Test Mode and Going Live

Every program starts in Test mode. Building is free and unlimited, so you can set up the whole program, submit test entries, score them as a judge, and publish test results before anyone outside your team sees it. Going live opens the program to the public and is the one step tied to your organization's plan.

What Test mode means

• The sidebar shows a green Test mode pill ("Test mode, not live yet": your program is not accepting submissions or payments yet).
• Your public pages exist and carry a "Test mode preview." banner. Only your team can find them; your organization's public page lists the program as "In build (only visible to your team)".
• Every part of the setup stays editable. Nothing locks in Test mode, because test entries and test scores are rehearsal data.
• Sample data fills the program so every page has something to look at.

Sample data

Programs created from a template or an import come with sample entries, judges, and scores, written in the background right after creation ("Creating your sample program data"). Use them to click through the entries table, the judge portal, and the results page exactly as they will look with real data.

Sample data is removed automatically when you go live. To clear it earlier, click Clear sample data on the Ready to go live? card.

Previewing the public pages

The setup checklist's Preview your public page step opens the program page as an entrant sees it. From there:

• The program page shows a "Preview." note under the submit button: "Click through the entry form. Entries open once the program goes live."
• The entry form is fully walkable. Visitors can pick categories, answer every question, and press submit; instead of saving, a preview explains what a real submission does ("What you'll submit", where the email code appears) and confirms that nothing they typed was saved or sent.
• Judges you add can open their links and score the sample entries. Their test scores never lock your criteria; editing the rubric simply resets them.
• Results can be assembled from test scores, and the results page says so: "Results publish once your program is live. Test scores and winners are cleared at go-live."

Going live

Click Go live on the Ready to go live? card (or on the sidebar pill). The confirmation, "Take this program live?", spells out what happens:

• Submissions open to the public so anyone can enter.
• If the program charges entry fees, Stripe must be connected first ("Connect Stripe to collect entry fees before going live."). Connecting Stripe itself requires the subscription, so a fee-charging program in an organization without a plan subscribes first, connects Stripe, then goes live. The dialog also notes that entry fees need a Stripe account in a country Stripe supports and that Stripe decides approval. See Stripe Connect setup.
• Sample entries, judges, and entrants are cleared, along with every test score and test winner.

If your organization already has an active plan, the button reads Go live and the program is live immediately. Otherwise it reads Subscribe and go live, shows the flat yearly price ("Flat $1,995/year, unlimited programs.") and how many entries at your fee cover it, and takes you through checkout first; the program goes live as soon as payment completes. One plan covers every program in the organization. See Plans and billing.

Going live is a one-time action. The lifecycle bar shows Live from then on, and entries open on the date you set (or right away if the open date has passed).

What changes once live

Live programs protect real data. Guards that would be pointless in Test mode switch on:

• Categories and awards that have entries or winners cannot be deleted.
• The voting method, criteria, and Top Picks settings lock once real votes exist.
• Judges with votes cannot be removed, and rounds with votes cannot be deleted.
• The program URL rename warns that every shared link breaks.

Everything else (description, hero, dates, adding categories, adding questions, adding judges, pricing periods, discount codes) stays editable.

Archived programs

Archiving a program (from Organization settings > Programs) takes it offline: the public page is replaced by a "Program Archived" notice ("This program has been archived and is no longer visible to entrants"), entrants keep access to their own entries, and the dashboard becomes read-only until you restore it. An archived program cannot be taken live; restore it first. See Organizations.