I was just thinking about thisā¦ They may send an invoice and then if the tester doesnāt pay they can dispute it with PayPal? 
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you were a nice tester thx
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Thanks
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I know this is old now, and everyone has probably figured their system by now, but hereās mine.
I have a handful of testers I trust and communicate with well, I ask them first. Then I post a tester call and bury a message in the requirements.
I filter out replies that do not include the specific instructions in the tester call, like a gif or a phrase. Next step, each tester gets sent a message (right now Iām doing a group thing) they have 24 hours to respond or they get cut. Then the pattern goes out, blocked. They have 24 hours to get a journal started or they get cut. then it gets released in parts from there, with cuts made along the way for those that donāt participate. This has been working for me so far, and keeps everyone focused and engaged (Including myself)
From my last call, I wanted four. I accepted 12, I ended up with 5 actually starting the test.
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Testing for you has been great so far! Definitely a good way to narrow down good testers ive had some that just dont respond at all and its always so annyoing
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I would love that, im having trouble right now with a few testers not responding at all and id love people to know that im trustworthy for testing
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I think all your ideas are great, I was just curious how you like decide on a timeline thing for releasing it in parts? Like I havenāt used the block view from here function yet for testing because itās always difficult for me to organize it
Like some testers will finish it in 1 day and others in 1 week and then it would be either keeping 1 behind or just having pattern open if that makes sense?
But then a while ago I kinda partly regretted not using it, like had 2 testers and one finished super quick, like 1-2 days right after I gave them the pattern, and the other still hadnāt finished it after 3 weeks past deadline even though I tried to keep asking for pictures and such (like I got replies but no pictures), so that just kinda left a bad feeling because it wasnāt a big pattern and could have easily be copied in that time
It would be nice to adjust that hiding part of pattern function per tester I think
since I usually have one tester doing multiple patterns, it isnāt as big a problem, but right now I have a group. I definitely lock it till I get the journal entry with the yarn they plan to use and I set a time limit for that. My current project required people to purchase yarn, so they had a longer time limit. Opening a journal takes the least amount of time and effort and should be done in 24 hrs. I send to all my testers at the same time so they all have the same time frame and they can all be cut at the same time and Iāll just look for more. After that, the size of the pattern and time it will take to get it done will decide where the blocks go, if any. And I specify the deadline in advance. I understand ālife happensā and if someone was giving me regular updates and something suddenly happened, that ia completely different than someone that didnāt communicate and wanted more time at the last minute or someone that has other makes going up in the time they were supposed to be working on your project. Itās up to you on how strict you want to be.
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Ohh that does make sense, I think Iāll try to do something similar with the journals and time limit or kick from pattern
Maybe lock parts like the assembly until most people are making progress (since most of my patterns are amigurumi)
Usually I try to be considerate of the life happens stuff, because I really struggle with stuff sometimes myself but just lucky I usually test when everything goes okay for a while. But then still clear communication with testers is nice
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and for goodness sakes, donāt take on multiple patterns that all have short time limits and then beg for extensionsā¦ they know what they did
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Yeahh definitely good advice, I usually just test 1 or at most 2 at the same time, doesnāt really matter short or long time deadlines, I just donāt have the skills to properly prioritize when working on lots at same time and overwhelming
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I love this idea, i always feel bad asking for testers but it also seems quite rude to obtain a spot in someones tester pool to ignore them and never give feedbackā¦
Especially when one of my testers told me they were going to change my pattern and asked if I wanted to collabā¦Now no shade to said person, but it was very discerning to see someone was taking my pattern and changing it- Even if it is a free patternā¦I wanted to put a deadline on boo-beary but I felt as though that was rude because life gets busyā¦But I released boo-beary having not heard from at least half my testers, no progress, no photos, no feedback, just an āim startingā IF thatā¦And to my testers who went above and beyond and helped me till the end despite the issues in the pattern are literally the BEST people out there!! And I cant repay them enoughā¦I donāt want to be shady, they dont owe me anything as they volunteered free labor, but itās not polite.
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Exactly! I dont want to be mean, and kick someone out, but I also canāt continue to only have testers I never hear from
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I had a person ask to test and then told me that they rewrote my pattern for me āno chargeā and then bugged the crap out of me with wanting to send me files that I couldnāt open, instead of just opening a journal to show me the finished item. In the end I told them that I appreciate the effort but I think itās best we part ways and call it even.
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I appreciate that people get busy, and I am getting a free service from themā¦ but they made a deal and didnāt live up to it. I donāt feel bad about it at all
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No charge? Id love to know where they felt entitled to charge you, for your pattern 
, minus 1 or 2 things they found āunnecessaryā the audacity people have where they think someones intricate hard work is up for grabs as their ownā¦
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in the end, they refused to open a journal, I never saw a finish project, they gave me no feedback on the pattern and the files they sent me could not be opened in ribblr messaging. this went on for 2 days of me telling them to start the journal and them telling me that they donāt have to because their notes were in the file and me telling them that the file can not be opened just tell me what the problem was and them telling me that itās ok if I didn;t want to use their edited version because they werenāt going to charge me for it anyway but they thought it needed to be reformatted, and me telling them that I liked my pattern the way it was and that the program does the formatting and I canāt use their pattern because I can open the file can they please start a journal and round and round and round and they actually seemed irritated that I let them go
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I just saw this post for the first time. Iām still sick, yet still trying to work on my testing, even though Iām struggling on and off with a fever. Iāve been communicating with the designers as much as I can (I actually had taken an extra small one testing that should be done fast) and I usually take way too many pictures and communicate way too much, I feel I bug them and wonder if they roll their eyes when they see " oh my, itās another message from her AGAIN". I do sent notes when I notice something and Iām so afraid to offend the designer because Iām a complete beginner, but itās mostly grammar, pointing out they forgot to list something, maybe the explanation was not clear, but Iād never just say : "I can do your pattern better. "(If thatās the case, instead of being a tester just become a designer, right? And just disappearing is so dishonest. There are a lot of patterns Iād love to test but I know itās beyond what I can do. Lots that I wish I could afford the pattern but I know I donāt have the materials or the time to do. I know I will have to buy them later and I know I wonāt be able to afford them easily, but I DONāT offer to test to get the pattern because I know I wonāt finish it. Right now I am just happy my fever is down so I can be here catching up with some posts and social media, with my fluffy yarn in my quiet room and have time and the brains to work on my happy zen for a few hours. 
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Of all the testers your feedback as a brand new beginner is very valuable especially if the designer wants to market pattern to beginners.
Sweetie, so sorry youāre sick. I can imagine, I was sick for almost 2 years. But I hear ya, ājust feel better so I can do my crochet-even if just a little bit!ā
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