---
title: "Testing & Troubleshooting Sequence Campaigns"
canonical: "https://funnelflare-engagement-center.refined.site/space/ADVANCEDFIREBUILDINGSTRATEGIES/170983499/Testing%20%26%20Troubleshooting%20Sequence%20Campaigns"
format: markdown
---
When you are building a new campaign, you will likely want to test out its behavior. In this article we'll outline some common scenarios and how to troubleshoot them.

Use the list below to jump the to section that applies to you:

- Create A Test Contact
- My Contact Has Not Entered My Campaign
- How Do I Know If My Contact Has Been In My Campaign Previously?
- Email/SMS Messages From Campaigns Are Not Sending

## 1. Create A Test Contact

If you have not done so already, you should create at least one test contact. Depending on your scenario and the tests you are running you may want multiple test contacts.

For test contacts it is recommended you use your personal email address and NOT an email address on the same domain name that you used to sign up with FunnelFLARE.

FunnelFLARE identifies contacts as 'employees' of your company by looking at the email domain name you used to sign up with - and thus treats them differently than regular contacts.

***Tip for gmail users: ***

Let's say my gmail address is [myname@gmail.com](mailto:myname@gmail.com), but I want to make 3 test contacts for FunnelFLARE and also be able to receive these test emails I send. I can create additional contacts in FunnelFLARE with working email addresses by appending a "+" symbol followed by at least one character *before* the '@' symbol to my personal email address.

*For example:*

[myname+1@gmail.com](mailto:myname+1@gmail.com)

[myname+2@gmail.com](mailto:myname+2@gmail.com) 

Now I have three contacts I can test with that have working email addresses. This works automatically with gmail. Just create these contacts in FunnelFLARE and begin using them.

## 2. My Contact Has Not Entered The Campaign

In this section we will help you determine why contacts might not enter a campaign. 

First, confirm your trigger type. Is it a "User Triggered" campaign or a "Contact Changed" campaign?

![image]()

**If It Is A Contact Changed Trigger**

If your trigger is "Contact Changed", confirm your test contact matches the query.

A good way to test queries is to build a Contact Segment. Go to Contacts > Contact Segments and replicate your query there in a new segment. This will allow you to see all the contacts in your database that match the query.

In fact, this is a really good way to start building and testing your trigger query. Use a contact segment to build your trigger query and see the results before using it in the campaign.

 

**If It Is User Triggered**

If your trigger is "User Triggered", this is a manual trigger so there is no need troubleshoot queries. You just want to make sure you are properly adding contacts to the campaign *[as per this article.](/wiki/spaces/*/pages/170230097)*

 

**Has the contact been in the campaign before?**

Was there a previous test you did with that same contact on the same campaign? If so, FunnelFLARE has a safety tool that is on by default. 

If you are not sure whether a contact has been in your campaign before, *[go to part 2.](#part-2)*

In the screenshot below, you may need to uncheck "Only allow a person to go through this campaign once". 

![image]()

Just don't forget to turn this feature back on if needed before launching your campaign to real contacts. There are legitimate scenarios where leaving this feature off makes sense, but in most cases you want this feature on when running your campaigns in the real world.

 

## 3. How Do I Know If My Test Contacts Have Been In My Campaign Previously?

There are two ways to do this:

1. Go look at the contact profile and search their activity timeline. You can use the filter option to look for campaigns a specific contact has been in.

![image]()

2. Go to Reports > Drip Campaign Report and select your campaign from the dropdown in the upper right hand corner.

Any contacts who have ever been in a campaign will have something logged within "Current Campaign Participants" OR in "Campaign Exits".

![image]()

## 4. My Emails/SMS Are Not Sending From The Campaign

**Troubleshooting Emails**

Have you authenticated your email address with FunnelFLARE?

Does your test contact have a contact manager?

Does your email have any content?

Does your test contact have an email on their profile?

**Troubleshooting SMS Messages**

Does your text message have any content?

Does your test contact have a phone number on their profile?