---
title: "Test plan templates"
description: "Build your company's own test plans from the SurveyTester plans, decide which projects get which plan, and set the go-live warning."
url: https://www.surveytester.com/academy/en/company-admin-settings/test-plan-templates/
language: en
type: how-to
audiences: ["SurveyTester Administrators", "Team Management", "Project Managers"]
published: 2026-11-13
updated: 2026-11-13
tags: ["test plan", "templates", "checklist", "qa process", "project types", "folders", "roles", "go-live", "company settings"]
---

# Test plan templates

_Company Admin Settings · SurveyTester Academy_

Every project starts with a [test plan](https://www.surveytester.com/academy/en/project-details/test-plan): the checklist that leads the team from the
survey link to the go-live. SurveyTester ships two plans. Most companies have their own QA process, though: extra
approval steps, client-specific checks, a different order. With **test plan templates** you turn that process into
the plan your projects start with, and you decide which kind of project gets which plan.

## Why this is hard without SurveyTester

- **A process document is not a process.** A QA handbook describes the steps, but nobody follows it line by line
  in the middle of a project. A template puts the steps where the work happens.
- **One size fits nobody.** A tracker study, an ad test and a multi-country B2B survey need different checks. A
  single company checklist is either too long for the small projects or too short for the big ones.
- **Changes do not reach the projects.** When the process changes, the copies of the old checklist live on in
  every running project. With templates, new projects get the new version automatically.

## How it works

- A project gets its test plan the first time its **Test plan** page is opened.
- It takes the company template that **fits the project best**: a template restricted to the project's type and
  folder beats a template restricted to only one of them, and that beats a template for every project. When two
  templates fit equally well, the **default template** of the company wins (marked with a star), otherwise the
  newest.
- If no template fits, the project gets a **shipped plan**. Which one you choose in **Company Settings › General
  Settings › Test plan of new projects**. Without a choice it is the *SurveyTester simple test plan*.
- The project gets a **copy** of the items. Later changes to the template do not change running projects. The team
  takes them over with **Manage › Load template** or **Reset test plan...** on the project.
- Items taken over from a SurveyTester plan keep the SurveyTester texts, in the user's language, until you change
  them.

## Step by step

### 1. Open the template administration

Open **Administration › Test plan templates**. You need the permission **Manage Test Plan Templates**.

On the left you see your **Templates** and, below them, what a project gets when no template applies, with a link to
the setting in Company Settings. Under **Actions** you create and manage templates.

![Placeholder: screenshot of Administration › Test plan templates - the template list with a star at the default template, the fallback note and the Actions list](https://www.surveytester.com/academy/_img/company-admin-settings/test-plan-templates/en/templates-list.png "w=44rem | Templates and actions")

### 2. Create a template

Choose one of the actions:

| Action | Result |
| --- | --- |
| **New template** | An empty template. |
| **Start from: SurveyTester simple test plan** | A copy of the 28 steps that guide through SurveyTester. |
| **Start from: SurveyTester standard test plan** | A copy of the full plan with 114 items in 15 phases, including every step of the simple plan. |
| **Duplicate** | A copy of the selected template. |
| **Delete** | Deletes the selected template. Projects that already use it keep their items. |

### 3. Decide which projects get the template

Give the template a **Name** and a **Description**. Under **Which projects get this template** choose:

- **Project types**: only projects of these types,
- **Project folders**: only projects in these folders,
- **User roles**: who may see the template when loading a template into a project.

Leave a list empty for "all". Tick **Default template of this company** for the template that should win a tie.

### 4. Arrange the items

The items are grouped by category, every category once, with its items below it.

- **Categories:** rename a category in its header (a name that already exists merges the two), add an item with
  **+**, and move the whole category up or down with the arrows. The category order is the order the project
  shows.
- **Items:** drag an item by its handle, also into another category. The round buttons at the end of a row
  **edit** the item, move it **up** or **down**, **reset its texts** to the SurveyTester default and **remove** it.
- **Active:** an inactive item stays in the template but is not copied into new projects.

![Placeholder: screenshot of the template editor - category headers with number, name, item count and the round buttons plus, up and down; item rows with code, title, verified by, tick per, automatic check, active and the round action buttons](https://www.surveytester.com/academy/_img/company-admin-settings/test-plan-templates/en/templates-editor.png "w=48rem | Categories and items of a template")

### 5. Edit an item

Click an item title (or the edit button) to open the item dialog:

| Field | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Code** | A short, unique code. Ticks of items with the same code survive when a project loads another template. |
| **Category** | An existing category, or **New category...** |
| **Title** and **What to check** | What the team sees in the project. |
| **SurveyTester feature** | Where in SurveyTester the item is done. |
| **Verified by** | Manual, Auto check, Survey bot, Questionnaire, Data (several possible). |
| **Tick per** | Once per project, per language, per market, per language and market, or per device. |
| **Automatic check** | The rule that ticks the item from the project data, or **None (manual)**. The help below the field explains the rule. A warning tells you when the rule cannot judge the chosen *Tick per* separately. |
| **Active** | Whether new projects get the item. |

Click **Save** in the editor when you are done.

![Placeholder: screenshot of the item dialog with code, category, title, what to check, SurveyTester feature, verified by, tick per, automatic check with its help text and the Active switch](https://www.surveytester.com/academy/_img/company-admin-settings/test-plan-templates/en/templates-item-dialog.png "w=40rem | Adding or editing an item")

### 6. Choose the plan for all other projects

In **Company Settings › General Settings**, **Test plan of new projects** decides which shipped plan a project
gets when none of your templates applies. The link under the template list on the template page jumps straight
to it.

### 7. Set the go-live warning per project type

The test plan shows the project's go-live date next to its title and turns it crimson when the go-live is close.
What "close" means you set per project type: **Administration › Project Types** › choose the project type ›
**Other** › **Test plan: warning days before go-live**. Leave it empty for 7 days; 0 turns the warning off.

## Good to know

- **Existing projects keep their plan.** A new or changed template only reaches projects that open their test plan
  for the first time, load the template, or reset their test plan.
- **Ticks follow the code.** Keep the codes of items you only reword. A new code is a new item, and its ticks start
  from scratch.
- **Start from a SurveyTester plan** rather than from scratch: the automatic checks are already assigned, and the
  texts stay translated until you change them.