Have you ever tried to link a crochet or knit project on Ravelry that you are testing for a designer?
Are you a Crochet or Knit Designer trying to figure out how to explain to testers how to link their projects to yours on Ravelry?
Here’s a step-by-step guide (with pictures!) to walk you through how to link your project to a designer’s test.
WHAT IS A TESTER?
A tester is someone who agrees to make and look over a designer’s new pattern. Typically, the pattern has not been published yet.
Often the designer will give the final pattern to the tester as a “thank you”. The tester gets increased exposure on social media and can add who they’ve tested for on their resume.
It also exposes the tester to new techniques or patterns they may not usually make.
WHAT IS A TEST PROJECT ON RAVELRY?
When a designer prepares to put their pattern on Ravelry, at the end of the upload, it has a section for “testing”.
It gives the designer the option to include pattern testers who can add their projects tests to your pattern on Ravelry before the pattern has actually been published.
It is optional, but it is very beneficial to add testers.
On the last screen when the designer is uploading their pattern draft, there is a “Tester Code” that the designer can send to their pattern testers to allow the testers to link their tests.
The code is the most important part!
WHY LINK PROJECTS FROM TESTERS?
Linking project tests from testers is beneficial because it shows potential customers that other people have successfully made the pattern already. It instills confidence.
It also allows for others to see different colors that work well with your pattern and generally get a better idea of your pattern.
FOR TESTERS – HOW TO LINK PROJECTS TO DESIGNERS ON RAVELRY
There is a 6 step process to link your project test to a designer’s on Ravelry. Let’s take a look at them!
STEP 1
First, after logging onto Ravelry, click on “my notebook” in the upper right corner.
STEP 2
STEP 3
STEP 4
Typically, it is best to put the name of the pattern. You could also put “Test for [designer name]”.
STEP 5
Enter the “test code” you were given by the designer. It usually 13 keys and looks something like, “TEST – xxx – xxxxxx”.
The page gliches out and will not link properly if you include extra spaces at the beginning, end, or in the middle. It has to be exactly what the designer copies and pastes to you.
STEP 6
On this page, you can include pictures and change the status to “complete”. There are other pieces of info you can also include, but I never take the time to do them.
COMMON PROBLEMS
If the designer is telling you that they do not see your project linked correctly, the most common reason is inputting the tester code in the wrong spot.
Do not get these two fields mixed up!
The Name field can be whatever you want it to be. It does not affect the pattern linking.
The Pattern Name must be exactly the tester code that the designer gave you. No extra spaces or anything.
ONE DRAW BACK TO LINKING TESTERS
As a designer, I have found only one negative to linking test projects.
Ravelry created the pattern testing option a few years ago. Before this was an option, I would have my testers link their projects to mine by simply inputting the pattern name and linking to my pattern.
The testers were able to “rate” the pattern with a 5-scale star system. It was great to be able to have (hopefully) a positive rating before the pattern was officially published for sale.
With the testing link feature, testers are unable to rate the project.
I have not been able to find a way to have the ratings available to testers when using the “test code” feature, but I find that the benefits of having testers upload their pictures and comments before the pattern is for sale is still incredibly beneficial, so I still use the test feature.
And that’s how you link Tester projects to pattern designs!
Seems simple once you see the pictures, but ooooof. Ravelry can be a dinosaur of a site, right? Not very intuitive.
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You really should fill out all sections of a project page- and make comments! It’s important to help other crafters learn to use different yarns and hook sizes.
When I see a test pattern that has no comments, I assume the tester wasn’t that thrilled with the pattern. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the star system.
Thank you for this blog post! I just finished my very first test-knit and had no idea what I was doing. It was so nice to find your step-by-step guide!
I’m glad you found it helpful!
Thank you. Your blog post helped my testers to add and link their projects to my pattern.
Glad you found it helpful! <3