Overview

Before launching any in-app experience to your users, it's essential to verify that everything works as expected. UserGuiding provides two primary approaches for testing your materials:

1. Staging Environments — Test in a separate, non-production environment where changes won't affect real users
2. Testing in the Production Environment as an End User — Test directly in your production environment by creating a segment that targets only yourself

Testing in Staging Environments

If your organization uses separate staging or development environments, you can test your materials there before deploying to production.

Setting Up Multiple Environments

Go to the Settings > Project Settings > Containers page that allows you to create and maintain separate containers for different stages of your development workflow such as:

• Development — For initial building and testing
• Staging — For QA and final review
• Production — For live end users

How to Test in a Staging Environment

1. Navigate to Settings > Project Settings > Containers in the UserGuiding panel
2. Ensure you have a special Container for your staging environment installed within the appropriate domain
3. When creating or editing a material, go to the Configuration tab
4. In the Advanced Settings section, select your staging environment
5. Activate the material and test it on your staging site

Testing in the Production Environment as an End User

Sometimes you need to test materials directly in your production environment—for example, when staging environments don't perfectly mirror production, or when you need to verify behavior with real user data.

The most reliable way to test in production is to create a segment that targets only yourself, ensuring your end users won't see the material until you're ready to launch.

Step 1: Complete User Identification

Before you can target yourself with a segment, UserGuiding needs to identify you as a user. Make sure user identification is properly implemented in your application.

Your identification code should include a unique user ID and any attributes you want to use for targeting. If you're unsure whether identification is set up correctly, visit your application and check Settings > Project Settings > Installation in the UserGuiding panel to confirm your user data is being received.

Step 2: Create a Test Segment

Create a segment that matches only your user account:

1. Navigate to the Users Page where you want to create a segment
2. Configure the Segment using the Filters, name it something recognizable, such as "Internal Testing - [Your Name]" and then save it.
3. • Set the segment rules to match your unique identifier. For example:
   • • Email equals [email protected], or
     • User ID equals your-unique-user-id

Step 3: Apply the Test Segment to Your Material

1. Open the material you want to test
2. Go to the Configuration tab
3. Find the Audience Segmentation section
4. Select Custom Segment
5. Choose your test segment (e.g., "Internal Testing - [Your Name]")
6. Set the material status to Active
7. Save your changes

Step 4: Test the Material

Visit your production application as a logged-in user. The material will appear only for you because the segment matches your user attributes.

Going Live After Testing

Once you've verified that your material works correctly:

1. Return to the Configuration tab
2. Change the Audience Segmentation from your test segment to either:
3. • All Users — To show the material to everyone
   • Custom Segment — To target your intended user groups
4. Save your changes

Your material is now live and visible to the selected audience.