This article provides definitions of common terms you’ll see within jobs that you complete. This has been shared with Rainforest clients as well so everyone has the same understanding of these terms.
There are three sections broken up by the type of terms: Elements & Objects, Actions, and Web to Mobile Translations. Each section has a list of terms, explanations, and examples.
Section 1: Elements & Objects
1. Address bar/ Navigation bar/ URL bar
The location of the browser interface that displays the current URL, and where you can view, modify the URL, or enter a new URL that will navigate the tester to a different site. The address bar in many browser acts as a search bar too, so if you're asked to search for a page you can and should do so from the same place as you would enter a URL.
2. Browser Window / Tab / Window
Although in conversation the terms ‘browser’ and ‘tab’ might be used interchangeably, they do not mean the same thing in Rainforest testing. A ‘browser’ or ‘window’ is shorthand for a single ‘browser window.’ While the two terms are interchangeable, we recommend to our clients that they stick to one term throughout test instructions to avoid any unnecessary confusion.
- ‘Tab’ refers to the multiple panels or pages that can be opened within a single browser window. Some test cases will call for use of opening new tabs vs opening a new browser window.
- ‘Browser’ is best used in use cases that call for opening a browser (Chrome/Safari) when switching from a phone application to web application on a native phone device.
Sample Instructions:
- Action: Enter “www.example.com” in your window’s URL field and navigate to the web address.
- Action: Open a new tab in the same browser window and navigate to “www.example.com/bestexampleever”?
3. Menu /Sidebar Menu button/ Hamburger menu/Kebab menu
The menu button has many different names, but typically results in displaying other options when it is clicked open. It is often found on the top of the screen, but due to different browser and app configurations there is no one standard location.
We suggest test authors indicate where to find the button, however, due to non-standardization, you should do your best to locate the button in the given platform being tested even if instructions are not specific.
4. Textbox/Text Field:
‘Text box’ and ‘Text field’ are elements that enable you to input a certain amount of text. They can be of any size and usually cause the mouse cursor to change when hovering over it, or display a vertical line when selected. The terms are interchangeable terms and like browser vs window, though we highly suggest clients maintain a consistent use of one term throughout their tests, unless there is a reason that the two designate very different elements in an application. In certain cases, a text box/field may also turn into a drop-down menu which may have preloaded values. In this case, clients are told it is a best practice to instruct testers to expect a dropdown.
Example Steps:
- Action: In the text field below “Summary”, copy and paste this step’s instructions (excluding the step’s question) into it.
- Question: Did this text field populate with the text you entered?
- Action: In the text field next to “Shifts”, enter “{{random.first_name}}”
- Question: Did a drop-down appear with “{{random.first_name}} {{random.last_name}}” as the first row?
5. Breadcrumb:
A breadcrumb is an element in the user interface that users use to keep track of their locations within programs, documents, or websites. Usually, a breadcrumb element will display in the navigational order of how you arrived a location on a webpage. Breadcrumbs typically follow a format similar to:
`Home page > Section page > Subsection page`
Example step:
- Action: Click on the “Homepage” text of the breadcrumb of site pages in the top left hand corner of the page.
- Question: Were you brought back to the Homepage?
6. Radio/Option Button:
A Radio button, or option button, is an element in a user interface that allows the user to choose only one of a predefined set of options. That is, when one option is clicked from the list of options, clicking another option from the same list will override the selection of the previously submitted option.
Example step:
- Action: Click on the radio button next to the first option in the list and then click on the third option from the list.
- Question: When you clicked on the radio button next to the third option, was radio button from the first option deselected?
7. Navigation Bar
A navigation bar is an element of a user interface the serves as the main hub from which a user can navigate to different locations in the web UI. Typically, navigation bars will lead users to the primary functionalities of the application they’re using and such functionalities are indicated by text or icons.
Example step:
- Action: Click on “Case Studies” in the navigation bar at the top of the page
- Question: Were you brought to a page with a list of case studies?
8. Toggle button
A toggle button or toggle switch is a UI element that allows the end user to switch between two different states of a function or feature. Typically this button can be clicked and will change between two polar states like “On/Off”.
Example Step:
- Action: Click on the toggle button located next to the “Flashlight” header.
