Testing Process For Minor New Releases

On JomSocial 3.0, we’ve implemented a very rigorous testing process for all our major versions. We execute thousands of test cases to see what breaks and we fix these issues before we release. This is what we are doing now for JomSocial 3.1.

It’s a tough process but a huge improvement over the previous ad-hoc testing system.

It’s now become clear that we have to do the same thing with minor releases.

We released a few minor updates since JomSocial 3.0, and found that some of them contained bugs that shouldn't have been there. They showed us that even small changes can create big issues.

Revamping Our Testing Process for Minor Releases

From minor release 3.0.6, we will start executing test cases for small updates as well. We won’t execute all our 3,500 test cases (that takes weeks!) but we will execute the most critical cases such as registration, stream activity, adding events, avatar, cover photos, etc. — about 250 test cases in all.

A Longer Release Cycle

Those 250 test cases will take time to work through, though. We will have to add a few more days for testing and bug fixes to every minor release. While previously we were aiming to release every two weeks, now the release cycle will be every three weeks.

Your Feedback Is What Drives Us

We made this change in testing cycles because of your feedback. You told us that bugs still exist on minor releases and that you hesitate when you upgrade. We listened and changed the way we work.

We want to reach the point where you’re not hesitating before you upgrade JomSocial. We want it to be a smooth, seamless and easy process.

And we’ll keep listening, so do keep telling us what you think!

Thank you for your patience while we refine JomSocial and its testing process to make it even better, even more stable and even more fun to use.

Any comments? Please post them below, we love to read them!