TestLodge Product Updates

TestLodge joins worldwide tree planting drive to support the environment

2022-08-31T08:26:51.589Z

TestLodge now contributes monthly towards tree planting in response to the climate crisis. Our partners planting the trees on our behalf are the reputable UK, based environmental organization, Ecologi.

Across the business world, TestLodge is far from being unique in choosing to support tree planting - but that’s the whole point! As a way of helping the environment by compensating for our collective Co2 footprints, tree planting is a worldwide and necessary project for the health of the planet at this critical time.

In choosing our tree-planting partner, we wanted to be certain that our monthly donation, based on an estimate of the Co2 our staff and regular contractors produce in a working day, would convert into actual tree planting in official projects. We selected Ecologi because we liked the transparency of their process. All who join Ecologi, whether businesses, individuals, families - or pets, can watch their forests expand. Take a look at our forest and the renewable energy projects Ecologi also invests in on our behalf: TestLodge Tree Planting.

TestLodge is facilitating tree planting for the good of our children and all of us because trees are essential allies in the fight against climate change. Along with oceans, trees are the lungs of the world, and planting millions of young trees not only helps with the absorption of Co2, which is then locked up in the trees and surrounding soil for generations, but tree leaf photosynthesis releases fresh oxygen into the air as a byproduct of absorbing all that Co2. It’s invigorating to walk in forests, yes? It’s all that new oxygen!

The environment is in a perilous state, and each of us needs to take personal steps to help reverse the damage caused by industrialization. Using the car less and recycling more are positive contributions, as is world tree planting, in which TestLodge is now happy to be involved.

TestLodge - Updated policies

2021-10-05T08:52:33.939Z

We have made several updates to our policies that cover the usage of your TestLodge account. These have been made to ensure that we continue to comply with the updated guidance from the EU.

Where can I see all the changes to the Terms of Service?

To see the updated policies, please see the following links:

Terms of service - https://www.testlodge.com/policies-procedures/terms
Privacy policy - https://www.testlodge.com/policies-procedures/privacy
DPA - https://www.testlodge.com/policies-procedures/dpa
Cookie policy - https://www.testlodge.com/policies-procedures/cookies

When will the updated policies become effective?

For existing users, the new policies will become effective 30 days from 5th October 2021. For any new customers, the new policies will become effective on signup.

Upcoming Changes to API URLs

2021-09-01T09:12:02.629Z

As a TestLodge user, you know that we recently improved our login experience and have also moved away from using personal account URLs to access our web app. We are now making a similar domain change for the API.

The API is accessed currently through https://<account_address>.api.testlodge.com/v1/. Shortly, you will need to update all your API integrations so that calls are made to the following URL instead - https://api.testlodge.com/v1/account/{account_id}/

To be able to access your APIs from this address, you will need to add your numerical {account_ID} which you can find within the URL in the browser bar as you view your account.

To allow time to migrate all your existing code to this new URL, we are taking a phased approach to this change. And to support a smooth and timely crossover, the API is currently active on both the new and old URLs. This means that any code you have that is currently active will continue to work, and it also allows you to schedule your migration to the new URL.

We will be removing all old API URLs on (or just after) 1st October 2021, meaning that APIs will no longer be accessible through the old URL from then.

For further details, please see our API documentation.

If you have any questions about this change, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Removal of personalized account urls

2021-08-13T08:33:42.563Z

Setting up a new account with TestLodge has always meant choosing a personalized <name>.testlodge.com URL and then remembering it for each time you want to log in. When we founded TestLodge, custom web addresses were the popular way to host online accounts.

Today, usernames with passwords, and increasingly, social logins are the popular ways to access cloud-based accounts and no one wants to be remembering custom urls. We improved our login experience earlier this year. Soon, we will be retiring all personal URLs as we change to allowing access to your account from our app.testlodge.com url.

To enable this migration, soon, when you access your personal URL, you will be automatically redirected to the new app URL which will be replacing personalised URLs.

These changes will not only simplify the way you access your account but will free up TestLodge to concentrate on making more technical improvements instead of managing thousands of different URLs.

This new development complements the recent changes we made to authentication.

URLs to the API will stay the same for this release, but we will be communicating a change to the base URL in the coming weeks along with a migration period for existing API users.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Major New Version of TestLodge Coming Soon

2020-05-26T09:24:00Z

Get ready for the new and improved TestLodge. After an extensive consultation, research and design process, the TestLodge interface has been redesigned to support your goals and objectives better than ever. TestLodge is now even easier to use, and is more powerful too, enabling you and your team to manage testing more efficiently, and effectively.

5 New Highlights To Look Out For

1. A Clutter-free Interface

The guiding philosophy behind our new design was to create clutter-free pages to make it easier to focus on your testing efforts. To help further, we have hidden within sub-menus features that are less often needed but which display on a click. We have positively embraced white space, and have only retained content that users regard as useful.

