Creating test plans

The test plan captures the test requirements, test cases, test execution criteria, and other information for a particular test cycle.

1. In the main menu, click Planning > Create > Create Test Plan.

   The new test plan opens, with a table of contents and an editor.

2. Enter a unique test plan name.
3. Select a test plan template from the list, if available.
4. If team areas are enabled for the project area, select a team area from the list.
   Note: You must explicitly enable team areas in Manage Project Properties. For details, see Enabling team areas and support for multiple timelines.
5. Select a test plan template from the list.

   For information about the templates provided with the application, see the Test plan template reference.

6. Select an owner and priority for the test plan.
7. Add a description of the test plan.
8. Complete the test plan Summary section or assign the Summary section to another team member to complete.
9. To complete the test plan Summary yourself:
   1. Define categories.

      You can use categories to define a hierarchical organization of test plans, test cases, test scripts, and other test artifacts. You can also define subcategories and other category relationships. You can use the default categories that are provided or create your own. To define categories, click the Manage Test Plan Categories icon ().

   2. Assign values to the custom attribute fields.

      If an administrator defined any custom attributes for test plans, they display in the Attributes section of the Summary. With categories, the field values are restricted to text format; however, with custom attributes you can also use integer and date formats. Custom attribute values are free-form and not restricted to a predefined set, allowing any data to be entered and used when working with test artifacts. When you view a list all of your test plans, you can filter the list by using the custom attributes.

10. To assign the Summary section, or any section of the test plan, to another team member to complete, click Work Item: Create and complete the fields in the form. For more information about using work items, see Managing the team with work items.
11. Complete the other test plan sections as needed or assign them to other team members to complete.
12. To open all test plan sections in the editor at once, select Show All Sections, located under the list of sections.
13. To add your own, customized test plan sections or to remove sections that you do not need, click Manage Sections.
14. Click Save to save the new test plan.
15. Optional: Click the Duplicate icon ( ) to make a copy of the test plan.
16. Optional: Click the Print View icon ( ) to display a printable version of the test plan.
17. Optional: Click the Set to Lock/Unlock icon () to lock or unlock the test plan. Depending on how your project is configured, you might be required to sign this action electronically by providing your password and a comment. When the test plan is locked, the editable fields are disabled for editing.
    Note: Permission to lock a test plan depends on your role-based permissions.

    To reverse the locking attribute, click the icon again.

18. Optional: Click the down arrow next to the Print PDF icon ( ) to save the test plan as a PDF.