Test Plans: The strategy behind testing

Test plans harmonize your testing by combining and tracking individual test runs.

Test plans outline the strategy for testing a project. They define the scope, objectives, resources, and schedule of the testing process. Test plans are directly linked to both test cases and test runs. They serve as a roadmap, guiding the execution of test cases through test runs in a structured and organized manner.

Managing test plans involves creating, reviewing, and updating them as the project evolves, ensuring that the testing strategy remains relevant and effective.

Test Plans dashboard

The Test Plans dashboard serves as the central hub for managing and monitoring all test plans within a project. It provides a comprehensive and clear overview of active and completed plans.

The test plans dashboard has two tabs:

• Active Plans
• Completed Plans

Active Plans

Active plans serve as the immediate focus for testing activities within the project. You will be able to track all the test runs and test cases linked to an active plan.

Following are the key features:

• Progress of all active plans
  You can track the progress of all test plans, including their respective test runs and cases.

• Date range management
  You can select and modify the start and end dates of active test plans. It will display the duration remaining to complete the test plan or if it is overdue or unscheduled.

• Start and end a test plan
  You can click Start to initiate the test plan or click Complete to end a test plan.

Completed Plans

The completed plans tab is a historical archive for finalized testing efforts. It has a chronological list of completed test plans.

Test Plan detail view

Clicking on a specific test plan within the test plans dashboard takes you into its details, providing a comprehensive view of its progress, results, and execution history. This dedicated Test Plan detail view is a one-stop shop for understanding the test plan’s current state and past performance.

The following are the key features of the Test Plan detail view:

• Plan information
  It displays the test plan’s start and end dates to track its duration and progress. Alongside details like description, creation, and last updated timestamps, the view provides a clear context for the test plan’s purpose and evolution.

• Overall test plan progress snapshot
  A visual representation of the Overall Test Plan Progress, categorized by status (e.g., Passed, Failed, Blocked, Retest, Skipped, In Progress, Untested), offers a quick understanding of the testing coverage and success rate.

• Overall recent results
  Accessing results from All Linked Test Runs for the past 15 days allows for immediate insights into the latest testing activities and their outcomes.

• Test Run links
  A complete list of all test runs linked to the test plan facilitates convenient navigation and deeper analysis of individual execution sessions.

The Test Plan detail view empowers you to drill down into specific testing aspects and analyze trends.

Next steps

• Learn to create test plans.
• How to add test runs to a test plan?