Test Work Groups Overview

Test work groups provide an environment in HotDocs Advance where template authors can safely test new template versions before publishing them. These groups function like standard work groups but use unpublished template versions in interviews, enabling validation before a template version is made live.

Overview

Test work groups offer a controlled space for testing templates without affecting production work groups or live interviews. They are especially useful during development, testing or validation phases. When you create a work item in a test work group, the interview loads the most recent version of the template - even if that version is not yet live.

This allows authors to:

  • Validate template changes in a realistic environment.
  • Test interview behavior across different deployment methods.
  • Ensure compatibility with custom integrations before release.

Test work groups are identified with [TEST] appended to their name.

Documents produced in a test work group must not be treated as final or passed on to end users. Interviews may be based on template versions that have not been validated, and there is no way to tell which documents were created from a validated template version and which were not.

Test work groups are designed for testing template versions, not for trialing work group configurations. If you want to set up and test a work group before making it available to users, create a standard work group and add only the users involved in testing. You can add further user groups when you are ready to roll it out.

Template approval is not required to use test work groups, but is strongly recommended. Without it, unreviewed template versions could be made live. To enable template approval, edit the site settings.

Common Tasks

Workflow

To use a test work group, create a new work group and enable the Test work group setting (this can only be set at creation and cannot be changed afterward). Then create a work item in the group. This lets you test changes safely before publishing the template. Once you are confident the template works as expected, publish the template version to make it live. Published versions are then available in your standard work groups and can be used in live interviews.

How Interviews Load in Test Work Groups

When you launch an interview for a test work group, Advance loads the most recent version of the template available at that time - even if it hasn't been made live. This behavior applies whether you launch the interview from Advance, a client interview, a public interview link or programmatically using the Advance API or a custom integration.

Once the interview is created, it locks in the template version. Any changes you make to the template afterward will not affect that existing interview or work item.

To test a newer template version, you must create a new work item in the test work group.