.. _Manage Course Beta Testing:

############################
Manage Course Beta Testing
############################

.. tags:: educator, how-to

.. contents::
 :local:
 :depth: 2

********************************
Define When the Beta Test Starts
********************************

To define the start of the beta test, you use Studio to specify a number of
days before the course start date for self-paced courses or before the section
and subsection release dates for instructor-paced courses. For more
information, see :ref:`How_Testers_See_Course`.

#. In Studio, from the **Settings** menu, select **Advanced Settings**.

#. In the field for the **Days Early for Beta Users** policy key, enter the
   number of days before content releases for beta testers to have access.

#. Select **Save Changes**.

.. _Add_Testers:

****************************************************
Add Beta Testers
****************************************************

Before you can add beta testers:

* You need the email address or username of each beta tester.

* Each beta tester must register and activate a user account for that email
  address/username.

When you add beta testers, note the following.

* If the beta test starts before the course **Enrollment Start Date**, testers
  cannot enroll themselves in your course. However, you can enroll the beta
  testers prior to the **Enrollment Start Date**. See :ref:`Enroll Learners in a Course`.

* If you add the beta testers after the defined start of the beta test, and
  they are enrolled in the course, they see your course on their **Current
  Courses** dashboards when they log in.

* If you add beta testers before the test starts, or if they are not enrolled,
  they do not see your course on their dashboards. You can enroll the beta
  testers in the course yourself, and you may want to send an email message to
  remind them when the test begins.

===============================================
Add or Remove Individual Beta Testers
===============================================

.. note::  If the beta test starts before the **Enrollment Start Date** of your
   course, you must also :ref:`manually enroll the beta tester<Enroll Learners in a Course>`.

#. :ref:`View the live version of your course<View Published Content>`.

#. Select **Instructor**, and then select **Membership**.

#. In the **Course Team Management** section, select **Beta Testers**.

   .. image:: /_images/educator_how_tos/individual_beta_enrollment.png

#. Under the list of users who currently have that role, enter the email address
   or username of the person you want to add.

#. Select **Add Beta Tester**.

   The person who you added appears in the list of beta testers.


To remove the Beta Tester role from users individually, find the user in the
list of beta testers, and then select **Revoke access** to the right of that
user's email address.

.. image:: /_images/educator_how_tos/individual_beta_unenrollment.png


.. _Add_Testers_Bulk:

=======================================
Add or Remove Multiple Beta Testers
=======================================

If you have a number of beta testers that you want to add, you can use the
"batch add" option to add them all at once, rather than individually. With this
feature, you have options to enroll the beta testers in the course (before or
after the **Enrollment Start Date**) and send an email message to notify the
beta testers that they have been added.

To add multiple beta testers:

#. :ref:`View the live version of your course<View Published Content>`.

#. Select **Instructor**, and then select **Membership**.

#. In the **Batch Beta Tester Addition** section of the page, enter one or more
   addresses or usernames separated by commas or line feeds (the Enter key).
   You can also copy data from a CSV file of email addresses and paste it here.

   .. image:: /_images/educator_how_tos/batch_beta_enrollment_instructor_dash.png

#. To enroll the beta testers in your course, leave **Auto Enroll** selected.
   If the beta test starts before the course **Enrollment Start Date**, testers
   cannot enroll themselves in your course.

#. To send an email message to the beta testers, leave **Notify users by
   email** selected.

#. Select **Add beta testers**.

To remove the Beta Tester role from one or more users, enter their email
addresses in the **Batch Add Beta Testers** field and then select **Remove beta
testers**.

.. note:: When you select **Remove beta testers**, the **Auto Enroll** option is
   not affected. The user's role as a beta tester is removed, but they remain
   enrolled in the course.

.. _Issue_Reporting_During_Course:

********************************
Reporting Issues During a Course
********************************

Despite the efforts of the course team and the beta testers, additional
problems, questions, and issues can occur while a course is running.

* Often, learners report issues by asking questions in a discussion. Your
  discussion moderation team can watch for posts that indicate problems.

* To let learners know the best way to report problems, you can post information
  in the course welcome message, or post it in a discussion.

.. seealso::
 
 :ref:`About Course Beta Testing` (concept)

 :ref:`Guide to Course Team Roles` (reference)


**Maintenance chart**

+--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| Review Date  | Working Group Reviewer        |   Release      |Test situation                  |
+--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| 2025-04-13   | sarina                        | Sumac          |  Pass                          |
+--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+