How do I create a test user?

Occasionally you may find the need to walk a mile in your members' shoes in order to fully understand their experience. This can be done by creating a test user! The test user allows you to sign in as a member and navigate through the process in the exact manner that the rest of your members would do. 

Steps to creating a test user:

1. While logged in as an administrator, go to Manage > People
2. Click on the "+Add Person" button on the top right side of the page
3. Give your test user a name and an active email address that you will use to sign in as them
   • You can append a plus ("+") sign and any combination of words or numbers after your email address. For example, if your email is [e-mail], you could send mail to [e-mail] and it will still appear in your inbox for [e-mail]. This is very useful because you can create an unlimited number of test members in your SilkStart network. You will still get emails for all those members as well as your email inbox will show each unique email so you what member it is connected with.
4. Click on the Create button
5. On the Privacy tab, you might consider listing the test user as Private so that it will not be listed in the member directory
6. Navigate to the Membership tab on the user's profile and click on Change Plan to appoint the member a plan. You won't have to pay for the plan if it is done this way through the admin panel. The Expiry Date for the membership plan can also be added at this point. Don't forget to Save.
7. Log out from your administrator account and log in as the test user to navigate through the system from their point of view.

A test user can be created for and Organization as well by following a similar process, but start by going to Manage > Organizations, and clicking on the "+Add Company" button. If your association has Company membership plans, you can assign a plan to your test organization. You can also appoint the test user as an employee of the test organization.

When you no longer need the test user, you can archive it by going to the member's profile and clicking on the trash can icon. Or, if you will want to re-use the email address in the future, you can contact SilkStart support to perma-delete it for you.