Product-Template testing substitutes an alternate template for one or more products. There are four types of product template substitutions. Test templates can replace normal templates in the following situations:
Replace the product template for all products. For example, if your site had a Beanbag Chair product and a Recliner product, group members could see the new template for both the Beanbag Chair and the Recliner.
Replace the product template for all products in selected categories. For example, if your site had a Casual Furniture category and a Kids Furniture category, group members could see the test template when they viewed any product in the Casual Furniture category. Products in the Kids Furniture category would use the normal product template.
Replace the product template only for specific products. For example, if your site had a Beanbag Chair product and a Recliner product that both used the same product template, group members could see the new template when they viewed the Beanbag chair. The Recliner would use the normal product template.
Replace the product template whenever it is used for all products or for products in specific categories. For example, if your site had a Chairs category that included some products that use the Blue template and some products that use the Green template, group members could see the test template when viewing products in the Chairs category using the Blue template. Substitution would not occur for the products in the Chairs category that use the Green template or for products not in the Chairs category, even if they use the Blue template.
Follow these steps to set up a test element to test alternate product template.
Create a new test or edit an existing test. See Creating a New Test or Editing Tests for more information.
Select the Test Groups tab and set up the test groups for the test. See Defining Test Groups for more information.
Click the New Element button in the test group that you want to test.
Select Product Template and click Next. The New Product Template window opens
Select the template and catalog that you want to use in the test and click Next. The New Template Usage window opens.
Select one of the following:
Test new template with all products: Select this option and click Finish to replace all product templates with the specified test template.
Test new template with all products in specific categories: Select this option and click Next to view the Select Categories window.
The Select Categories window allows you to select specific categories in which to replace the product template or to exclude selected categories from the test. Search for the categories and use the > icon to add the categories to the Selected Categories box. Click Finish when complete.
Note: If you are using an Oracle or DB2 database, no categories that meet your criteria may appear when you click Search. To resolve this issue, override the
useFullTextSearchproperty in the/atg/abtest/web/commerce/element/template/component. Set the property to
ProductSearchFormHandler.propertiesfalse.Test new template with individual products: Select this option and click Next to view the Select Product window:
The Select Products window allows you to select specific products in which to replace the new product template. You can also select products to exclude from the test. Search for the products and use the > icon to add the products to the Selected Products box. Click Finish when complete.
Use new template to replace existing template in all or some categories: Select this option and click Next to view the Replace Template window.
The Replace Template window allows you to select a specific product template to replace only in specific categories. You can set the template to replace across all categories, you can set specific categories, or you can exclude certain categories. Search for the categories and use the > icon to add the categories to the Selected Categories box. Click Finish when complete.
After finishing the test element, you can add another element to the test group, preview the test group or start the test. See Previewing Tests and Completing and Deploying Tests for more information.
