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Community testing

Kat Gerasimova edited this page May 18, 2022 · 15 revisions

Community testing Element

The Element apps are actively developed to bring new features to Android, iOS, web and desktop users. The apps are released every two weeks to bring all the latest fixes and features to users as quickly as possible. The Community Testing Sessions are here to give users an opportunity to be involved in making Element great. We often have special guests who join the testing sessions to tell us about the features that they're working on.

Element is usually released on a Monday and the release candidate (RC) is available for testing from the previous Tuesday or Wednesday (that’s almost a week to test!). Web RCs are deployed to https://staging.element.io, where they can be tried and tested by everyone. Links to the Android RC and special builds will be shared on the day.

Testing can feel overwhelming when doing it for the first time: Where should I start? What should I test? Do I need to test what others already tested? We have set-up a Matrix room for community testing of Element, and fortnightly testing session to do it together. Note that you can take part in the testing session without joining the call!

Getting Started

Join the chat room

We coordinate testing in a Matrix room - join the room for updates and to take part in the testing session. The room description contains the latest information about upcoming sessions.

Fill in the consent form

When you're ready to start testing, please fill in the Element Community Testing Consent Form. This form will tell you how we use your data and what you can expect from us. You must fill in this form to take part.

Set yourself up to start using the spreadsheet

We use Google Docs to record test results. If you would prefer to use an offline document (ODS or another format), please raise this in the Element Community Testing room as early as possible.

You will need to request edit access to the tracking spreadsheet once the link is posted in the chat room. There is a new spreadsheet for every session. When you have access to the spreadsheet, add yourself to a new column and fill in your MXID (Matrix ID) so we can reach out to you if we have any questions. Below the MXID, please fill in your system information. We need these details as many issues are platform specific so it will help us reproduce any issues that you find.

Join the testing sessions

You can now follow the instructions in the chat channel during the testing session, or read platform specific pages for more information:

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