2. Navigation has been Designed Around You

We have taken the most commonly performed tasks as the design basis for our new navigation system. Actions such as creating a test run can now be achieved even more efficiently, and repetitive tasks completed quickly. Our complete rethink will save considerable time for our users during their busy work days.

3. Enhanced Search and Filter Features

Search for test cases by custom field when creating a test run, find individual users, test suites, projects, and other content even more quickly. In an improvement to the navigation bar, you can now jump from one project to another and open it in the same section of the tool you are currently using. There are many improvements around the search in all areas of the tool.

4. Integrated Multiple Issue Trackers

Users will now be able to integrate multiple issue trackers within a single TestLodge account. This facility has been often requested by TestLodge customers and we are happy to include it as part of the new update. Look out for an upcoming blog post that will have more details about this development.

Over the coming months we will also be looking to add support for additional issue tracking tools, further details of these new integrations will be provided in the weeks and months to come.

5. Accessible Tutorials and Guides on our TestLodge Blog

The TestLodge Blog is where we will be showcasing the new features, and posting the new How To guides and tutorials for the application. Our knowledge base has also been updated and we will also be rolling out new up to date demonstration videos during the coming months.

Our User-centred Design Approach

Our design teams have made TestLodge simpler to use and more powerful by placing users right at the centre of our design process. We have listened to your feedback, included you in our testing and we will continue to listen post-launch so our updates continue to support your needs.

When Can I Start Using The New TestLodge?

We will launch the new version of TestLodge on Saturday 27th June 2020 and hope that you will enjoy using it. As excited as we are, we know that we are not finished yet and will continue to monitor and optimize the tool. Continued improvements will be released over time, as we listen to your feedback and stay abreast of needs within the industry.

No TestLodge account? Why not sign up today and your account receive the update when released.

Happy New Year: Improvements to TestLodge that are Coming in 2020

2020-01-01T11:01:00Z

The Holiday Season is the perfect time to step back and take stock of the challenges and achievements of the year gone by, before embracing the opportunities a crisp new year will bring. As we enter a new year, a new decade, TestLodge is thrilled to say a big hello and welcome to 2020 by introducing a raft of major updates that are due to go live later on in March or April.

We aim to reflect the tester’s mind-set in all our updates, and using thoughtful design we select tools and paths that can deliver an ergonomic common sense to users and their projects. Standing by this principle, we worked with a usability expert to bring you a whole new interface design which will be launched during 2020. Having a UX consultant to advise on our design has been influential in our creating a more naturalistic and enjoyable user experience. The new interface design enables the user to concentrate better on the job in hand, with minimal distractions.

Another update in the pipeline concerns the way you link with your choice of issue tracker tools - but we’ll tell you more about that nearer to the release date. This is just one of the many upcoming improvements that have been fuelled by our most common user requests, which means we know you will love them.

We can’t say too much at the moment about the improvements that are coming, but we are looking forward to releasing the updates that we have been working on for the past few months.

If you are not already a user, now is the perfect time to discover how TestLodge can help you to run your test cases with ease. Sign up for a free 30 day trial with no Credit Card required.

Recent Releases and Happy New Year

2016-12-28T10:14:00Z

As a final update to 2016 we would like to wish everyone a happy holiday and new year along with bringing you up to date with the latest developments we have been working on.

Recent updates

Since our last announcement, we have been focusing a lot of time on improving our issue tracker integrations. Although a lot of this work is still ongoing, we have released a few new features.

Basecamp 3 integration

Basecamp has long been a popular integration with our users and we are pleased to announce that TestLodge can now be integrated with Basecamp 3. This works in the exact same way as the previous version but if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

While we still have people using it, we will continue to support integration with Basecamp 2 so there is no need to upgrade if you don’t want to.

Jira

We are pleased to announce that we have released a new version of our Jira integration. Jira itself is a highly customizable tool and up until now we have only supported the default setup. This new integration currently has the exact same functionality but is more robust.

We are also pleased to announce that will not be stopping there and are currently developing additional functionality for this new version. This will allow you to import the status of tickets back to TestLodge to aid with re-testing any failed test cases. We will provide more detail on this update and further enhancements early next year.

List sizes

Throughout TestLodge, all lists were previously paginated to show only 10 items per page. Based on feedback we received, 20 items will now show on the majority of pages.

