Champions Spotlight: Share Your Expertise!
Hello Champions! First and foremost, thank you for being such an incredible part of our community! Your insights, expertise, and dedication continue to inspire and help countless developers in the SmartBear ecosystem. We're excited to remind you about our Champions Articles space – your platform to shine and share your knowledge with the broader community: Champions Articles | SmartBear Community Why Share Your Articles? Showcase your expertise and thought leadership Help fellow developers solve real-world challenges Build your professional brand and visibility Contribute to a stronger, more knowledgeable community What Can You Publish? Whether it's tutorials, best practices, case studies, how-to guides, or innovative solutions you've developed – we want to hear from you! Your unique perspective and experience are invaluable. We're Here to Support You: ✅ Most of the champions have Blog Author permissions ✅ We'll help promote your content across relevant community spaces ✅ Content will be reviewed and published based on topic relevance, context, and quality Need Help? If you encounter any permission issues or have questions, please don't hesitate to DM me directly. Ready to share your story? Head over to the Champions Articles space and start publishing! Your contribution could be the breakthrough someone needs. Looking forward to reading your amazing content! 🚀 Warm regards, Tanzeem Community Manager, SmartBear
Surviving Upgrades: How to Manage Change Across Test Automation Toolchains
The Pain Point (a story we’ve all lived) It’s Friday afternoon, and your team is on the eleventh-hour push to ship a release. Everything has been working all week — the build is green, the smoke tests passed, and you’re finally feeling the relief of a job well done. Then it happens. A test suite that has been stable for weeks suddenly fails in dozens of places, and the failures don’t make sense. You didn’t change anything. The application didn’t change. The environment didn’t change — or so you thought. But somewhere in the stack, something moved. Maybe the browser auto-updated overnight. Maybe a Windows patch was applied. Maybe the CI agent updated. Maybe the automation tool itself installed a minor version update without you realizing. Now the release is blocked. The team is waiting. The deadline is looming. And you’re left in the middle of a nightmare: “Everything was fine… and now nothing works.” That’s not a automation tool problem. That’s not a browser problem. That’s not even an automation script problem. It’s a dependency chain problem — and it’s the most common cause of “suddenly broken” automation. The Real Issue: You’re Managing a Chain, Not a Single Product Automation tools are only one link in a longer chain that includes: OS or security updates Browsers and runtimes Test tools (TestComplete, ReadyAPI, etc.) Drivers, plugins, integrations The application under test CI/CD agents and infrastructure When one link moves ahead, the chain breaks. So a “successful upgrade” isn’t just installing a new version — it’s ensuring the rest of the chain can support it. The Goal: Upgrade Intentionally, Not Accidentally Upgrades should be treated as controlled change, not something that “just happens.” The upgrade decision should be based on: Need: Do we require a feature or fix? Risk: What can break? Environment readiness: Is the stack aligned? Rollback plan: Can we recover quickly? If the answer is “no” or “not sure,” it’s perfectly valid to wait. Early Adoption: Not a Risk — a Strategy Many teams avoid early adoption entirely, waiting for others to report issues. That’s passive. A stronger approach is: Create internal early adopters intentionally. What that means: A pilot environment is designated for early upgrades Early adoption is expected, not accidental Findings are documented and shared This turns early adoption into risk discovery, not risk exposure. The One True Anchor: Test Environments Across all team sizes, the same rule applies: If you don’t control your test environment, you don’t control upgrade risk. The test environment is the contract that defines what “works.” Environment best practices: Lock OS, browser, and runtime versions per environment Disable auto-updates where possible Treat environments as managed assets Separate: Sandbox / pilot Test / QA CI/CD execution When environments are stable, upgrades become predictable. Scaling Upgrade Practices by Team Size Upgrade strategy changes with organizational scope. Here’s how: Stand-alone automation users You are the early adopter Backups are essential A spare VM can be your pilot environment Rollback must be quick and simple Small teams Use a pilot machine Freeze browser versions used in automation Stagger upgrades across the team Keep a lightweight shared change log Large teams / enterprises Environments are contracts CI/CD agents should upgrade last Forced upgrades (security, browsers) are inevitable Change visibility matters more than speed Browser Updates: The Frequent Weak Link Browsers often update faster than automation tools officially support. Mitigation strategies: Pin browser versions used in automation Validate browser upgrades separately from tool upgrades Expect compatibility lag Use community feedback to spot issues early Browser drift is predictable — and therefore manageable. A Simple Upgrade Flow That Works Everywhere Here’s a repeatable pattern that scales from solo users to large teams: Review version history and known issues Back up projects and configurations Upgrade in a pilot environment Run smoke tests first Observe and document findings Roll out gradually Upgrade CI/CD last This flow keeps upgrades controlled and prevents cascading failures. How to Start (if you have no process yet) If your team has never formalized upgrade strategy, start small. You don’t need heavy change management — just a lightweight, repeatable approach. First 30 days: Choose a pilot environment (VM, spare machine, or sandbox) Create a simple change log (spreadsheet is fine) Define one smoke test suite that represents core workflows Disable auto-updates where possible Next 60 days: Add an upgrade checklist to your workflow Upgrade one component at a time (browser, tool, CI) Share findings with the team Decide on a cadence (monthly, quarterly, or as-needed) By 90 days: Your process becomes repeatable You’ll have real data on what breaks first You’ll stop being surprised by “suddenly broken” automation Printable Checklist Upgrade Readiness Checklist Review release notes and version history Confirm need for upgrade (feature, fix, security, compatibility) Backup all projects and configurations Identify pilot environment Disable auto-updates where possible Run smoke tests in pilot Document findings and workarounds Stagger rollout to team Upgrade CI/CD last Final Thought The goal isn’t to always upgrade first — or always upgrade last. The goal is to upgrade intentionally, with visibility, feedback, and control. When upgrades are planned around environments, team size, and deliberate early adoption, automation becomes resilient instead of fragile.Upgrade Best Practices?
