you have followed the steps outlined in the article Getting Ready for the New Academic Year and ask your GatherWorks representative to copy the Production Server to the Test Server in order to capture all changes you have made to the Production Server. Please note that it is important to have your database as close to being ready for opening enrollment as possible before testing. While you are in the midst of testing, you should remind us not to perform our normal copies to the Test Server so that you don't lose your test data. Please allow for at least one week of testing before you open enrollment.

• By this point, you have probably published your course list. If you have not already done so, check that the course list contains all the courses, sections, teachers, and assets that you intend it to have.
  
• Does the new family account creation work as you expect it?
  
• Does the family enrollment process work as you expect for courses in each term that you are opening up?
  
• Are tuition charges and resource fees being associated with the courses as you expect?
  
• If you use course options (such as multi-class discounts or elective honors upgrades), do they show up in the family cart and reflect in the invoice and payment schedule as you expect? If the family is entitled to a discount, do they apply upon subsequent enrollments?
  
• If you use course options, does the link that reports changes to family discount options report the changes that you expect?
  
• If you have exceptions to course options (such as courses that should not receive multi-course discounts), check that the family cart, invoice, and payment schedule reflects what you expect it to.
  
• Does the family drop seat process work as you expect?
  
• When a seat is dropped does the invoice and payment schedule update as you expect?
  
• Does your Open course status change to Waitlist as expected?
  
• Does your Waitlist course status change to Closed as expected?
  
• Does the Admin enroll process work as you expect?
  
• Does the Admin drop process work as you expect?
  
• Does the family timeline show emails were triggered as you expect? (Email templates are triggered, but not sent when testing on the test server. To check that the emails are being triggered as you expect look at the family timeline. Select the line of the email and use the "Show Email" button at the top to open it. Read through it to make sure everything looks correct. If you "Could not Parse" it indicates there is a problem with the email and you should alert us to the matter.)
  
• Do all your email templates look good? Perform all of the family operations that are attached to an email template and then look at the family's timeline to review the email content using the process explained above.
  
• Does the associated credit process and the financial impact work as expected?
  
• Does the Tuition Assistance process and the financial impact work as expected?
  
• Can you set up a family payment plan and change the invoice as expected?
  
• Can admin and/or teachers approve and disapprove seats as expected?
  
• Do your returning families show enrollments in the current and prior year columns of the Operations/Families view as expected?
  
• If you use the StudyPlace calendar page, does it have the information you expect?
  
• Does the transfer process between your accounts work as expected?
  
• If you use the StudyPlace Learning Management System, are your teachers able to post activities, upload documents, create tests etc as expected? Login as a student and make sure they can view the assignments.
  
• If you use GatherPlace to teach online, are your teachers able to get into their rooms, start a meeting, share their screen, and share their board etc as expected? Loginas a student and make sure they can see and hear the teacher.
  
• If you use our ecommerce option to accept credit card payments, perform a test payment and then void it.
  
• If you use our Volunteer Management option, can your families sign up for jobs and can you record their attendance as expected?