Google Website Optimizer v 1.0 The Techie Guide - Manual (Page 17)

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The Techie Guide to Google Website Optimizer
Non-Standard Experiments
For example, if the page is: http://dev.mysite.com/product_page.php?pid=123
...and the preview URL looks like this:
http://de v.mysite.com/product_page.php?pid=123#utmxid=EAAAACmLHKpzyPXnHnp
og9gHi14;utmxpreview=0-0-0;utmxreload=1
You can just switch the domain name to test it in production:
http://ww w.mysite.com/product_page.php?pid=123#utmxid=EAAAACmLHKpzyPXnHnp
og9gHi14;utmxpreview=0-0-0;utmxreload=1
Once you’re happy with the preview in production, you can just launch the experiment, and then test the
pages in production (without the preview string, of course). http://ww w.mysite.com/product_page.
php?pid=123
Previewing Inaccessible Pages
In some circumstances, you won’t be able to use the preview feature to view your test page combinations.
For example, if your test page is password protected, part of a checkout process, or session-specific, Website
Optimizer may not be able to access your test page for previewing.
However, you can still preview your page manually. Launch your browser and navigate to your test page,
taking whatever steps are required to get to your actual test page URL (such as entering a password or going
through a checkout process).
Once you’re viewing the test page, you can modify the URL in the browser’s address field to view a
specific combination. Append the following string to the test page URL: #utmxid=Experiment_
ID;utmxpreview=Combination.
Most browsers won’t reload a page if the only difference in the URL is the anchor string. Here’s an example:
If you visit a page with this URL: http://www.mysite.com/page.html#string_a
...and then go to a URL where the only difference is the anchor string, like this: http://ww w.mysite.com/page.
html#string_b
...the browser won’t try to load the page from the server, but will use the local cached version. This means
you might not see the correct version in the preview.
The solution is to simply force a reload of the page after you’ve updated the URL. To do so, hit CTRL+F5.
This works on all major browsers on the PC. On a Mac, hit Command + Shift + R.