Quality Assurance Specialist Training Manual

welcome to the team

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PROCESSES AND BEST PRACTICES

Welcome

Welcome to SalesLabX! We’re thrilled to have you be part of our growing team. This training manual will give you an overview of what it means to be a Quality Assurance Specialist at SLX, provide essentials steps for your onboarding process, as well as serve as a reference you can use throughout your time with us.

What SalesLabX Does

You might be wondering just what the heck our company does exactly. For the most part, we exist because Pardot and Salesforce are very prevalent tools in the B2B marketing space, but they are quite complicated for the average user. We happen to specialize in marketing using these platforms! Pardot and Salesforce are extremely powerful sales and marketing tools that allow companies to manage and nurture prospective and existing customers and to apply automated targeted marketing strategies to those contacts. There are almost limitless ways to use this software to increase a company’s audience reach and sales, but the tool isn’t always very user-friendly or stylish.  Many companies get locked into a contract with Pardot/SF and their marketing teams lack the technical knowledge to take full advantage of the tool. 

This is where SLX comes in. We provide Pardot and Salesforce strategy consulting and execution, as well as access to talented coders and designers that can make communications from Pardot and Salesforce look exponentially more professional and sleek than what a typical marketing employee using the interface could do on their own.  There are other companies in the market that offer similar services, but typically they are very expensive, have long turnaround times, and involve lots of scope creep and friction. Our advantage comes from the fact that we offer unlimited access to these resources on a subscription based model to eliminate friction and scope creep. We bring companies’ marketing goals and ideas to fruition in what feels like a magically convenient way. The goal is to make them feel like our product (the SLX subscription) is custom-built for them by integrating seamlessly into their strategy and workflow so well that they can’t imagine doing it without us.

What You'll Do

As a QA Specialist you have the responsibility of reviewing and checking all the assets created by our lovely production team to ensure they are of the highest possible quality for our clients.  After all, human error is inevitable, but we’d like our partners to remain blissfully unaware of that!

Who You'll Be Working With

Your Department Lead is Kristina Doan, Director of Account Partnerships, kristina.doan@saleslabx.com.

Your Team Lead is Shan Koay, Head of People and Internal Operations, shan.koay@saleslabx.com

Check out our organization chart on Gusto to see everyone at SLX!

How to View our SLX Org Chart:

  1. Login to Gusto with your personal credentials.
  2. In the left-hand column, please click on the “People” header.
  3. Under the “People” header, there are three subheadings, please click on the “Org chart” subheading.
  4. Under the “Org Chart” subheading, there are a few buttons to customize how you view the chart.
    1. Click on the “Expand All” button to see all departments, teams, and team members!
    2. If the entire org chart is too far away to read, utilize the “Zoom to fit” button or use the “+” or “-” buttons for a more customized view of the chart.

Feedback for Leadership: Feel free to request a chat with leadership any time. You will also have monthly one on one meetings with your team lead to check in and discuss your progress, go over suggestions/requests you may have, etc.



Step 1: Google Account

Here at SLX, we use Google Suite as our main communication and organization platform. The first step is to set up your Gmail account settings:

  1. Open your personal email inbox. You should have received an email from Gusto titled “You have a new Google Workspace account with SalesLabX Co”.
  2. Open this email and click ‘Set up Google Workspace account’
  3. This will bring you to your Gusto account with your login and temporary password. Use these to login to your new Google account.
  4. From there, you’ll be able to view your inbox and calendar. The calendar will have links to upcoming meetings, including your first meeting.
 
Download Google Chrome
We also use Google Chrome as our browser. Please download Google Chrome.
 

Enable Screen Sharing and Recording

  1. Go to System Preferences on your Mac > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Screen Recording.
  2. Click on the lock icon on the bottom left to make changes.
  3. Check the box next to the Google Chrome browser to permit it to share the contents of your screen. 
  4. Click on the lock icon again to lock your selection in.

     Note: If Loom or screen sharing is not working, you will need to enable screen sharing and recording again.

Recommended Bookmarked Sites:

  1. NordPass – access all SLX logins
  2. Log into Asana and bookmark “My Tasks”
  3. Figjam  – For viewing design proofs
  4. Time Zone Converter – Used when reviewing client email sends and social posts
  5. Multi Screen Test – Responsive webpage testing

Recommended Chrome Plugins:

  1. Go Full Page – Full Page Screencapture Tool
  2. Eyedropper – Sample the exact color with hex code from any webpage
  3. Language Tool – For spelling and grammar checks! Be sure to toggle on ‘Picky Mode’ once this extension is downloaded.

