How to Test Your Application in Sandbox

You've configured your Enroll site for the new enrollment year and now it's time to test your application before opening up your process to families. Testing is a critical pre-launch step to confirm that your form, flags, and priorities are working as expected.

What is my Sandbox Site?

Your sandbox site is the non-production environment dedicated to testing. Your sandbox site has a unique URL that can be accessed following this structure: yourdomain.sandbox.schoolmint.com.

Items to Note:

• You will use your same admin login credentials to access your sandbox site.
• Messages will not be sent out to families from your sandbox site.
• Look for the orange banner at the bottom of the screen to confirm that you are in your sandbox site.  

Testing As A Guardian 

1. From the admin side of your system, confirm that the dates are open for the programs that use the application you are testing.
2. From the guardian login page, create an account, add a test student, and continue through the application flow step by step.
3. Test that your grade and birthdate ranges are configured correctly.
4. Confirm that the platform content uses your preferred wording for instructions and warning pop-ups throughout the application process.

5. Be sure to consider the following while testing:

   • Steps and form fields are in the right order.
   • Program choices displayed for the test student are correct for that student's grade.
   • Fields are marked as Required for Guardian and/or Required for Admin for data that is needed in other parts of your process (eligibility rules, lottery priorities).
   • Admin-Only fields do not display to families when applying but do display when you are applying as an Admin on behalf of a family.
   • Answer options are in the right format to capture data for reporting and exporting needs.
   • Itemized lists are comprehensive, displaying the answer options you need in your drop-down menus, checklists, and radio buttons.
   • Look for typos or references to a prior year.
   • If using conditional logic, questions are hidden and showing as expected.
   • After submitting your test application, go back into it to confirm if Disable After Submit fields are non-editable (if this field setting is in use).

Testing As An Admin

It is important to test the application as a guardian, but also as an admin submitting on behalf of a family.

1. From the admin side of your system, select a student and log in as that guardian.
2. Submit another application for this student to an additional program(s).
3. Add another student to this guardian's profile and submit a new application.

Equally important is to test your own admin workflow for submitted applications:

1. Are flags assigning correctly to applications?
2. Are Saved Views displaying information as expected?
3. If using Admin-Only steps in the application, are those Steps viewable and contain the necessary fields?

 

Best Practices for Testing

• Create multiple test students.
• Use different addresses if you use boundaries or have priorities linked to addresses.
• Use a variety of grades.
• Answer questions differently for students to trigger (or not trigger) flags and priorities.
• Take notes as you go!

Reviewing Your Testing Results

1. From the admin side of your sandbox site, navigate to the Applications screen to confirm that each test student's data is displaying as expected:
   • Flags are visible on the table display of all applicants.
   • Click on each application (pencil icon) to confirm that priorities are assigned as expected.
2. To review the logic that is driving your eligibility rules and flags, use the gear icon to access Settings, and then click Custom Data > Flags.
3. To review the logic that is driving your priorities, use the gear icon to access Settings, and then click Manage Lotteries > Lottery Priorities.
4. Once you've noted all changes to be made, make edits to your form in your sandbox site and re-test. If your application passes your review, make your edits in your production site.

As always, you can reach out to Technical Support to request that they refresh your sandbox site with the latest changes you made in production.