We highly recommend testing your automation before scheduling it to go live. Using an account administrator record that is also an active contact in your account, you can fully test your workflow by following the steps below. 

1. Go to your Automation dashboard.
   
   
2. Hover over your automation and click "Edit" from the drop-down menu that appears to the right, then click the "Test" step at the top of the page.
   
   
3. Select an administrator from the drop down.
   
   
4. Set Pause/Wait override to speed up the process.  The time interval set will be applied to the pauses or waits built into your workflow.
   
   

Automation testing notes & tips

1. Ensure administrator records chosen for testing have applicable data if you are testing an automation that evaluates changes in data, tags, etc.
   
   
2. We recommend you chose a Pause-Wait override time of no less than 15 minutes.  This will accommodate unforeseen send, delivery, or reporting delays.
   
   
3. Don't limit your testing to only the contacts that enter the automation workflow. Consider all paths in the automation workflow and test each scenario, whether that is evaluation of open/click behavior or changes in data.
   
   
4. We recommend using the built-in test functionality for automations in most cases. However, if your automation uses custom table data, built-in test functionality may not work appropriately. Testing options in this case:
   • Use an administrator record with table data populated with the built-in test feature.
   • Test a small group of internal email records in a live automation. Note: It is important to build the automation in a way that your general contact list will not be included. Consider adding an extra data evaluation step to the workflow that would only be applicable to your test group. Or, if your automation starts with a segment, add a layer of criteria to the segment to the same effect. 
     
     
5. If you use an email client that allows creation of email aliases (sprice+test1@, or sprice+test2@), we recommend creating a handful of them to use as separate test records to clearly see the directions they go based on behavior, data changes, category changes, etc.
   
   
6. If your automation workflow evaluates open activity, test the did not open path first. Testing the open path first will store the open activity for the test email address used and if the same email address is used to test the did not open path, it will not evaluate properly.