After building or updating an application form, it is worth testing it before sharing it publicly. Testing lets you see what applicants see, confirm your custom questions work as intended, and catch any errors before real applicants encounter them.
Two requirements before you start
Use a different email address: do not use the email you used to create your brand's Buzzbassador account. The system will recognize the email as the brand and the test will fail. Use a personal email or a test inbox.
Use an incognito or private browser window: if you are logged in to Buzzbassador as a brand in your normal browser, the form will recognize you and redirect or error out. An incognito window prevents this.
If you skip either of these, the test will not work and you may see a 403 error or be redirected to your brand dashboard.
[ LINK: Why do I get a 403 Error when I try to test my application form? ]
How to test a form
1. Go to Recruit > Application Form.
2. Find the form you want to test in the Active Forms list.
3. Click the link icon on the form's row to copy the form's live URL to your clipboard.
4. Open an incognito or private browser window and paste the URL.
5. Fill out the form using a different email than your brand's account.
6. Click Submit at the bottom of the form.
7. Confirm you see the Success page. This is the furthest an applicant can go without being approved.
[ SCREENSHOT: Application Form page with the link icon highlighted on a form's row ]
[ SCREENSHOT: Success page shown after a successful test submission ]
After submitting, you can confirm the test applicant landed in your account. They will appear in the Applicants tab with a "Routed To" indicator showing the program the form is configured to route to.
Testing multiple forms
If you have more than one form, test each one separately using a different test email per form. Each form has its own unique URL, and submissions are tagged with the form they came from. Testing every form lets you confirm:
The form's design, questions, and required-field rules are what you expect.
The form routes to the correct program (visible on the Applicants page after submission).
Any custom required questions actually block submission when left empty.
If you want to test a form before exposing it publicly, you can keep it in the Inactive Forms section while testing (the form's URL still works for testing purposes), then publish once you are satisfied.
[ LINK: How To Build and Customize Your Member Application Form ]
[ LINK: How To Create Multiple Application Forms and Route Them to Programs ]
Notes:
If your test submission does not appear on the Applicants page within a minute or two, refresh the page; if it still does not appear, double-check the email address you used was not the brand account email.
To delete a test applicant after testing, find them in the Applicants list and click Decline, or approve them and then delete the resulting member from the Members page.