- Question: Did the button move and change from off to on?
9. Checkbox
A checkbox is a small box on a form into which a check or other mark is entered as the response to a question. In a customer’s UI, how many checkboxes can be selected at once can vary from form to form; it is possible to have forms where only one checkbox can be checked at a time (similar to a radio button in function) and it is equally possible to check multiple or even all checkboxes.
Example Step
- Action: Click on the the checkbox next to “Enable email notifications” under the “Email Preferences” header.
- Question: Was the checkbox filled in with a white checkmark against a blue background?
10. Dropdown/Dropdown Menu
A dropdown menu - also called a drop-down list, drop-down menu, drop menu or pull-down list or simply a drop down - is an UI element that allows the user to choose one value from a list of values. Typically, they can be accessed by clicking on a downward facing triangle or arrow, which reveals the menu from a search-bar-like field.
Example Step:
- Action: Access the dropdown menu under the “Timezone preferences” and select any option that begins with “America”. Question: Did the field populate with the option you selected?
11. Filter / Funnel Icon
A funnel icon is a button that allows a user to filter options to locate an object matching the filter’s criteria. Generally they look like a downward point triangular or cone-shaped top half and anarrow rectangular stem piece attached to what the point of the triangular/cone would be.
Example Step:
- Action: Click on the funnel icon above the matrix. Question: Did a modal appear with different dropdown menus?
12. Tooltip
The tooltip or infotip or a hint is UI element used in conjunction with a cursor, usually a pointer. The user hovers the pointer over an item, without clicking it, and a tooltip may appear—a small “hover box” with information about the item being hovered over.
Example Step:
- Action: Hover over the question icon next to the text “Runs”
- Question: Does a modal appear when you hover over this question icon? (allegedly seen in Quid jobs)*
13. Folder/File tree
Folder tree or File tree is how an operating system organizes folders and files. Generally there is a hierarchical structure of which folders and files live, and how that hierarchical structure is usually displayed is the tree structure.
Example Step
- Action: In the left navigation, click on “Help”
- Question: were you redirected to a new page with a folder tree on the left where the left navigation used to be?
14. Return vs. Enter key
The “return” or “enter” key refers to the key on a computer keyboard that allows users to end an ‘entry’ in a command line, form, or dialogue. Functionally there is no difference between a return and enter key; the only difference is that the former is the name of the key on Macintosh (Mac) and the latter is the Windows name.
In Rainforest, we make special note of the enter/return key because it can be confusing as it shares terms with the executable action ‘enter’ or ‘enter in’. Clients are advised that when you should finalize an action by hitting the enter key on your keyboard, it is a best practice to explicitly refer to the key in the instruction.
Example step:
- Action: Click on the “Message” field and enter “This is easy!”. Then hit the enter/return key on your keyboard. Question: Did your cursor move to the field under “Name”?
Section 2: Actions
1. Click in/ Click into/ Click on
“Click in” is a more specific instruction which you should generally associate with clicking a text field to enter some text or value. We distinguish this from a more general instruction to “Click” or “Click on” to imply that you’ll be interacting with an UI element other than a text field such as a tab or a button.
Example Step
- Action: Click in the field next to the bolded text “Email” and enter: “Rainforest_user1@example.com”. Question: Did you successfully enter “Rainforest_user1@example.com” in this field?
2. Login/Sign-in
When you’re instructed to Login or Sign-in, you should search the step for provided credentials they can enter into the corresponding fields on the webpage. Additionally, you should expect to be navigated to a seeded account of some sort when you complete a login/sign-in process.
Because of this second expectation, clients are told it is very important to differentiate between a log-in/sign-in process and a sign-up process, in which they would expect you to create a user or test account as part of the workflow that you’re going through.
Example Step:
- Action: In the email field enter “{{rainforest.tester_email}}” and in the password field enter “{{rainforest.tester_password}}”. After these have been entered, click the “Sign in” button. Question: Were you navigated to a dashboard with a welcome message reading “Welcome Back, {{rainforest.test_email}}”?
