Introduction

Hello hello!


In this video, I'm going to show you how to test automations in StudioHub.


This is something important you need to do anytime you create a new workflow, to ensure the the workflow is working properly.


There are a few ways of testing your automations:


  • Adding yourself manually to the automation
  • Doing the trigger action
  • Using the testing feature in the workflow builder


Let's cover them!


Adding yourself manually to the automation.

The most common way to test the automation is to add yourself manually to the automation.


To do this, you want to create a contact in StudioHub with your phone number and email.


Then, you want to add yourself to the workflow manually.


Go to your fake contact's profile.


On the left-hand menu, you want to scroll down to "automation"

Under "Active Workflow" you want to click on "Add"

From the drop-down menu, select the workflow that you want to test.


If you do not see the workflow, it could be for one of two reasons:


1. The workflow is turned off.
2. You didn't name the workflow properly.

Either way, go back to the workflow and check if the workflow is turned off, or if it's named properly.


Skip over the "event date"

Press "add"


Once you add yourself to the automation, you'll start receiving all the automations that you programmed.


Check the automated messages to see if you are receiving what you were expecting.


If you see that things aren't working like you expected, you'll need to go back to the automation, troubleshoot it, and adjust the automation to get it to work like you want.



NOTE: If you test an automation twice that has a "allow re-entry" turned off, the second time is not goign to work.
 
What I mean is that if you added yourself to the automation, but the automation seems like it isn't working it could be because you've tried adding the same contact twice to an automation that has the feature "allow re-entry" turned off. This is going to prevent the contact from going through the automation a second time.

If this happens, you'll need to test that automation with a new contact, or you can delete the contact that you created with your information, and create another test contact with your information again.



Doing the trigger action

Another great way to test the automation is to do the trigger action that kicks off the automation. For example, if you have an automation that starts when you submit a specific form, then you want to submit that form with yourself as a test contact. If the automation starts whenever someone books an appointment in a specific calendar, then you want to book yourself into the calendar to see the automation in action.


Again, if you test an automation twice that has a "allow re-entry" turned off, the second time is not goign to work.

If this happens, you'll need to test that automation with a new contact, or you can delete the contact that you created with your information, and create another test contact with your information again.




Using the testing feature in the workflow builder

The last way to test the automation is to use the "Test Workflow" feature inside the workflow builder.



To use this feature, create a test contact with your information (your phone and email).


Once you've created the contact that you want to use to test the automation, go to the workflow that you want to test.


From there, press the "Test Workflow" button.


This is going to open up a screen on the side. 


Inside this screen, find the contact that you created with your information in it, select it, and click "Run Test".


This is going to start the automation test.


Again, check the automated messages to see if you are receiving what you were expecting.


If you see that things aren't working like you expected, you'll need to go back to the automation, troubleshoot it, and adjust the automation to get it to work like you want.



If you test an automation twice that has a "allow re-entry" turned off, the second time is not goign to work.


 


Conclusion

That's it! Those are different ways that you can test your automation in StudioHub.


I highly recommend that you always test your workflows anytime you create a workflow.


I say that from experience! I've had automation bugs lose us a lot of money!


By testing a workflow, you are able to catch glitches and fix them before they cause damage.


Hope this helps!