Step 2: Google Calendar

At SLX, we use Google calendar to display all team huddles, internal events (such as Happy Hours, Learning Labs, etc), and sessions with fellow teammates. Access your calendar here or by opening your browser window and clicking on Google Calendar (see screenshot below).

How to View Other Team Members’ Calendars:

  1. Go to your Google calendar
  2. On the left panel next to “Other calendars” click “+” 
  3. Click “Subscribe to calendar” 
  4. Start typing in the name of the person whose calendar you want to add (when you start typing, names should automatically pop up).
  5. Click on their name and you’ll see that their calendar has been added to “Other calendars” on the left panel
  6. Now you’ll be able to check the box next to their name to see their calendar.
  7. We recommend doing this for all team members. Refer to the ‘All-Team Huddle’ calendar invite to see the names of all team members.
 

How to Schedule Internal Meetings with Team Members:

  1. Check their calendar on Google calendar
  2. Create an invite within an available time slot. When creating the invite, be sure to:
    1. Name your meeting accordingly (keep it short and simple). A suggested meeting name is “Your Name + Their Name Meeting
    2. Click on “Add Google Meet video conferencing”
    3. Add their email under ‘Add guests’ so they get an invitation/notification
 

Sharing Your Calendar with HR and Your Team Lead:

In case of an emergency time off, our HR (People Ops) team or your team lead will need access to your calendar to set your Out of Office notice and inform your clients. Please share your calendar with hr@saleslabx.com and your team lead. Here’s how to do so:

  1. Go to your calendar
  2. Locate your name on the left panel under ‘My Calendars’
  3. Click on the 3 dots next to your name
  4. Click on ‘Settings and Sharing’
  5. Under ‘Share with specific people’, click on ‘+ Add people’
  6. Enter hr@saleslabx.com and change the permissions to ‘Make changes and manage sharing’
  7. Repeat to enter your team lead’s email

 

Calendar Best Practices

  1. Check your calendar daily so that you are aware of the meetings you need to attend. We recommend checking it at the start of each day, then a few times throughout as needed.
  2. It can also be helpful to sync your calendar with your iCloud calendar on your laptop.
  3. When you are invited to a session by another teammate, you’ll receive an email notifying you of the event.  It’s important to always RSVP “Yes” to all event invites so that they will display on your calendar and notify you when it’s time to join.
  4. In addition to RSVPing, you will want to make sure that notifications are enabled.  You can turn on desktop notifications for events by clicking the gear symbol at the top right of your calendar and choosing “Settings.”  Then scroll down to Notification Settings and enable desktop notifications.  You can also configure your snooze settings here.  Now you’ll see a small pop-up at the top right of your screen a few minutes before any meeting you’ve RSVP’d to.
Google Calendar Settings
GCal Notification Settings

When you take time off, you’ll be asked to create an “Out of Office” Event in Google Calendar.  Here’s a quick video showing how to do that.  For more info about our PTO policy, please visit the SLX Perks & Policies page.

Step 3: Gmail

Setting Up Your Email Signature

  1. You will need to receive your SLX signature from the People Ops team first before you can do this step. You’ll be notified in Asana once this signature is available. The signature will be in the form of an HTML file.
  2. From your Gmail, click on the wheel icon on the top right and select ‘See all settings’ 
  3. Locate the ‘Signature’ section
  4. Click ‘+ Create New’ signature and enter your name. Click ‘Create’. Keep this tab open.
  5. Return to the HTML signature file. To use it, double click to open the file. This should open in your browser. Highlight everything (or do command+A), then paste it into your Gmail signature area under email settings.
  6. Make sure that the Signature defaults ‘For new emails use’ and ‘On reply/forward use’ are set to the signature you just set up (see below screenshot)
  7. Make sure to check off the ‘Insert signature before quoted text in replies and remove “—“ line that precedes it” box (see below screenshot)
  8. Click ‘Compose’ on the top left to test and see if your new signature displays correctly

Email Best Practices

  • Check your email inbox first thing in the morning, and throughout the day
  • Do your best to respond to emails within 24 hours
  • Keep communication professional
  • Always check the recipients and email subject when you forward emails

Step 4: Google Drive

File Management:

We use Google Drive as our main file storage and sharing system.

To use the Shared Google Drive you’ll need to be invited to SLX’s team.  If you are unable to access it, please ask your trainer to invite you.  Once you have access to the shared drive, you will need to download the Google Drive sync for desktop:

  • From the link above, scroll down until you see “Get Started with Google Drive for desktop” – click to expand
  • Then, click on “Download for Mac” (see image below) and follow the instructions provided.

