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Testing combines an automated route check with manual participant sessions. Complete both before publishing, especially when the study contains screening, jumps, randomization, translations, concepts, or custom-code questions.

Before you start

Save the questionnaire and prepare the final audience, translations, consent wording, and provider configuration.

Run Flow coverage

In Create, open the builder view menu and select Test. Under Flow coverage, select Run check.
Test your survey view with Flow coverage and Generate test link sections

The Test view contains Flow coverage and the test-link controls.

Flow coverage evaluates conditions, screening rules, jumps, end-survey rules, and variables to identify unreachable questions or incomplete routes. Open each reported issue and correct the referenced logic. Run the check again after saving. Select Generate test link. The current form is saved and published for testing, and the study moves from Draft to Testing. Use Open to start a session or Copy to share it with reviewers. Test sessions do not count as live panel completes. To focus on one question and its dependencies, open that question’s menu and select Test this question. The test always reaches the question: an assigned cell, such as one concept of a monadic test, is set to one that shows it, and blocks that show only some questions or sections show all of the ones it needs. Only your own answers can end it early. Test at least:
  • A normal qualifying completion.
  • Every screen-out and early-end route.
  • Each language.
  • Boundary answers used by conditions and validation.
  • Randomized or concept-loop variants.
  • Custom-code questions on desktop and mobile widths, including a reload after answering.
  • Redirect behavior when a provider is involved.
Saving a questionnaire change in Testing displays Disable Test Mode?. Confirming returns the study to Draft and invalidates all existing test links. Generate and distribute a replacement link after the changes are saved.
Test view with a generated participant link, Copy and Open buttons, and the flow-check control

The generated test link offers Copy and Open controls. Run the flow check as well as the participant test.

Invite one participant directly

For a study without a customer-keyed file, when the study is Published, select Invite on Fieldwork. Enter the participant’s email and select Generate Link. Share the unique URL and note its displayed expiry date. The link can reopen an unfinished response within its allowed sessions. It stops accepting entries when the response is complete or the link expires. For provider traffic, use the panel invite workflow described in Configure a panel-provider link.

Publish

1

Resolve launch blockers

Save or undo all questionnaire changes. Complete and save every translation. Confirm the panel and quota configuration.
2

Open Fieldwork

Review the coding fees, the recruiting estimate for any panel DeepField recruits, and the launch summary. Check the sample-size estimate in Create → Quotas, panels & links.
3

Select Publish

Read the Publish Survey confirmation. It states how many credits publishing uses. Use Open Test if another participant review is required.
4

Confirm submission

Confirmation deducts the coding total from the organization’s credits and moves a Draft or Testing study directly to Published. It can then accept live participants.

Understand status changes

Troubleshooting

Hover the control and check the launch summary. Resolve pending form changes, out-of-date translations, validation problems, or incomplete panel settings.
The organization’s balance does not cover the study’s coding total, so the study was not published and nothing was deducted. Your account manager is notified at the same time. Once credits are added, select Publish again. See Review usage and credits.
Check the panel or provider’s Success Redirect URL. The participant reads the ending message, then Continue or the timed return opens the configured destination. Test the message and destination together.

Check the result

Keep a record of the tested routes and outcomes. Confirm the study reaches Published before sending live traffic.

Choose an open or personal test

A study without a customer-keyed file offers a shareable open test link. With a customer file, select the dataset row for a personal test so its lookup values belong to that person. Open links and single direct invites cannot bypass this restriction. Check the selected row and its values before testing. Campaign links opened before publication remain test sessions; publish before distributing them for live collection.

Review coverage paths and test prerequisites

Flow coverage reports how many questions its paths reached and whether the check was complete. Inspect the paths in the answers table, one row per attempted path, and open relevant paths as participants. There is no coverage Excel download. An incomplete check is not proof that every route works. Testing waits until the assistant finishes generating changes. A question that no route can reach reports why rather than silently opening a route that skips it. Individual tests start with supplied link values; customer-file tests require the corresponding row. Check nested loops, one-screen groups, required media, external-task returns and every closing outcome manually.