.. _Beta_Testing:

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Beta Testing a Course
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Let's add beta testers to the current section on Testing Your Course. The first step is viewing live (already covered), but the real testing of your course is done by going through it as a student, doing the work, and making sure everything works as it should. 



Beta testers get early access to the course and can go through the course ahead of time to make sure everything works as it should before it goes live. Beta testing catches issues, bugs, or errors before students in the world-wide course do. It's very valuable and highly recommended for all courses.


Note that beta testers see the entire course as students would see it, only earlier. All of the content that is set to public will be visible. Anything still in draft or set to private will NOT be visible to beta testers.

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Select the beta testers
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Ideal beta testers are 1) at least one person who knows the content well enough to recognize something wrong or missing and 2) at least one person someone less familiar with the content to be able to notice something that's not clear. Both should have a list of all correct answers for all problems.

* Beta Testers can view the course before the Course Start Date. 


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Add the beta testers
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Only course staff can add beta testers.
Basic outline for setting up beta testers:
1. In advanced settings, set days_early to the number of days before launch you would like the course to be accessible to beta testers.
2. To enroll beta testers in the course, they must first be registered for the course. There are a couple of options, depending on whether they've registered.
a) Not registered? Not sure? Manually enroll usernames or emails from the instructor dashboard (enrollment) and check send link, then go to (manage groups) and add beta testers using same usernames or emails.  
b) Already registered for the course? Just add a beta tester (instructor dashboard > manage groups) with the same username or email associated with their edX account.

While still in manage groups, verify your beta testers by clicking List Beta Testers.

NOTE: Course staff as beta testers must add themselves as beta testers using a different username or email than the one associated with their course staff role. When beta testing, log in using the beta tester account.

3) Once a beta tester is registered for the course and added as a beta tester, they will see the course on their dashboard and the Access Courseware button will appear. 

4) Go to course and start testing! 

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What to Test
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Test everything in the course: 

all links, watch all videos, click video/transcript download links, and do all problems. Make sure everything works as it should, that the correct answer for assignments gets a green check for correct, and non-correct answers (anything other than the correct answer) gets a red X for incorrect. 

Log any issues, changes, errors, or questions for the course team.