A Roundup of our 2016 Improvements

Many updates have been made this year and here are just a few of them:

Improved test case grouping - As commonly requested, it is now possible to group test cases into sections as opposed to having just one big list.
Improved search - After a successful trial, we have implemented a new search across the entire tool, allowing you to search everything within a project. All existing searches have been switched over to use this new technology.
Document uploads - Previously we only supported image uploads, but based on user feedback we have updated this so documents can be uploaded as well.
Interface changes - We’ve made a variety of interface improvements over the year such as changes to how user roles are assigned, as we continue to make TestLodge even more efficient to use.
Issue tracker integrations - We’ve continued to develop further integrations with more issue trackers such as TFS and Codebase, along with continuing to improve and maintain the existing tools we support.
Improved exporting - Early on in the year, we made some changes to how the exports work, making it even easier for you to reach data you have stored within TestLodge.
Performance improvements - Many improvements have been made to both the code and our infrastructure this year. Although we rarely discuss or announce code level changes, you can be certain that a lot of time and activity goes into making sure that the tool remains responsive and performs to its best.
And many more - There were numerous small improvements made during 2016. While not big enough for headline announcements, each played an important role in continuing TestLodge’s mission to give users a satisfying and simple to learn software testing experience.

Further Upcoming Improvements

Our focus for the first part of 2017 will be to further improve our integrations with issue tracking tools. Our Jira integration will be the first tool to receive these improvements and once we are happy with how the additional functionality works, we will extend the changes to the other commonly used tools. Please do keep an eye on our blog for further details early next year.

Finally

A big thank you to everyone who has been involved in continuing to make TestLodge the leading test case management tool. This includes all the supportive users who use the tool and also everyone who has contributed towards it in some way. We look forward to 2017 with great excitement and anticipation for what we have planned.

Thank You and Happy Holidays

2015-12-28T10:54:00Z

Firstly, happy holidays to everyone. We hope you’re enjoying the holiday period and are gearing up to celebrate the New Year as we head into 2016. It’s been a great year for TestLodge and we thought it would be timely to share a final update of 2015 and bring everyone up to speed on where we are with the tool.

We also wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of our supportive users who have provided us with feedback over the past year. Your feedback and suggestions have had a huge influence on our development and thanks to your help we feel that we’ve succeeded in making TestLodge one of the best and most productive test management tools out there in 2015.

New TestLodge features in 2015

We’re pleased to have released a broad range of new updates to TestLodge throughout 2015, many of which have been developed and released as a result of user feedback. Here are a few of our top new feature highlights, made throughout 2015:

1. The TestLodge homepage and blog

The first key improvement of 2015 came when we released our new TestLodge homepage. As part of this release, the design was improved to promote ease of use and the site now looks and performs fantastically across modern browsers. At the same time, we also released the new TestLodge blog, which allows us to provide users with regular updates on how TestLodge is improving.

Throughout the year, the blog has also allowed us to share some of our own and our wider industry's tips and advice. Some of our most popular recent include:

We’ll continue to write and publish new blog posts over the coming year which contain tips and advice, as well as provide running updates on TestLodge development. We also welcome any guest blog posts from users; so if you’re interested in guest blogging or have any related posts you would like profiled, please do get in touch.

2. Issue tracking tool integrations

Over the last year we’ve also spent lots of development time integrating with a range of issue tracking tools, including most recently Active Collab and Gemini. These, combined with the existing integrations, mean that TestLodge now supports 18 different tools, making it easier to seamlessly use the software in your day-to-day work.

3. Improved reporting

How could we forget reporting? Throughout 2015 we’ve added many new test run reports to TestLodge, including the 'User Workload', ‘Test Run Results’ and ‘Common Case Results’ reports. We hope these additional reports help you to spot important trends in your testing.

4. New project list dashboard

Another key improvement in 2015 was the introduction of our new project list dashboard. The dashboard allows users to easily find the project they want to work on and makes it possible to complete tasks and manage projects via TestLodge both in the office and on-the-go.

5. Introduction of Markdown

Finally, our introduction of Markdown capabilities within TestLodge means users can add formatting to otherwise plain text. Implemented as a result of user feedback, Markdown allows users to make formatting changes including adding headings, emphasis, creating lists and adding links and quotes.

Smaller update and background changes

As well as the more high profile TestLodge improvements released throughout 2015, we’ve also worked on a whole host of other smaller features to improve the usability of TestLodge.

What’s more, we’re always working on performance and structural improvements within TestLodge to improve usability and maintain security, and will continue to do so in 2016. These smaller improvements (which include server maintenance and security patches) don't always get announced and often you won’t see much when this type of release is made, but our constant work in this area is one of the reasons why TestLodge responds so quickly and runs so smoothly.

What next?

Of course, we're not stopping here and we're never satisfied. We will continue to improve TestLodge and we’ve got some exciting plans for the New Year.

Most importantly, over the next year we will continue to listen to our users and act on your suggestions and recommendations to make the tool as useful and effective as possible.

Thank you

Finally, a huge thank you again to everyone who has helped make this tool possible. As well as our users, we work with some of the best software testers, developers, marketing experts, writers, designers and illustrators in the business and all of them have played a key role in getting us to where we are today.