3. Copy/Paste
When you’re instructed to copy and paste something outside of the click-to-copy syntax, use your cursor to highlight the designated text and either use `cmd+c` /`cntrl+c` or a right click >’Copy’ to copy the text. To paste, use either `cmd+v` /`cntrl+v` or right click > ‘paste’ to input text. Clients should know that if they’d like for testers to use one method over the other, it is best to do so by specifying this in the step instruction
With copy/paste processes, there are several best practices to keep in mind.
- Use quoted text to distinguish the value being copied from the body text of the step
- Designate to testers which field they are pasting the value into
- Ask them to verify that they were able to enter the designated text into the field successfully.
Example Step:
- Action: Copy “{{field1_random.text}}” and paste it into the “Summary” field. Question: Did “{{field1_random.text}}” populate the “Summary” field?
4. Enter / Fill in
When you are instructed to ‘enter’ something, you can default to copying and pasting the value into an input field specified in the instructions. This also applies to fields that have placeholder text or previously entered text.
Example Step: Action: Into the “Reminder” field, enter “Do not leave toast in the toaster unattended”.
Question: Did the field populate with the text “Do not leave toast in the toaster unattended’?
Note: This does not apply when the QUESTION specifically asks you if you were able to type. An example would be if you see something like, "Were you able to type the password into the field?" then you should type.
5. Type in:
When the test author specifically instructs testers to "type” something (or “start typing” something), testers should manually enter this information as instructed, because the test author may not want the tester to use copy+paste in this instance. Check out details (especially about ClickToCopy) here https://testersupport.rainforestqa.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016132671#copyvstype
Example Step: Action: Type in “This is a test.” into the field underneath the “Category” header.
Question: Was “This is a test” successfully entered into the field?
Note: This does not apply when the QUESTION specifically asks you if you were able to type. An example would be if you see something like, "Were you able to type the password into the field?" then you should type.
6. Download
In Rainforest there are several ways to ‘download’ a file so that it can be used in the course of a test.
A. Downloading a file that is embedded in the step.
When a file is embedded in a step you will be able to download the file by clicking a clipboard icon. By clicking on this icon, the file will automatically copied to your clipboard and can be downloaded by entering the copied url in a new browser window or tab. Once pasted and executed, the file will download from the window or tab that you downloaded it in.
With this, we highly recommend to clients that the question portion of a download step ask you whether a file was downloaded after you executed the entered URL.
Example Step:
Downloading a file that is embedded in the step.
- Action: Click the icon next to this `file` and in a new tab and paste the value into the URL field of the tab. Question: Did a file download when you navigated to the address?
B. Downloading a file from a URL provided in a step.
Files that are hosted on a server such as Amazon S3 will have a URL that a tester can enter into a URL field of a browser and will automatically download the file once executed.
If the file is hosted in this manner, we suggest that the download step includes instructions to enter and execute the hosting URL in a different browser window or a different tab so as to not disturb the tester’s work until this point of a test.
Example Step: Downloading a file from a URL provided in a step.
- Action: Open a new Chrome browser window and navigate to www.example.com/file_download. Question: Did a file download in the new browser window?
C. Downloading a file from interacting with an UI element.
A third way to download a file during a test is to have testers interact with a UI element - such as (but not limited to) a button, hyperlink, icon, etc… - to start the download process. In such cases, it should be made very clear to the tester how they should interact with the element, whether the file will cause a saving modal to appear, and/or whether the file will download automatically.
Example Step: Downloading a file from interacting with an UI element.
- Action: In the the top right hand corner of the page, locate the icon of a cloud with an arrow pointing downward in the middle and click it. Question: Did a file download after you clicked the icon?
D. Saving a downloaded file
In some instances, a file downloaded by one of the processes above will prompt testers to save it under a certain name. In this case testers should be instructed in the same step to enter the desired file name and/or click ‘save’ in the modal that would appear upon completing the file download.
Example Step: Saving a downloaded file
- Action: Open a new Chrome browser window and navigate to www.example.com/file_download. In the modal that appears, rename this file “awesome_download” and click “Save”. Question: Did a file download with a title that begins with “awesome”?
E. Designating the location of the downloaded file
When a file is downloaded, if the download was automatic, this file will have been routed to the ‘downloads’ folder unless otherwise specified in the instructions.
Example Step: Designating the location the downloaded file
- Action: Click the icon next to this `file` and in a new tab and paste the value into the URL field of the tab. In the modal that appears, in the left navigation panel double-click on the “Downloads” folder to open it. Then click “save”. Question: Was a file downloaded in the new tab you just opened?”
