Create test plan templates

Test plan templates streamline quality control and provide a structured framework for projects.

Users select a template when they create a test plan. A well structured template saves time, resources, and prevents costly mistakes. 

Once a test plan is created the assignees follow the guidelines provided in the template to complete their activities in the test plan. This ensures projects meet standards and specifications and the required evidence is thoroughly documented.

If required you can use a template approval workflow to allow an Associate to create the template which needs to be approved by an Administrator.


Things to note:

  • Users with Admin and Associate roles can view and create test plan templates. Learn more about Test Plan roles
  • Only users with the Admin role can publish templates.
  • Published templates cannot be deleted. You can delete a draft template.

 

The following options are available to create a new template:

  • Import using Excel - (Recommended) Quickly create up to 10 templates at once. An Excel template ensures you enter the correct information for a successful import. Once you've imported a template you can edit it to add more details including reference documents, inspection templates and reviewer actions.
  • Input Manually - Create a template within Aconex.
  • Copy from Project - Copy templates from another project you have access to.

Tip!

Test Plans is currently only available to projects on the KSA1 and MEA Aconex instances. We'll continue to develop features based on feedback and announce availability for other Aconex instances at a later date. Make sure you subscribe to Release Highlights to be notified.

Before you begin

Create a template using Excel Import

  1. From the main navigation menu, click Field and select Settings.
  2. Click Test Plans and select Templates.
  3. You'll see all templates created by or shared with your organization
  4. Click Create Template to create a new test plan template.
  1. Select Import using Excel.
  2. Click Download import template. This template contains the latest information about categories, reviewer actions, inspection templates, users and organizations, that have been configured for this project. We recommend you download the import template every time you create a new template using excel, so you have the latest updates from your project. Only one test plan template can be created per import file, but you can import up to 10 files at a time.
  3. If prompted, click to save the file on your computer. It may download directly depending on your web browser. By default, the file will be named TestPlanImportTemplate.xlsx. 
  4. Open your metadata template file in your spreadsheet application such as Excel.
  5. You'll find instructions in the first worksheet of the template to guide you through each step.
  6. Complete all the mandatory fields. They're shown with a highlight and bold text in your file.
  7. Complete as many of the other fields in the template as you need to.
  8. Save the template.
  1. Upload the template file by dragging and dropping it, or click anywhere in the outlined space and choose files from your computer. 
  2. Click Import.
  3. You'll see an icon next to each file to show you if the import was successful or not.
  4. Click Close to see the template(s) that were imported successfully. They will be in Draft status.
  5. (Optional) Click into a template to add reference documents to an activity or make any other manual adjustments.
  6. Click Publish to make the template available for users to create test plans on the project. If you're an Administrator, the template will publish instantly. Otherwise, it'll go into a review process.

View Excel Import Logs

If a template failed to upload you can check the import logs to find out why. Then you can fix the template and try the import again. You can also see successful imports here, but they will not have a log file.

  1. From the Test Plans project settings click Import Logs.
  2. Find the import that failed and click Download Log.
  3. View the log and see the reason for failure and how you can correct it.

Create a template manually

  1. From the main navigation menu, click Field and select Settings.
  2. Click Test Plans and select Templates.
  3. You'll see all templates created by or shared with your organization
  4. Click Create Template to create a new test plan template.
  5. Select Input manually.
  6. Enter the details of the template name, description, category, manager, and approver.
  • The template name is the only required field in this form.
  • If you don't select a category, the template is automatically assigned to the Uncategorized category.
  1. Click Continue.
  1. Add the sections of the template. These are the headings that will contain the activities. You can delete, rename, and reorder them as required.
  2. When you have finished adding your sections, click Create.
  1. The template is created as a draft. Now you need to add the required activities to each section.
  2. Click Add Activity.
  1. Complete the fields as required.
  2. Once all the required details are added, click Save to add this activity to the template.
  1. (Optional) Click Edit Template Details to edit any details at a template level.
  2. (Optional) Click Manage Sections to reorder activities and sections, including moving activities from one section to another. You can also delete sections that do not have any activities added. To delete a section that has activities, you need to delete the existing activities.
  3. Click Save and Close to save your changes and work on it later.
  4. When you're ready, click Publish to finalise the template and make it available for users to create test plans on the project. If you're an Administrator, the template will publish instantly. Otherwise, it'll go into a review process.

Copy templates from another project

You can copy up to 25 templates from other projects that you have access to. You need to be a Test Plan Admin or Associate in the project you are copying from.

Note: Project specific data such as participants, categories, reviewer actions, inspection templates, and documents from the source project are not copied.
  1. Click Create Template to create a new test plan template.
  2. Select Copy from Project.
  3. Select the project you want to copy from.
  4. Select the template(s) you want to copy.
  5. Click Copy.
  6. The template(s) will be created in Draft status. You can edit them as required.
  7. Click Publish to make the template available for users to create test plans on the project. If you're an Administrator, the template will publish instantly. Otherwise, it'll go into a review process.

Copy a template in the current project

You can create up to 10 copies of a template at a time. The template(s) will be created in Draft status.

The Copy action is available under the three dots menu for each template.

Note: Project specific data such as participants, categories, reviewer actions, inspection templates, and documents from the source template are copied.