If Drive is installed correctly, you’ll be able to see ‘Google Drive’ on your left navigation panel when you open up your Finder window (see screenshot below).

Sharing Files Internally

  1. Open the file or folder you want to share 
  2. Click on the green ‘Share’ button on the top right and a pop up will appear
  3. Enter the teammate’s email and click ‘Save’

Step 5: Google Chat

At SLX, Google Chats is used for 1:1 and group communication! While you can access Gchat from your Gmail inbox, we recommend downloading the desktop app for a better user experience. Communication here at SLX is very open as we work collaboratively with all other teams on a daily basis. Use Google Chat to message teammates to connect about tasks, ask questions, hop on a quick call, or get to know one another!

Follow these instructions to download the desktop app.

Inviting Someone to Chat

  1. Open the app
  2. On the top left under ‘Chat’, Click on the ‘+’ sign to start searching for a team member’s name
  3. Click on their name to begin sending messages
  4. We require you to keep the chat open for team members to contact you directly throughout the workday.
 

Inviting Someone to Connect Via Google Hangouts

Sometimes, it’s faster to hop on a quick call to discuss a task or get a question answered. Within your chat box, you have the option of sending a Google Hangouts (video) link. Click on the camera icon as shown below.

A Google Hangouts link will auto generate as shown below. Press enter to send the link to your teammate. Hop in the link to chat with them!

Groups

Upon joining the team, you’ll be added to the following internal chat groups:

  • Announcements: A one-way chat used by leadership to make team-wide announcements. Please do not reply to anything in this chat.
    Get Down to Business: Everyone at SLX, including all leadership  |  Used for task related announcements and questions that concern everyone.
  • Break Room: Everyone at SLX, including all leadership  |  Used for fun banter and other non work related convos.  Bring the memes!
  • CreativesEveryone in the Creative Department, including Developers, Designers, Content Writers, and QA
 

You will also be added to your respective team huddle group and a few others along the way.

Here’s a Cheat Sheet for all the different SLX Chat channels.
 

Chat Notifications and Settings

Click on the wheel icon on the top right of your app to manage chat settings. Learn more about Google Chat Notifications here.

Google Chat Best Practices

  • Keep Google Chat open daily as team members will be reaching out to you throughout the day
  • Have a quick question about a task? Ping teammates to hop on a quick call by sending them a Google Hangout link
  • Before sending a Google Hangout link, make sure your teammate is available to hop on a call with you first by checking their calendar.
  • To direct your message to a specific teammate within a group chat, type @ and enter their name
  • To notify everyone (use very sparingly, only as needed), you can @all
  • Learn more about Google Chat features here

Step 6: NordPass

NordPass is our password manager tool and is used to store login information for internal platforms and clients’ accounts. You’ll be invited to join NordPass on your first day. Click below to read our NordPass Guide, including how to set up your account and use the tool. Do not move onto Step 7 until you have completed all the steps in the NordPass Guide.

Step 7: Google Profiles for Yourself and Clients

You will be working in different Pardot environments for each of our clients. All clients have separate Salesforce accounts that you will need to log into frequently to access Pardot and complete tasks. Some accounts will also have a WordPress website that we manage, and/or social media accounts. The best way to keep these accounts and their separate login credentials organized is to create separate Google Chrome Profiles for each account. But first, let’s make sure your personal Chrome profile is set up correctly and that you can access the shared Design email (read below for why this is important).

How to Set Up Your Chrome Profile

  • Open a new Google Chrome browser window. Make sure that you are signed into Google. If you are signed in correct, you will see your profile picture or initial of your first name on the top right of the browser (see screenshot below), as well as your email address when you hover over your photo.
  • Download the NordPass Chrome extension on this profile, and disable Google’s Password Management tool. Refer back to the NordPass Guide for more details on how to do these.
  • Your Google Chrome profile is your main working profile. You’ll use this profile to access any internal tools and non-client related sites. 

 

How to Sign Into the Design Gmail 

The design@saleslabx.com Gmail is a shared inbox for everyone at SLX. This is where you can locate all client Salesforce verification codes. You’ll need to set this up before setting up Chrome profiles for clients. To do this:

  1. Click on your larger profile photo on the top right of your browser, and select ’Add another account’. Then click on ‘User another account’.
  2. Enter the email as design@saleslabx.com and click ‘Next’. 
  3. On the ‘Enter your password’ screen, use your NordPass Chrome extension to search for “SalesLabx – Design Gmail”. Click on the fill button to populate the password for the email. This should sign you into the Design@saleslabx.com email. 
  4. Open Google Chrome and select the Design Profile from the profile options.
  5. When prompted to sign in, enter the Design account email and password.
  6. Google may ask for a verification code to confirm your identity.