Hello everyone, I would like to start a discussion 'Upgrade Best Practices'. I have seen updates go wrong here in the community with reports like, "Now it's all broken!". Is there a 'Right' way to upgrade? The upgrade and Best Practice pages are pretty slim on content. We are usually never on the latest release unless we need the feature updates. We usually have one person who will install and run with the update on a machine for a week or so before we update everyone else. https://support.smartbear.com/testcomplete/docs/general-info/installing/maintaining/updating.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://support.smartbear.com/testcomplete/docs/working-with/best-practices/index.html This community and the version history pages are always my first stop. https://support.smartbear.com/testcomplete/docs/general-info/version-history/index.htmls What do you do?Letter to the Champions!
Hey All! We wanted to follow up now that we’ve had a little time to settle in and properly get going into our community planning. Looking ahead for the next few months, our focus is on planning community strategy and programmes. Have you noticed we’ve pinned a survey on the Community homepage? We would really appreciate if you could find 5 minutes to provide your feedback there. It’s important that we capture your experiences in order to shape the space to be more in tune with what our members need going forward. Link for your reference - SmartBear Community Survey. We’re also planning to trial regular office-hours–style check-ins, more to follow soon! We’d also love to properly say hello!! If this is something you would like to do, we’re happy to set up a short meet-and-greet video call — either one-to-one or as a small group with the other Champions. Totally optional, and no pressure if that’s not your thing. Please let us know in the comments if you are interested. Thanks again for everything you do — we really look forward to working more closely with you this year. With warm wishes, SmartBear Community Team[Announcement] Q3 2025 Champion Rewards Issued and other updates 🎉
Hello Champions! 🌟 Rewards for Q3 2025 have just been issued to all Champions who qualified. Your knowledge, enthusiasm, and support continue to make the SmartBear Community such a vibrant and helpful place. I also want to share some exciting news! Please join me in welcoming Jo-Laing and tanzeem , who will be helping lead our community programs moving forward. They will be your main points of contact for all things related to the Community Champions program and other community initiatives. I am not going anywhere. I will still be here and involved, but Jo-Laing and tanzeem will be the best people to reach out to for questions or ideas. Thank you for everything you do. The community thrives because of you. Keep sharing, helping, and inspiring! 🙌 Thanks again, Doug and the SmartBear Community TeamTechnical Articles Points
Hello all! Due to API changes by our community platform vendor, points for Technical Articles will no longer be included in the progress gauge in your profile. These points will be added to your point total at the end of each quarter. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks, Doug[Announcement] Q2 2025 Champion Rewards Issued 🎉
Hello Champions! 🌟 Rewards for Q2 2025 have just been issued to all Champions who qualified. Your knowledge and positive energy keep the SmartBear Community vibrant and helpful. Thank you for everything you do. The community thrives because of you. Keep sharing, helping, and inspiring! 🙌 Thanks again! Doug and the SmartBear Community TeamResolve Old Threads
Champions can resolve old threads. Someone posted on a 12 year old threads today. Since it is slow today here I am resolving some old open threads. There must be 100's. If we pitch in together maybe we can clean it up. 🙂 SmartBear Community Rules | SmartBear Community Thread Resolution Guidelines To help keep our forums organized and valuable for future visitors, Community Champions and SmartBear staff may mark a response as the accepted solution if a thread shows no activity after 7 days and an answer appears to resolve the issue. If you return to your thread and feel that the marked response does not fully solve your problem, you are always welcome to unmark it as the solution and continue the conversation.Community Champion Rewards & Program Updates
Hello all! I hope you’re doing well and that your 2025 is off to a great start. I wanted to share some exciting updates we’ve made to the Community, aimed at boosting engagement and giving our Community Champions more ways to contribute and lead. Here are the two key changes: Q1/25 Community Champion Rewards and Promotions have been completed We've updated Champion levels based on Q1/25 activity and contributions, and rewards have been issued. Thanks again for all of your fantastic participation last quarter! Community Champions of all levels can now author technical articles. Previously, only Level 3 Champions had this ability. Now, Champions at Levels 1 through 3 can submit articles for review. Level 3 Champions will continue to have the option to publish directly without needing review. This opens the door for more diverse content and voices across our product spaces. Champions can now mark replies as solutions. To help keep the Community well-organized and up to date, Champions and SmartBear staff can now mark a reply as a solution when a thread has been inactive. This ensures helpful answers are more visible for others searching in the future. There are a few rules in place to guide this: Threads must be inactive for at least 7 days before a Champion or staff member marks a solution. The reply marked as a solution should clearly address the original question or problem. If the original poster or other members disagree, they are free to unmark the solution and continue the conversation. These changes are designed to make the Community more dynamic, helpful, and rewarding for everyone. As always, we welcome your feedback and look forward to seeing even more great contributions from all of you. We also have a bunch of new features and updates for the community in the coming weeks and months, so keep an eye out! Thank you for all of your contributions! You all are an important part of the SmartBear Community! - SmartBear Community Team
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Surviving Upgrades: How to Manage Change Across Test Automation Toolchains
4 MIN READ The Pain Point (a story we’ve all lived) It’s Friday afternoon, and your team is on the eleventh-hour push to ship a release. Everything has been working all week — the build is green, the smoke te...28Views2likes0Comments