Donation Widget -Testing

Overview

Once you have configured your Donation Widget, it is important to test it before making it available to your donors.

Testing allows you to check:

• How the widget looks and works for your donors.
• That all required fields and options are working correctly.
• That donation amounts and frequencies are behaving as expected.
• That the correct financial coding is being applied.
• That acknowledgement emails and attachments are being sent correctly.
• How the donation is displayed in Vega and your payment gateway.

There are two ways you can test your Donation Widget:

1. Process a real $1 donation – recommended when you want to confirm the complete payment process.
2. Use the test URL – useful when you have many options to test and don't want to process a payment for each test.

Option 1: Process a $1 Test Donation

The simplest way to test your widget is to process a $1 donation.

This is recommended when you want to confirm the complete donation process, including how the payment is processed by your payment gateway.

Before testing, make sure you know how the payment will be processed and what you should expect to see in your payment gateway.

Tip: A real $1 donation is particularly useful for your final test before launching the widget, as it allows you to confirm the complete end-to-end process.

Option 2: Use the Test URL

If you have many donation options, frequencies, custom attributes or Advanced Configuration rules to test, you can use the test URL instead.

This allows you to test the widget without processing an actual payment each time.

Step 1: Open Your Widget

Open the Donation Widget in your browser using the View Widget option.

Step 2: Add the Test Parameter

Look at the URL in your browser's address bar.

At the end of the URL, add:

&test=1

For example:

https://connect.vega.works/Content/csharp/DonateFormAll.aspx?...&test=1

Press Enter to reload the widget.

The widget will now open in test mode.

Step 3: Enter Your Details

Complete the widget using the details you want to test.

Use an email address that you can access if you want to check the acknowledgement email and any attachments.

You can then test different combinations of:

• Donation amounts
• Donation frequencies
• Personal information
• Address information
• Custom Attributes
• Donation allocations
• In-Memoriam options
• Other Donation Widget settings

Payment Testing

The payment testing process will depend on the payment gateway being used.

Stripe and Flo2Cash

For Stripe and Flo2Cash, the payment section is included directly within the Vega Donation Widget.

When using the test URL, you can use the following test card details:

Card Number: 4111 1111 1111 1111

Expiry Date: Any valid future expiry date, for example 10/22

CVC: Any three numbers, for example 123

The donation will process according to your widget settings in Vega, but the payment will be recorded with the receipt number:

Test11111

Please Note: The test card details should only be used when the Donation Widget is in test mode.

 

Other Payment Gateways

Some payment gateways use their own payment iframe rather than the payment section within the Vega widget.

When the test URL is used, the payment section is bypassed for these gateways.

For:

• Windcave
• eWay
• Paystation

you will not need to enter card details when testing using the test URL.

What Should I Check?

When testing your widget, we recommend checking each important part of the donor journey.

Donation options

Check that:

• The correct donation prompt amounts are displayed.
• The default donation amount is correct.
• The correct donation frequencies are available.
• Recurring donation options work as expected.
• Recurring start date options work correctly, if enabled.

Donor information

Check that:

• The correct contact fields are displayed.
• Mandatory fields are working correctly.
• Address options work as expected.
• Custom Attributes are displayed in the correct position.
• Attribute selections are recorded correctly.

Advanced Configuration

If you are using Advanced Configuration, test each possible combination to confirm that the correct:

• GL Code
• Campaign Action
• Acknowledgement email
• PDF attachment

is being applied.

Tip: If your widget has multiple frequencies or Advanced Configuration options, create a simple test checklist so you can confirm every combination has been tested.

Acknowledgements

Check that:

• The acknowledgement email is received.
• The correct email content is displayed.
• The correct PDF attachment is included.
• Any merge tags are displaying the expected information.
• The correct acknowledgement is being used for recurring donations, if applicable.

Payment

Check that the donation is being processed as expected and that the payment appears correctly in Vega and, where applicable, your payment gateway.

Deleting Test Donations

Test donations made using the test URL will still be counted as successful payments in Vega reporting.

Once you have finished testing, these payments should be deleted so they do not affect your reporting.

To delete a test payment:

1. Find the test payment in Vega.
2. Right-click the payment.
3. Select Delete Payment.
4. Confirm the deletion if prompted.

Important: Make sure you only delete payments that were created for testing. Do not delete genuine donor payments.

⭐Before Going Live 

Before making your Donation Widget available to donors, we recommend completing at least one final test of the complete donor journey.

Check that:

• The widget displays correctly.
• The donation amount and frequency are correct.
• Mandatory fields work as expected.
• The payment processes correctly.
• The donation is recorded against the correct contact.
• The correct GL Code and Campaign are applied.
• Acknowledgement emails and attachments are correct.
• Any Advanced Configuration rules are working correctly.
• The thank-you/confirmation page displays correctly.

Once you're happy with the results, remove any test payments and your widget is ready to share with your donors.

Troubleshooting 

❓My test donation isn't showing the way I expected

Check that you are testing the correct widget and that you have saved your latest configuration changes before testing.

If you are testing Advanced Configuration, also check that you have created a rule for the specific Attribute + Frequency combination you are testing.

❓My acknowledgement email isn't being received

Check that you entered the correct email address when completing the test widget and that the acknowledgement document has been correctly configured.

Also check your email spam or junk folder.

❓My test payment is appearing in reports

This is expected. Test donations are still recorded as successful payments in reporting.

Once testing is complete, delete the test payments so they do not affect your reporting.

“Some content in this article may have been developed with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by staff.”