Creating or Refreshing your Test Environment
Last updated: October 13, 2026
Summary
Next to your production environment, you can request a test environment. It's a good place to try out new settings, train new colleagues or build an integration without touching your live data. When a test environment gets out of date, it is also possible to refresh it (on request) with a partly copy of your current production setup.
Creating a Test Environment
Test vs Production Environment
A test environment is a separate Eduframe environment. Changes made on the test environment will not affect your production environment by default.
A test environment runs on the same platform, with the same security as your production environment. Furthermore, it's covered by your existing data processing agreement with us. A refresh never copies objects that are functionally related to Personally Identifiable Information (PII), like for example Contacts, Enrollments, Invoices, from the production environment to your test environment.
Access
Your test environment has its own users, so having an account in production does not give you access to a test environment automatically. After creating a test environment for you, we create the first administrator for you. That person can then invite colleagues the same way as in production. More information can be found in Administrators.
New features
After a refresh, your test environment has the same features switched on as production. If you'd like to try a feature before it goes live for you, contact support and we'll enable the feature on your test environment. Keep in mind that the next refresh turns it off again.
Refreshing a Test Environment
Over time, your test environment drifts away from production. A refresh fixes that. We first empty the test environment and then copy your current production setup into it. Your production environment is never changed.
To request a refresh of your test environment, reach out to us.
What happens to your data?
Notes:
Objects that are functionally related to Personally Identifiable Information (PII) - participants, contacts, teachers, enrollments, orders, invoices, signup answers - will never be copied and stay in the production environment only.
A refresh copies the set up of your production environment and no Personally Identifiable Information.
However, this only counts if personal data is stored in the objects where it belongs, e.g. a teacher name should be stored in the 'teacher name' field and not in a course tab or custom field.
The table below shows more details on what happens to everything else:
✅ Copied from production (setup only, no real data) | 🗑 Removed from the test environment | 🔒 Left as it is in the test environment |
|---|---|---|
Your catalog: course templates, programs and categories | Course and program editions, meetings and planning | Users and their logins, including single sign-on |
Course settings, such as variants, locations, materials | Enrollments, orders, invoices, payments and leads | Contacts and organizations |
Templates for emails, certificates, meetings and planning | Grades, attendance and certificates | Integrations, such as payment providers, LMS, webhooks and plugins |
Custom fields, signup forms and discount codes | Sent and scheduled emails | Company details, email settings and tracking codes |
Roles, permissions and enabled features | Uploaded files and your custom theme (logo, colours) | Invoice and student number sequences |
General settings, such as invoicing, payment options, language and time zone | Tasks, comments and API access tokens |
Need to know exactly what is copied? Ask support and we'll send you the full list.
Warning: You can't undo a refresh. Anything you changed only in the test environment since the last refresh will be gone.
Before and after a refresh
Before you ask for a refresh, write down which roles your administrators have, and save anything in the test environment you want to keep. Everyone keeps their login, but all roles except the main administrator role are removed.
After the refresh, there are a few things to do:
Assign your administrators their roles again (see Administrators).
Set up your branding again, because your logo and colours aren't copied (see How to set up your brand identity in Eduframe).
Create new API access tokens for any integration that uses the Eduframe API. The old tokens are removed.
What happens with Emails?
Note: Emails are switched on in a new test environment by default. On a refresh it retains its settings from before.
Because a refresh copies your email templates and triggers, contacts in your test environment can receive real emails, for example when you test an enrollment. To stop all emails, go to Settings → Account settings and select Disable emails. More information can be found in Account settings.
What happens with Integrations and API Connections?
Your production integrations are never copied to or connected with the test environment. Your LMS, payment provider and accounting software in production won't notice anything you do there.
You only need to set up integrations in the test environment once, except API access tokens. Every refresh removes them, so integrations built on the Eduframe API need a new token afterwards. The other settings, such as the LMS connection, payment provider, plugins and webhooks, stay in place after a refresh.
Tip: Use test or sandbox credentials where your provider offers them, especially for payments.