Best Practice
Programs that have been pushed live should not be returned to the standard test mode. Live testing provides a secure alternative for making and verifying changes.
What is live testing?
Live testing, also known as production testing, is the process of testing your program after it has been pushed live. This method is specifically designed for testing prior to launch or to test changes or new functionality while the program is already live and customer-facing on your website. This approach ensures that you do not interrupt consumer verifications while you test.
Does the consumer experience change when live testing is used?
When using the testing allowlist, the consumer experience will remain the same, so you can leave the program live on your website, but still use test mode features. All consumers will be sent through the real verification process and all configured steps. Only with use of the testing allowlist feature do test mode behaviors become available in a live setting.
Using the testing allowlist
The Testing Allowlist is a crucial feature for performing live testing.
- Functionality: The testing allowlist gives the ability to add specific email addresses. Any user who submits a verification while their email is on this list will experience test mode behavior within the live environment.
- Benefit: This allows you to fully simulate the user journey and test functionality without impacting the experience of general, non-listed users (consumers).
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Recommended testing scenarios: Along with the typical simulated testing steps, SheerID recommends specifically checking the following using the testing allowlist on your live program:
- All program links, particularly the success CTA
- Success flow with webhooks, to make sure they function as expected while live - particularly if you have updated the endpoints.
- Billing: Requests made using the testing allowlist are not billable.
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Reward Method: Any requests submitted using emails on the testing allowlist will NOT receive live coupon codes - a hashed version appears. All other functionality will remain the same.
- If you would like to receive live codes, please reach out to SheerID Product Support to obtain testing credentials using the process in this article. If this alternative method is used, you will need to remove your email from the testing allowlist.
Enabling live testing
To enable live allowlist testing, navigate to the list of programs in your MySheerID account. At the top of the program list, you'll see Live testing is On/Off. Click the gear icon to open a modal where you can enter the emails you want to experience test mode behavior. You can enter up to 20 email addresses. Simply toggle the feature ON, enter the addresses, and click save.
When this feature is on, any verification for any program in your account will get compared against your allowlist. When there's an exact match on the email (e.g., email@company.com is in the allowlist and a request is entered with email@company.com on the verification form) then that verification will automatically be treated as a test mode verification and adhere to the first name and document naming rules found here (link). This can be used for manual or automated testing. When performing test mode verifications, users should avoid submitting real Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
SheerID recommends turning the live testing feature off immediately after testing has been completed.
Be very careful typing in the email address when using live testing. Any incorrectly entered email addresses will result in live, billable verifications. We recommend copying and pasting your exact email address to ensure it is correct.