It's not always that we love to do same
things with interest and energy. For me when it comes to work then I
don’t get passion in doing exact task again and again. I like
managing things and saving time. So any IT person be having the
same mindset.
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| Img src : http://www.pinsoftek.com/images/web-testing.jpg |
All IT companies are running on
projects that they work for, Either Indian based or outsourced. The
project can either be product based or browser based. Browser based
means any website testing.
The chances that a product based
project will vary from the other product based project are really
95%. But website has some or many similarities. Especially if it’s
shopping or retail website then you will find so many common
functionality.
In case If you are working for a
company dealing with the retail website testing. And there are so
many websites with similar functionality then why do we need to write
test cases from scratch.
Very smartly,
We can save our time by
pulling existing test scripts that we used for our previous website
testing and modify them accordingly. In this way we can use the time
in better testing and providing on-time deliveries.
I not only found writing same test
cases and steps for different website as waste of time but boring
too. Then my peer reviewers were not very interested in reviewing
same things again and again.
While pulling the existing standard
scripts not only save time, but also finance that client is uselessly
paying for these hours. This way client too finds this trick smart
and logical.
So logically I started pulling the
existing scripts from the similar web based project and made changes
in the required areas. Off course the existing test cases used to be
very complete and reviewed ones. I used different color text for
updating content. And reviewer also reviewed only that part for
review.
If you are still thinking of reasons
for why should we skip creating test scripts from scratch and use the
existing ones:
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| Illustration 1: Source - http://blog.rgs-bg.com/webdevelopment-tips/25-point-website-usability-checklist/ |
Most of the functional areas of web site are
almost same like login page, registration page, add to cart page,
wish list, checkout process pages, shipping options, payment
options, product page content, recently viewed, relevant products,
promo code facilities etc.
- Many times we get the projects
which are just enhancements or changes in existing functionality.
Content management system which
includes defining of slots and image uploads with static and dynamic
ways is also common for all websites.
All retail websites have CSR
system too. Where the customer service man can assist using the
application without any defects.
Then the back end system that is
warehouse application using JDA is also used by all websites which
arranges products and delivers them to customer.
The concept of cookies, time out
feature and security are common in every website
Web based projects are very frequently porn to
requirement changes in any phase of testing.
The types of testing that a
website application require and the client may ask for are common
like browser compatibility testing, performance testing, security
testing etc.
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| Illustration 2: Source - http://www.slideshare.net/RichaYamini/web-application-testing-14407020 |
All the above modules are very common
in every retail website. Although the steps to use functionality may
vary, their designing and the outcome on using them may also vary.
Then why can’t we use the same set of scripts with some
modifications as per the requirements.
Off course modification may and may not
take less time. Even sometimes one may feel it better to start from
scratch than to modify so much. This guilt of wasting too much time
in modification can be handled by creating a set of standard test
cases for each of the common functionality.
What do you mean by standard test case
in website testing?
~
Here by standard test case for website testing I mean to create test
cases very complete including the set of data and variables that may
require to test.
~
The test case modification should be easy just by making changes in
non similar data and variables.
~
The entrance and exit criteria should be properly defined for each
set of website functionality including the perquisites.
~
The steps or the statements in the steps should be highlighted with
different color which need to be modified for different websites for
testing.
~
There should be no test data of any website attached to any step in
any test case. Instead the data which can be commonly used for
testing of all websites should sure be there.
~
The language used for the standard test case creation should be very
generic. It should not specify any particular website.
~
All the features of every websites should be covered in the test
cases. If there is a new feature or any old feature which is present
only in a website then there must be test case/s for the feature too
in the standard test cases set.
~
The name of the test cases should be the name of the functionality or
the feature the test case is covering. This will make ease for us to
find the particular test case from the set.
~
If there is any basic or standard sample or GUI file or screen shot
of the feature or the functionality then it should be well attached
with the relevant steps.
By
using above tips one can create a set of standard scripts and use
them with little or required modifications for different websites.
I
found the above procedure very helpful in my manual testing for
websites. But there are organizations who relate this requirement of
standard scripts with business and introduce automation of such
scripts to the client. Although automation may be costlier for the
client but time saving too. Hence its up to the client to go for
manual testing or automation of website quality check.
In
Automation too the tester creates a set of scripts which can be used
repeatedly for different websites with some modifications. But
modifications in automation scripts are more time consuming as
compared to manual test cases editing.
The
automation of stable GUI is most effective in reusing the same
scripts for same website. Its challenging to maintain the same set of
automation scripts for different websites, because all websites have
different GUI. I never found it as effective as manual. It always
missed bugs and took more time in editing scripts for perfection of
each website.
In
my opinion using standard set of manual test cases for different
websites with little modifications is best way to carry a website
testing. All we need is to keep the test cases with proper standards
which can make the testers interesting and trouble-free to rework on
them.
~Nidhi