    • If prompted with a screen that says a code was sent to an iPad, choose “Try another way.”

    • Select the option to send the code to a phone instead.

  7. Contact HR (Stephen Chung) via message to obtain the verification code sent to the phone.

  8. Enter the code to complete the sign-in process. Once successfully signed in, you’ll know you’re in the correct profile when you see the blue “D” avatar in the top-right corner of your Chrome browser window.

How to Set Up Account Profiles in Chrome:

Now that you have your personal Chrome profile set up and can access the shared Design Gmail, you can set up Google profiles for all clients. Follow the written steps below or refer to the instructional video:

  1. Open up the Account Ownership Google Doc and click on the ‘Active Accounts’ tab. Here you’ll see a list of all our current clients. You will need to create a Google profile for each client.
  2. Go to your smaller profile pic on the very top right of your screen and click on it.
  3. Click on ‘+ Add’ and select ‘Continue without an account’.
  4. Enter in the name of the first account/client.
  5. Select an avatar or pick a theme color (we recommend selecting one that includes their brand colors if possible) and click ‘Done’.
  6. Follow the NordPass Guide steps to disable Google’s Password Management tool and add the NordPass extension.
  7. Once the extension is installed, login to your NordPass account through the extension.
  8. In the extension search bar, type in the client’s name (company name) you just created the new Google Chrome Profile for. Here you’ll be able to find your client’s managed accounts and the relevant login credentials for each.
  9. Launch each client’s related login from the extension and try to log into the account.
  10. Since this is your first time logging in, Salesforce will prompt you to enter a verification code. You can retrieve this code by going to our design@saleslabx.com email inbox.
    1. Login to the design@saleslabx.com inbox
    2. Retrieve the Salesforce verification code from the email inbox titled “Verify your identify in Salesforce”.
    3. Enter this code into the Salesforce login page that was asking you for the code. Moving forward, you shouldn’t need to get the verification code again to login unless the password is changed for the account.
    4. You should now be logged into the client’s Salesforce account! Pardot can be accessed through Salesforce as well.
    5. Repeat the above steps to create a Google Chrome Profile for each account.
    6. Note: For some clients, the verification does not go to the design@saleslabx.com inbox. Instead, you’ll be able to find the number code through an online authenticator on the design@saleslabx.com Chrome Profile. To locate this authenticator:
      1.  Open your design@saleslabx.com Chrome Profile.
      2. Click on the small ‘D’ on the top right, and make sure that it says ‘Sync is on’ on the top. If it does not, turn on the sync.
      3. Once synced, you will see a small QR code icon appear on the top right of the menu bar. This is the authenticator. Click on it to reveal all the verification codes for various client accounts. Click on the number to copy the verification code. Important: DO NOT delete any of these clients or codes from the authenticator, as these are shared by the entire team.

Step 8: Asana

Asana is our main project management tool, used to organize, track, and manage tasks. You’ll be working in Asana on a daily basis. If you’re not familiar with the basics of Asana, please begin by reviewing the below guides and tutorial videos:

  1. Understanding the Basics
  2. Intro to Projects
  3. Calendar View in Asana
 
Looking to learn more about the platform features? There are tons of other short articles, helpful tips, and tutorials available on the Asana Guide page.

How We Use Asana

We have both internal and client-facing Asana boards for each account. The internal boards are what the Design, Salesforce, Development, and Pardot teams see. The client-facing boards are what the clients see. Only Account Coordinators have access to manage both boards.

  1. Clients: Clients submit “tickets” through building out a task card
  2. Account Coordinators: Review client “tickets” (tasks), submit these requests over to the internal boards, and assign them to our teams to work on. When tasks are completed, ACs will communicate this to the client
  3. Design, Development, Pardot, and Salesforce Teams: Review the tasks ACs have assigned, complete the task, make edits as needed, and post updates for ACs
  4. QA Specialist: Review the assets that internal team members create for consistency, accuracy, and quality. You will point out errors and inform our internal team of changes needed.
 
In our Processes section of this manual, we’ll dive deeper into the various processes we use.


Main Asana Features

Teams, projects, and tasks are the key to our workflow in Asana. Here’s how they look using the Calendar view.

