Creating test links for colleagues | XM Community
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HI All,



Can anybody advise me how to create test links that colleagues in the company testing team who don't have access to Qualtrics can use?



Thanks
Is there some reason the preview link isn't meeting your needs? That is what I always send my colleagues.



!
I'm new to the platform so i'm still learning what facilities are available for things like this.



The reason i ask is because survey's i create further down the line will include things like piped text which will have content specific to certain clients. I'd need to make sure that whenever required, the tester can test the experience as a specific client.



Would using the preview link accommodate for this?
> @Chris_TGL said:

> I'm new to the platform so i'm still learning what facilities are available for things like this.

>

> The reason i ask is because survey's i create further down the line will include things like piped text which will have content specific to certain clients. I'd need to make sure that whenever required, the tester can test the experience as a specific client.

>

> Would using the preview link accommodate for this?



Yes, you can have branch logic as if Q_CHL is preview then show an authenticator to load all data of respective clients. Assuming client data is present in contact list
Smart question. The preview link alone will not trigger any survey flows or display any piped data because it isn't associating any of that panelist embedded data with the preview. @Rondev has a method that I've never tried, but looks like a good option! But I want to add another option.



When I send previews to my stakeholders, I send along that important embedded data along the query string in the preview URL. You can find documentation on that here:

https://www.qualtrics.com/support/survey-platform/survey-module/survey-flow/standard-elements/passing-information-through-query-strings/



But basically all it means is I take the preview link:

```https://XXX.qualtrics.com/jfe/preview/SV_XXXXXX?Q_SurveyVersionID=current&Q_CHL=preview```



And I add to it ```&CATEGORY=PIPEDTEXT```, which sort of "tricks" the system into displaying the display logic that I want.



So, if I had one branch for Event A and one branch for Event B, I would send my stakeholders two preview links:

```https://XXX.qualtrics.com/jfe/preview/SV_XXXXXX?Q_SurveyVersionID=current&Q_CHL=preview&Event=A```





```https://XXX.qualtrics.com/jfe/preview/SV_XXXXXX?Q_SurveyVersionID=current&Q_CHL=preview&Event=B```



Or, if I wanted it to take branch B, but also display the Event Name as "Trade Show" in my piped text, I could send:

```https://XXX.qualtrics.com/jfe/preview/SV_XXXXXX?Q_SurveyVersionID=current&Q_CHL=preview&Event=B&EventName=Trade%20Show```



Keep in mind the cases and any spaces you use. The support page should have more information for you.
> @Chris_TGL said:

> I'm new to the platform so i'm still learning what facilities are available for things like this.

>

> The reason i ask is because survey's i create further down the line will include things like piped text which will have content specific to certain clients. I'd need to make sure that whenever required, the tester can test the experience as a specific client.

>

> Would using the preview link accommodate for this?



I run a number of surveys where I'm prepopulating content from my contact list into the email invitation, as well as into the survey itself (into both static copy and text entry fields). The preview link is not sufficient to test that all of the content is flowing to where it should.



What I always do (and recommend to my organization's users to do as well) is to perform a dry run of the distribution using a copy of the contact list, where I've replaced the email addresses of the recipients with those of my colleagues who I want to test out the survey. Especially if you have dozens of fields to prepopulate, this method becomes more feasible.
Second @MatthewM 's suggestion of a dry run. It's not something I can do with all my surveys, but it has really been a life-saver for my large-scale Market Research surveys. Smart addition.



Would also encourage a pilot run if the situation allows. Release to just 10% of your participant list first, and make sure that goes well before releasing to the whole group.
Thank you all for your input on this, after reviewing the suggestion from @Kate i'll be moving forward with this, however i will also be taking the advice of @MatthewM and performing a few dry runs to ensure the piped text works and also question routing works correctly.

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