Testing Templates in Oxygen Builder

Step by step

Oxygen templates - headers, footers, archive and single templates - are reused across many pages, so a change inside one is seen by a lot of visitors. You test the elements inside the template exactly the way you’d test elements on a page, and AB Split Test records the result everywhere the template is used.

1. Go to AB Split Test > New Test.
2. Give the test a name. This is internal only, so name it after what you’re changing - “Header CTA wording”, say.
3. Choose On Page Elements as the test type.
4. Pick your conversion goal. For a header or footer test this is usually Element Clicked, Link Clicked or a Page or Post Visit on the page the button leads to.
5. Click Start Test.
6. Edit your template in Oxygen.
7. Select the element you want to test - a heading, a button, a section, anything.
8. In the element’s settings you’ll find AB Test Name and Variation Name. Choose the test you just created, and give this version a variation name like original.
9. Duplicate the element, change it into your alternate version, and tag it with the same test and a different variation name - bold, for example.
10. Save the template. Both versions now live in the template, and each visitor sees one of them.

Add as many variations as you like by repeating steps 7 - 9. You need at least two for a test to run.

Watch your caching

Templates are usually the most heavily cached part of an Oxygen site. If you use a page cache, clear it after you save, and check that AB Split Test’s cache handling is switched on under Settings > Cache Clearing so your variations aren’t served from a stale copy.

Testing whole templates instead

If you want to test two entirely different templates rather than elements inside one, use a full page test and point it at the two pages.