Asana Calendar View

Learn more about Asana’s calendar view here.

Asana Teams 

At SLX, we use Teams a little differently. Teams are used to organize a set of projects (boards). You will be added to the relevant teams during your on-boarding process and can access them through your left navigation bar under ‘Teams’. 

  • Internally, teams are used to organized internal client boards for Creative and Salesforce teams. Internal teams are not be shared with clients. Here’s a list of internal teams:
    • SLX Internal: For internal projects
    • SLX Creative Team: Where we assign client tasks to our Creative team members
    • SLX Salesforce Team:  Where we assign client tasks to our Salesforce team members
    • SLX TEMPLATE Team: Where all of our internal project templates are stored
  • Externally, each client is their own ‘Team’. Client teams are made up of individual boards for each service they have with us (Salesforce, Pardot, WordPress, etc).  External teams are not to be shared with internal team members, only with ACs and the relevant account contacts, so you will generally not see these.
Asana Kanban Board View

Asana Projects (also known as Boards)

Projects are created under teams. A team can have multiple projects. Each client account has their own project, also referred to as boards. We have internal boards and external boards. Internal boards are accessed by our internal teams. And external boards are accessed by our clients. As an AC, you will work daily in boards to manage tasks, set deadlines, communicate with clients, and collaborate with other internal team members.

Asana Parent Task
Asana Parent Task
Asana Subtask
Asana Subtask

Task Cards

Tasks are essentially our “tickets”. Clients request tasks and it is the job of the ACs to help clients to accomplish their requests by building out the task on the internal board in Asana, where it can then be assigned to you and your teammates.

  • Columns: Help us organize and visualize how many tasks are on the board and what stages they are in when using Kanban Board view.
 
  • Parent tasks and subtasks: Within a task, we can easily create subtasks. Subtasks help to organize multiple steps (often separate tasks) within a larger task. You can quickly tell if you are looking at a subtask or main task by looking at the top of the task for a grey link back to the parent task. If there is one, you’re looking at a subtask.  If you’re looking at a main task, you’ll see no grey link at the top, but you will see a list of subtasks below the description

Task Fields
Within task cards, the standard fields we use are:

  • Assignee: To assign the task to a specific person who will be responsible for the work
  • Due Date: Indicates the task’s due date.  If a due date is specified as a date range, you have until the end of that range to complete the project.
  • Projects: Indicates which project the board is part of, and therefore the client name
  • Dependencies: These set the relationships among tasks and determine the order in which tasks need to be performed. You can prevent certain tasks from happening until a task prior is completed first. Read here to learn more about this.
  • Approved Design Proof: This field is for ACs to include final approved Figjam project links for the creative team
  • Asana Project Link: This field is for ACs to include the direct Asana link to the matching task on the client-facing board.  You do not need to worry about this.
  • Status: Indicates what status the task is in. Though columns give us a general idea, statuses provide more detail.
  • Priority: Used on internal boards to identify how urgent a task is. This is set by ACs and helps our internal team prioritize their time and know which tasks to work on first.
  • Description: The description box is where we enter details about the task. On the client facing side, clients will enter details about their requests here. On the internal side, ACs will translate client’s requests into more detailed steps for our team members.

In general, these fields are almost always updated by ACs and Team Leads, so you will not be responsible for configuring or updating them.

Mentions and Collaborators

  • Mentions: You can draw someone’s attention to a task by using the @ and typing in their name in task comments or task description.
    • They will be notified in their inbox and email (if email notifications are on) and can quickly navigate directly to the specific task. @mentioning someone will also automatically add them as a collaborator on the task.  Be careful to select your teammates name and not one of our clients! (Check for @saleslabx.com in their email)
    • In order for a task to appear on a person’s calendar, it must be assigned to them and have a due date of today.  When submitting tasks for approval, you should both assign the task to the person who will be approving, as well as tag them in your comment by typing “@TheirName” in the comment box.  This ensures the comment will appear in their inbox so they can respond to you promptly.

 

  • Collaborators: Task collaborators are people that need to be informed about the task and any updates/changes to the task. On the client-facing boards, this is usually the AC, the team lead, and the relevant account contacts. On the internal boards, this is usually the AC and the relevant internal team member(s).
    • You can easily add collaborators by clicking on the + button at the bottom of the task where you see ‘Collaborators’. As mentioned earlier, if you @mentioning someone in a comment, they will automatically be added as a collaborator on the task as well.

Watch our video below to learn more about Mentions and Collaborators.

