50 Essential

Functional and
Regression
Test Cases
50 Functional and Regression Test Cases that
Every Team Needs to Run
 The Rainforest Continuous QA Platform provides on-demand manual QA-
as-a-Service so that agile and continuous deployment teams can develop
software quickly without compromising quality. Powered by 50,000 qualified
testers, the platform serves as a management tool for writing, running, and
getting manual QA results in less than 30 minutes. As a result, companies
can focus on building quality software, not managing individual testers. Full
feature access is available via API to seamlessly incorporate the platform
into your existing development workflow.

Ramping Up Functional and Regression Testing
This guide introduces the concepts and techniques that every team
should consider when developing a comprehensive QA strategy. We’ve
compiled a list of 50 essential functional and regression tests that every
company should include in their testing strategy.

The Challenges of Testing Today

Keeping product quality high is a major concern for most organizations.
But establishing a strategy for testing that balances quality with cost
and time constraints can be difficult. In a recent survey, 33% of QA
engineers and stakeholders revealed a top challenge for their teams is
identifying the right areas on which testing should focus.¹

This challenge is intensified by the faster pace of development that

many organizations have adopted, where teams might deploy multiple
times daily. Identifying key test cases and executing them effectively are
essential to keeping applications running smoothly.

Developing a Strategic Approach to QA

Building a comprehensive suite of test cases requires a strategic approach
to test organization and test writing. QA teams should focus on testing
smart, testing small, and testing frequently to ensure that their QA tests
provide clear and actionable results. By focusing on developing test
cases that are repeatable and easy to interpret, organizations can ensure
that their testing efforts consistently return valuable feedback.

¹World Quality Report 2015-2016

Fundamental Approaches to Testing
Building a comprehensive suite of test cases requires a combination
of several basic approaches to ensure that as many possible use cases
have been tested before production. Every test suite should involve the
following three types of tests:

Objective Testing
Objective tests have right or wrong answers and provide clear, quantifiable
feedback about whether an application is functioning correctly. The
majority of the test cases in this checklist can be considered objective
tests.
Example
Confirm that an email confirmation message is received when a new user creates
an account.

Subjective Testing
Where objective tests have clear positive or negative outcomes,
subjective testing relies on the opinion and perspective of the tester.
Subjective tests are highly valuable for UX testing because they can
provide more nuanced, humanistic feedback on application quality.
Example
Determine whether the links on the page are easy to identify and interact with.

Negative Testing
Negative testing, also called “error path testing” or “failure testing,”
ensures that the application functions correctly against invalid data
and actions. Negative tests are designed to push an application to the
limits of its use and ensure that even in extreme circumstances it will
function.
Example
Check that an error message displays when an invalid date is entered into a form
(e.g. “January 39, 2016).
Functional and Regression Testing Checklist

No two web applications are exactly the same, the testing parameters
for your application may vary in practice. This checklist is a guide to
the most common functional and regression test cases that every
organization should consider running. Click the section titles below to
jump to the section, or continue on to read the full checklist.
Customizing Your Testing Checklist
Add additional test cases to your testing suite to fit your product’s
unique needs. Some questions to ask yourself as you build your testing
checklist include, “Are my tests specific enough?” and “Am I testing as
though I’m engaging with my software as an end-user?”

55 Browser Functionality
55 Forms and Applications
55 Login and Profile Activity
55 Navigation
55 Numbers and Dates
55 Social Media Integrations
55 Uploading & Downloading Files
Browser Functionality
For teams developing web-based applications, ensuring that your
application functions correctly in any browsers your customers may
use is essential. By running these key browser functionality tests,
you can create a more consistent experience for your customers.

1. Application displays and functions correctly in

all relevant browsers (e.g. IE, Chrome, Firefox,
etc)

2. Application displays and functions correctly on

relevant browser versions (e.g. legacy browsers)

3. Timeout functionality

4. Functionality if user deletes cookies while using

application

5. Functionality if user deletes cookies after using

application
Forms and Applications
Many webpages and applications use embedded forms to collect data
from their users. If these forms do not function correctly, it may be
impossible for users to understand what actions they must take, and
they may not be able to complete activities that require embedded
forms. These basic tests will give you an idea of whether your forms
are functioning correctly.