7. Upload
When instructed to “Upload” a file, you should expect several things to have been completed beforehand.
- At some previous step, you were instructed to download a file of some sort that they will be able to access during this step.
- There will be instructions describing what element on the UI will allow you to begin the upload process and how you should interact with this element and any other process this interaction may trigger (such as a file picker/selection modal).
- In the case that a file picker modal appears, clients are told it is a best practice to inform you which folder/where a file is located and how to navigate that to that location. In such situations, to actually upload the selected file, you would then need to click ‘open’ or ‘select’ in this modal to actually begin the process.
Example:
- Action: Locate the orange “UPLOAD” button and click it once. In the modal that appears, in the left navigation locate the “Downloads” folder and double click on it. Click on “awesome_download” once to select it then click “Open”. Question: Do you see a progress bar in the middle of the Upload field that is slowly filling up?
8. Look For:
“Look for” instructs you to visually look for something specific, and may sometimes mean searching back through several pages to find an item.
Example Step:
- Action: Look for “Test321” in the the table. Question: Do you see “Test321” in the table?
9. Search For:
“Search for” in Rainforest tests could hold several meanings. It could mean:
- A visual search for a specified element in the Web UI, similar to ‘Look for’. In this case, it is a best practice to draw a tester’s attention to the area of the UI where this specified element would be.
- The use of a Search functionality in the UI. Considering that search functions typically come in the form of a search bar or box, it is a best practice to designate the search box/bar as such and where it would be located on a page.
Example Steps:
Visual Search
- Action: In the navigation bar on the right hand side of the page, search for a tab titled “Resources”. Question: Is there a “Resources” tab in this right navigation bar?
Search Function:
- Action: Use the search text field on the right-hand side to search for “Test321”. Question: Does “Test321” appear in the results?
10. Scroll
When instructed to scroll up and/or down a page, one should keep in mind several things.
1. Scrolling on a desktop browser may differ from a mobile browser
a. On a desktop browser, scrolling works in the VM just as it does outside - by using the mouse scrolling function
b. On a mobile VM, scrolling works by clicking a point on the UI and then dragging the page up and down depending on the requirement of the step. This is to simulate how an end user would actually scroll if they were using a mobile app.
c. For this reason, we advise clients to keep tests run on desktop vs. mobile VMs be kept separate from each other.
2. If an element may require you to scroll in order to locate it, clients are told it would be helpful to inform you how much you’d need to scroll or about where approximately on a page you should scroll to.
Example Step:
- Action: Scroll down the page until you see a section called “My Wishlist”. Question: As you were scrolling down the page, did you see advertisements appear on the left and right sides of the page?
Section 3: Web to Mobile Translations
1. Tap/Double Tap:
In terms of mobile testing “Tap” and/or “Double Tap” should be translated as the mobile equivalent of the action “Click in”. Instructions that contain ‘tap’ should be interpreted as a direction to click on an object using a cursor.
Example Step:
- Action: Double tap on the hamburger button in the top left side of the screen. Question: Did a menu appear from the left side of the screen?
2. Swipe (Right/Left/Up/Down)
In mobile testing, “Swipe” translates to a click and dragging of some element in the UI from it’s original position in some direction. The most common directs are right/left/up/down. Generally, the object that is meant to be swiped will be designated and/or identified before the actual instruction to ‘swipe’.
Example Step:
- Action: On the page, locate some empty space. Click on that empty space and swipe to the left. Question: Did a new page appear after you swiped left?
3. Mobile Scroll
Scrolling on a desktop browser differs from scrolling on a mobile browser.
a. On a desktop browser, scrolling works in the VM just as it does outside - by using the mouse scrolling function.
b. On a mobile VM, scrolling works by clicking a point on the UI and then dragging the page up and down depending on the requirement of the step. This is to simulate how an end user would actually scroll if they were using a mobile app.
For this reason, we advise to keep tests run on desktop vs. mobile VMs be kept separate from each other. Example Step: Action: Scroll to the middle of the page Question: Do you see a piechart that has been divided into several segments called “Spent”, “Saved” and “Undisturbed”?