Asana Inbox

Your Inbox is where you will receive notifications about recent activity on tasks you are involved in. It’s important to check your Asana inbox regularly throughout the day so you don’t miss updates or approvals. To learn more about Asana Inbox watch the tutorial below and read this guide.

  • Check your email notifications or your Inbox in Asana frequently to see what tasks are waiting for approval, received updates, or need further action. 
  • Skim inbox to see if there are quick edit tasks you can review/approve before you move to the next full task.
  • You may also prefer to disable email notifications so your gmail inbox doesn’t get clogged with Asana updates.  Configure Asana settings by clicking your avatar at the top right of your screen in Asana and selecting “My Settings.
  • We recommend setting your Asana inbox notifications to filter @Mentioned only so you only see activity directly related to you.
  • In order to reconfigure your inbox settings to only show messages or updates that mention you, do the following steps:
    • On the Inbox main page, click on the “Filter” subheaders and select “@Mentioned”
    • Your inbox should automatically update, if it doesn’t, refresh your page.

How to Update Task Templates in Asana:

As part of your duties, you may be asked to help maintain QA checklists as we update our process and learn about client quirks. To do this, you will need to access the Asana task templates. 

On the left sidebar under SLX Creative Team you will see all client boards.  Each one must be updated separately.

To access each client board’s task templates, click the client board and then click “Customize” at the top right to open the Task Templates area.

Scroll down within the column and click “See more templates” to view all Task Templates for that client board.  Asana allows up to ten different templates per board.  You’ll usually find one for List Emails, one for Email Templates, one for Landing Pages, and one for entire Campaigns which can contain multiple emails and landing pages.

You will need to click into each task template individually to update the template. Once you click into the task template you will see all the subtasks, including the QA REVIEW subtask where your checklist lives.  You can edit the checklist by typing in the task description for the QA REVIEW subtask within that task template.

Questions/issues with a task in Asana? 

Message your Team Lead + the appropriate AC in a group chat to keep them both in the loop. We recommend setting a reminder for yourself at 2:00pm to check in with your to-do list and make sure you are on track to finish everything that’s due by the end of the business day.

Not sure which AC is associated with which account(s)?  Check the Collaborators listed at the bottom of the Asana card, or check out this handy dandy spreadsheet: SLX Account Ownership

Step 9: Everhour

Everhour is a time tracking tool that integrates with Asana. With Everhour, you can track how much time you spend on each task. We use Everhour to collect baseline data, including which parts of your role could be made more efficient, what types of tasks are the most time consuming, and which accounts are monopolizing your time. Our goal is to help you as an AC better balance your workload, expand your bandwidth, improve productivity, and better manage client expectations. Everhour helps us collect the data we need to make informed decisions.

How to Access Everhour and Integrate it with Asana

  • You should have received an email invitation to join Everhour and set up an account. Please follow the instructions provided in the email to connect Everhour with your Asana! You will be prompted to connect your Asana account during the sign-up flow. To do this, you need to hit ‘Asana’ button (see screenshot below) and let Everhour do the rest, step-by-step. 
  • When you connect Asana with Everhour, all your active projects will be synchronized automatically meaning that you can start tracking time right away. No manual project setup required! 
 
  • You will also be prompted to download the Everhour Google Chrome plugin. Please be sure to pin the Chrome extension to your browser bar so that it is visible (see screenshots below):
    • Click on the puzzle piece icon in the top right corner of your browser
    • Then locate ‘Everhour’ and click on the pin icon
    • The pin icon will turn blue, and a green play button should appear on your browser bar
    • From here, you can easily see if you have a timer going or not. You can also stop/start a timer easily from this plugin.
everhour plugin
How to Use Everhour in Asana (Basics)
  • When Everhour is integrated with Asana, you should see a green “Start Timer” button on all tasks. See screenshot below.
Screen Shot 2021-08-06 at 4.59.39 PM
  • Simply click on this button to start tracking time for your task. The button will become a red “Stop” button and a timer will begin. See screenshot below.
Screen Shot 2021-08-06 at 5.02.41 PM
  • To stop the timer, hit the “Stop” button and it will become a yellow “Continue” button. See screenshot below. If you wish to continue working on the task at a later time, click on “Continue” to start the timer again. 
Screen Shot 2021-08-06 at 5.04.42 PM

How to use Everhour (and Best Practices)