6. Mandatory fields must be filled out before

submission

7. Mandatory fields are indicated

8. Mandatory fields are highlighted and error

message is displayed if an attempt to submit
form is made while fields are blank

9. Error message is not displayed if optional fields

are left blank

10. Input fields accept special characters

11. Error message displays when minimum character limit

for input box is not met

12. Error message displays when maximium character limit

for input box is exceeded

13. Error message displays when mandatory input box is

not completed

14. Error message displays when invalid format is input

(e.g. letters are typed into a box that only accepts
numerals)
Login and Profile Activity
Creating, accessing and editing a user profile is a key user activity for
many applications. Testing basic user profile functionality ensures that
users will be able to effectively access and edit their account.

15. Create new user profile

16. Login with existing profile

17. Retrieve/reset a forgotten password

18. Input of incorrect password will display error message

and link to password reset

19. Edit user profile

20. Create new user profile from social login

21. Log into existing account with social profile

22. Upload avatar/image

23. Edit avatar/image

24. Delete avatar/image

25. Confirmation email is received when user creates

profile

26. Confirmation email is received when user signs

up for email updates

27. Confirmation email is received when user changes

password
Navigation
A key component of application or site usability is navigation. While
some aspects of testing navigation involve thinking critically about
the UX of your application, some basic navigation tests should be
done regularly to check that your navigation and search capabilities
function correctly.

29. Confirmation message displays for activity and data

submissions (e.g. checkout, delete a file, etc.)

30. Sorting function works correctly

31. Filtering function works correctly

32. Buttons and links in navigation function correctly

33. Error page displays if user enters an invalid file

path or URL
Numbers & Dates
Inputting numbers and dates can often be a sticking point for
interactions with a platform. Applications must not break down when
invalid numbers are input, and should give appropriate cues to the
user when invalid numbers or formats are input.

34. Dates submissions must be valid

35. Leap years are validated correctly and do not

produce an error message

36. Numeric fields reject alphabetical submissions

and display an error message.

37. If negative numbers are not allowed, check to

make sure negative numbers are rejected

38. Division by zero can be calculated; if

necessary, yields error message

39. Fields for currency, percentage or other special

formats display correctly

40. Popup message for errors and warnings displays

correctly
Social Media Integrations
Social media integration is a key component of many consumer-facing
applications and websites. Whether you offer social login or want to
encourage sharing to social media on your website, seamless social
media integration enables users to use these features easily.

41. Social sharing buttons display correctly

42. Clicking social sharing button triggers popup

and allows user to edit message before posting

43. Social login integration displays correctly

44. Social profile picture or avatar displays correctly

45. User is able to write and publish comments

using social media profile
Uploading & Downloading Files
Many web applications and websites allow users to upload or
download files. Ensuring that your upload and download functionality
is secure and reliable is important.

46. Files can be uploaded successfully

47. Files that are too large are

rejected and an error message is shown

48. Files of incorrect format will be rejected and error

message is shown

49. Attempting to upload files that are in an invalid

format are rejected and an error message
is shown

50. Files can be downloaded successfully

Get Comprehensive Regression Testing with
Rainforest QA

Rainforest is a cost-effective solution for functional testing that allows users to leverage
human testers without adding headcount to their team or managing an outsourced
testing service. Rainforest’s ability to test across multiple browsers and devices makes
it a strong choice for comprehensive regression testing, allowing teams to increase their
testing bandwidth in a scalable and flexible way.

Learn More about Rainforest

“Rainforest has become our functional 30x speedup

testing department.” $1.3M annual savings
on QA costs
- Max Spankie, Software Engineer,
ConsumerAffairs 557 hours saved

27x speedup “Rainforest lets us move faster by

$3.1M annual savings allowing us to keep more of our budget
on QA costs on feature development instead of
feature verification.”
269 hours saved
monthly
- David Perdue, VP of Development,
TrendKite

“[Rainforest] creates an additional layer 8x speedup

of stability to catch things that unit tests
$5.4M annual savings
don’t cover, and that it might be too on QA costs
difficult to create an automated test for.”
948 hours saved
-Otávio Dalarossa, Product Manager, Avant monthly