Posted: Dec 28, 2018

10 Most Popular Articles of 2018

In 2018, Melissa, our EditorBoss was focussed on releasing high-quality software testing articles on weekly basis to provide our readers with regular, relevant content throughout the year. All this, whilst still providing extra support to the many new writers we work with... not an easy task.

The editing team managed to release an article every Monday morning for the first six months of the year until MoT and authors alike were wrapped up in the conference season. So we didn't get to 52 articles, but we did publish 40 new articles between all our article series... not bad at all! All of these 40 awesome articles had many learning takeaways, and some gorgeous stories could even bring a smile to your face or a tear to your eye.

We're very proud of all the articles we've produced this year and are incredibly grateful to our authors for choosing to collaborate with us. We always endeavoured to produce high-quality software testing articles with long-lasting relevance. And, this is reflected in our ten most read articles of 2018, we've got plenty of new articles in there but also articles from our archives showing that our articles continue to be useful for many years to come!

Top Ten Articles of 2018

So here they are, from 10 to 1, the ten most visited articles of 2018 wrapped up and summarised just for you (enjoy, and please share with the community):

  1. How To Write A Software Test Plan - Richard C. Paterson
    As part of the Software Testing Clinic (SWTC) article series "Questions From Students" where frequently asked questions from students at SWTC sessions get answered, Richard covers all the basics of writing a software test plan from whether a test plan is required, to writing a good test plan, and, importantly, reviewing and updating your test plans. If you're new to software testing this article is definitely worth a read... in fact, the whole series is pretty great!
    Follow Richard on Twitter

  1. What Does It Mean To Be A Technical Tester? - Claire Reckless
    From this years' Testing Planet, Claire analyses the current and highly debated topic of what it means to be a technical tester and gives her knowledgeable and thoughtful opinion on the subject. She discusses what being a "technical tester" really means, how labels such as technical or non-technical could be harmful and how software testers can improve their technical skills. If you're looking to improve your technical skills or are worried you're not technical enough, this is definitely the article for you.
    Follow Claire on Twitter

  1. Real Agile Approach To Performance Testing - Rajni Singh 
    Rajni's article is an oldie but a goodie and still has useful learnings that are relevant today. You can find this article in our Testing Planet Archives alongside many other useful articles that predate 2016. We've only chosen the very best articles from The Testing Planet to reside in the Archives, including a copy of the very first issue from February 2010, so if you've got a spare few minutes, get stuck in!
  1. How to Become a Software Tester Without A Computer Science Degree - Cassandra H. Leung
    Another hot topic of 2018 was tester origin stories and how testers can break into testing from varied backgrounds. Cassandra's article from the Testing Planet 2018 shares her unusual route into Software Testing; some may identify with it whilst others may get inspired by her journey. For those in the latter group, this article also contains some sterling tips and advice on breaking into testing via an unorthodox route.
    Follow Cassandra on Twitter
  1. Robot Process Automation As A Power Tool For Testing - Jesper Ottosen
    Yet another article from this years' Testing Planet. In this article, Jesper walks you through a real testing example and shows you how to get started with Robot Process Automation (RPA); a new powerful tool for testers and business users doing testing. While there are other power tools for web and API testing, Jesper suggests the RPA tools are a class of their own, as RPA tools allow for codeless automation macros on the desktop. All sounds very interesting doesn't it? Read Jesper's article to find out more!
    ​​​​​​Follow Jesper on Twitter
  1. Explore Galore! 30 Tips to Supercharge your Exploratory Testing Efforts - Simon Tomes
    We're now into to top 5 territory and we have Simon's article from the Testing Planet 2018. Simon shares 30 of his top exploratory testing tips that have helped him throughout his testing career in a big way... it’s the list he wished he’d had when he started!
    Follow Simon on Twitter
  1. Modern Testing Principles - Melissa Eaden
    Inspired by Alan Page's TestBash Brighton talk and his AMA on Modern Testing, Melissa gave us her interpretation of Alan Page and Brent Jensen's Modern Testing Principles. In this article, there is also a handy graphic of the principles for you to download, print off and stick up.
    Follow Melissa on Twitter
  1. The One Page Test Plan - Claire Reckless
    If you search for 'How to write a test plan' there are all sorts of templates, 'must haves', and tutorials. Following all this, you can end up putting certain information in 'just to be on the safe side'. Once it's written, reviewed, edited, finalised, and distributed to all the relevant stakeholders, it's quite common to find out that almost no-one has read it. In this article, Claire takes inspiration from James Whittakers' 10 Minute Test Plan, but rather than limiting time, she limits space.  Claire shares her thoughts on how to reduce a test plan to one page whilst still retaining value, if there were any, as quickly as possible.
    Follow Claire on Twitter
  1. How To Use Python To Automate Almost Anything - Josh Grant
    In this 3-part article series, Josh walks you through writing a Python script to capture screenshots that can be reused over and over. By the end of the series, you'll have seen enough Python to be able to write other scripts to automate many tasks testers see on a daily basis.  You can also buy this series as an eBook at a very reasonable price on Amazon.
    Follow Josh on Twitter
  1. 30 Things Every New Software Tester Should Learn - Heather Reid
    For the second year running, Heather's awesome article sharing 30 things that every new software tester should learn is our top article of the year! Heather wrote this article when she herself was new to testing, and writing for that matter! She wrote this piece to make the journey to becoming a software tester a little easier for other new members of the community. This goes to show that you have something useful to share no matter your experience or stage in your career.
    Follow Heather on Twitter

Write With Us

If you're new to testing, writing articles or an expert at both come and write with us in 2019! We support you in getting the most out of your writing, pay you for your work and your articles will continue to help and inspire the community for many years to come.


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