  • General use:
    • Use Everhour when working on a task in Asana. 
    • If you are working on a specific subtask, start the timer on the specific subtask, not the parent task.
    • Remember to start the timer as soon as you start working on the task. 
    • Stop the timer when you stop working on the task. 
    • Don’t let the timer max out: But if you accidentally do, you can manually update the data to reflect a more accurate time.
    • Do use the Chrome plugin for quickly starting/stopping/pausing/resuming a recent task: Keep an eye on whether the browser icon is red or green periodically to make sure you’re tracking time when you’re working on stuff OR not tracking time whenever you are not.
    • If you are working on the same task but on internal and external cards at the same time, start the timer on the task card where you are spending the most time.
    • You do not need to stop your timer if pausing to respond briefly to a message in Google Chats if it takes less than 5 mins.
    • Note: If you forget to stop a timer on a task, but you START a timer on another task, the timer on the first task will automatically stop. 
 
  • Using Everhour in meetings:
    • When in a meeting and if discussing a specific task, start the timer on the task. Help remind each other!
    • When in a meeting and not discussing a specific task (i.e. a general strategy question), you don’t need to log the time.
 
  • To log non-client tasks: For tasks such as completing your performance review forms, voting for awards, goal updates in Lattice, etc…, use your relevant team board below, create a task, log your time, and close the task out when done:

    • Designers and Creative Writer: Use the Internal Design board

    • Developers: Use the Internal Dev board

    • ACs and SF Dev: Use the Internal ACs Projects board

    • Leadership: Use the ELT board

    • QA: Use the Internal Ops board

    • People Ops: Use the Internal People Ops board

    • RISE Ambassadors: Use the RISE board for RISE-related tasks

  • If you’d like to learn more about Everhour as a tool, you can visit their help docs page.

Step 10: GoVisually

GoVisually is a proofing tool used by our design team to provide design proofs for internal review (that’s you!) and then to our clients.

How to Access GoVisually

  • Sign into GoVisually here (login in Lastpass)
  • Note: This is a shared account for all team members. As a QA Specialist, you do not need to change any settings.
  • You will find projects listed in the left column.  Once you click them, you will see thumbnails of all individual proofs submitted for that project.  To view the full proof, just click the thumbnail and it will display full screen.
  • If you click a GoVisually link to an individual proof and you’d like to close it and view the other proofs in the series or view a different project, just click “< Back to Project” in the proof viewing screen.
  • FYI: For client work, there will be two versions of each project: the internal review project (look for PRIVATE in the beginning of the project name), and the client facing project (same title minus the PRIVATE part).  We use the internal version to give each other feedback and finalize the proof to get it ready for client review- all revision comments are made by internal team members. The client facing version will feature only feedback from the clients themselves- we avoid commenting in this version because the client is notified whenever a new comment is added or a new proof is uploaded.

Step 10: Figjam

What is Figjam? 

Figjam is the design tool that we will be using to share design proofs from our creative team to our clients. This tool is where we will document any iterations or revisions fromm the client, and pass them over to our creative team to adjust until client approval.
 
How to Access Figjam:
 
  1. Go to: https://www.figma.com/ and click login.
  2. Use the credentials from NordPass for access (see below screenshot).

How Figjam is organized (internal vs external folders)

Figjam is organized in external and internal folders per client. Each client will have three folders in total (see below screenshot).

Internal folders include: 

  • Design: This is where our designers begin creating the design elements.
  • Internal proofing: When the design is ready for the Design Lead’s review and QA review, the designer will move the proof into this folder.
  • Note: ACs should not share internal links with clients. Please only share the links that the designer provides to ACs.


External folders include:

  • Client Proofing: When the design is ready for the client to review, the designer will add the design proof to the client proofing folder.
  • The folder name can be found at the top of the Figjam page (see below screenshot). ACs should check the name and only share links that indicate they are in the “Client Proofing” folder. 
  • If you notice the proof is in one of the other internal folders, please inform the designer to provide an updated link.

How Figjam is used (be specific about the tools)

By internal team:

For QA:

  1. When the Design Team Lead tags QA in the task comments that the proof is “ready for review”, open the link and check for any errors.
  2. We can also use the comment and reply features as well if needed to clarify revisions or answer questions.

Generating a PDF from a Figjam Link

  1. Click on Main Menu 
  2. Hover over the file and click on export as
  3. Select the file you would like to export (i.e. PDF) 
  4. Click export
  5. See Loom recording here.

 

Best Practices/Notes

  • Clients will need to create a user to use Figjam (free): https://www.figma.com/login
  • We only want one login per client to minimize conflicting comments from different people.
  • The client or AC can also upload images they may want to replace or use directly to the proof
  • See Loom recording here.

Step 11: Pardot

What is Pardot?

(Pronounced “Par • daat” not “Par • doh”)

Pardot is Salesforce’s marketing automation tool and one of the main platforms we offer services for. Whether you’ve had experience with Pardot before or not, you’ll be learning a lot on an on-going basis.  Much of what we do for clients in Pardot centers around marketing automation, lead generation, and design. Review the resources below to get started with a general overview of Pardot:

  1. What is Marketing Automation?
  2. What is Lead Nurturing?
We also recommend checking out a few modules on Trailhead – Salesforce’s learning platform that offers a series of online tutorials, interactive assessments,  and more. You can sign up for a free Trailhead account through your Google account. Read more about Trailhead here. Here are just a few suggested modules:
  1. Pardot Basics for Salesforce Classic
  2. Pardot Email Marketing for Salesforce Classic 
  3. Pardot Lead Generation for Salesforce Classic
 
There are plenty of other Trailhead modules that you can browse and learn from if you’d like to dive deeper into the platform or a specific feature.
 

Internal Recordings

The below recordings are informally recorded SLX training videos on Pardot. We will be updating these in the near future with more formalized training videos, but for now, please review the following links to get a general overview of Pardot’s features:

Email Testing

  • Check all links against checklist provided by AC
  • Make sure subject, preheader, & sender info is correct
  • Make sure text version matches HTML version and all links & copy are correct in the text version
  • Make sure to test dynamic content/variable tags
  • Click ALL LINKS and verify they lead to the correct pages and no pages are broken

Landing Page Testing

  • View at every screen size possible
  • Look for object overlap, spacing/proportion issues, stretched images, broken links, etc
  • Click EVERY LINK and make sure they all work and that the destination pages do not have any errors
  • Check the Page Title (Text that displays in browser tab) and favicon (icon that displays in address bar and in tab)

Step 12: Salesforce

Salesforce is one of the biggest customer relationship management (CRM) platforms in the world. This is the other main platform that we offer services for. Even if you’ve had experience with Salesforce before, there’s plenty to learn about the platform on an on-going basis as well. While as a QA Specialist, you won’t need to know much about Salesforce to begin with, we encourage you to get a general understanding of the platform.

Not all of our clients have Salesforce, but for those who do – their needs also vary widely. We also recommend checking out modules on Trailhead – Salesforce’s learning platform that offers a series of online tutorials, interactive assessments,  and more. You can sign up for a free Trailhead account through your Google account. Read more about Trailhead here. Here are just a few suggested modules:

  1. Salesforce Platform Basics
  2. Salesforce User Basics
 
There are plenty of other Trailhead modules that you can browse and learn from if you’d like to dive deeper into the platform or a specific feature. Again, not necessary at the moment, but helpful if you’d like to learn more.
 

Salesforce Certification

While we have Salesforce specialists on our team, that doesn’t mean you can’t become one too! If you’re interested in getting Salesforce certified, we’ll pay for it.

Step 13: Internal Design Process

This Internal Design process outlines how client tasks are assigned to our Creative Team, and how our various teams collaborate towards completing design tasks. Please review the following process in detail and continue to reference it as needed. Any updates to the process will also be updated on the page. If you need additional help or clarification, please reach out to your team lead. 

We also have a condensed version of our process here if you just need a quick refresher without all the details.

Step 14. QA Detailed Process

This detailed QA Process outlines how to QA our various types of assets at different stages of our design process. Please review the following process in detail and continue to reference it as needed. Any updates to the process will also be updated on the page. If you need additional help or clarification, please reach out to your team lead. 

Step 15. Other Best Practices

Coming soon!

16. Bookmarks + Plugins

Recommended Bookmarked Sites:

Recommended Chrome Plugins:

  1. Go Full Page – Full Page Screencapture Tool
  2. Eyedropper – Sample the exact color with hex code from any webpage

17. Account Ownership

Not sure which AC is associated with which account(s) and which accounts have what plan?  Check out the handy dandy Account Ownership spreadsheet below.

18. FAQs

FAQs coming soon. For now, if you have any questions, please contact Shan Koay.

19. Client Login Cheat Sheet

If you need assistance logging into our Client portals, please refer to the Client Login Cheat Sheet for detailed instructions on accessing each of our active clients’ accounts.

Versions

Last Updated: April 27, 2022

As we continue to improve this training manual to be as helpful and clear as possible, there will be ongoing updates. We always welcome feedback and suggestions on the current version. Thank you!