Source: https://docs.amadalis.ai/optimization/experiments/

# Experiments: test and compare page versions

Checked against the product’s code on 7 November 2026.

Open **Optimization** > **Experiments** in the site admin to test two versions of a page, such as two headlines. Review the measurement plan, prepare the variations and inspect the results before choosing a winner.

An [experiment](https://docs.amadalis.ai/reference/glossary/#experiment) compares versions of an experience. Before sending traffic to it, define what counts as success and lock its measurement plan. The optional **Hypothesis** records **What the new version changes**, **What should happen to the goal** and **Why you expect it (optional)**. It cannot change after the plan is locked.

## Create the draft

A variation is one version of the experience. The control is the version used as the comparison. A guardrail is a measure you watch for unwanted effects. The outcome window is the time allowed for a visitor’s result to count.

1.  Open **Optimization**.
    
2.  Open **Experiments**.
    
3.  Choose **New experiment**.
    
4.  Enter its name.
    
5.  Enter **[Experiment key](https://docs.amadalis.ai/reference/glossary/#experiment-key)**. The key is chosen now and cannot be renamed after the draft exists.
    
6.  Enter **Description**.
    
7.  Set **Traffic variations**. For a first comparison, use a control and one alternative. The first variation is the control. Weights set the relative traffic shares.
    
    [![New experiment with name Docs Walk Experiment, key docs-walk-experiment, description, and control and treatment at 50% each.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S041-experiments-new-draft-name-and-versions.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S041-experiments-new-draft-name-and-versions.png "Open full-size image")
    
    Name the experiment and set its versions.
    
8.  Choose a **Primary goal**.
    
9.  Set **Eligibility** if the test should run only for particular audiences. People outside that eligibility see the normal live page and are not counted in the test.
    
    [![Primary goal Demo data: reached the shop and the Eligibility section set to any of.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S041-experiments-new-draft-goal-and-eligibility.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S041-experiments-new-draft-goal-and-eligibility.png "Open full-size image")
    
    Choose the goal and who is eligible.
    
10.  Leave **Arm override** empty unless you deliberately want an eligible audience sent to a specific variation.
     
11.  Choose **Preview draft**.
     
12.  Review **Save this experiment?**
     
13.  Choose **Save draft**.
     

[![Save this experiment? card: a draft does not affect live traffic, with Save draft.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S041-experiments-save-draft-card.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S041-experiments-save-draft-card.png "Open full-size image")

Saving a draft needs no approval and changes no traffic.

[![Docs Walk Experiment marked Draft with the receipt Saved draft experiment, Undo, and the Configuration & QA tab.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S041-experiments-saved-as-draft.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S041-experiments-saved-as-draft.png "Open full-size image")

The saved draft.

The Draft badge and Saved draft experiment receipt show that this saved setup has not started a live split.

## Put content in each variation

1.  Open the draft’s **Configuration & QA** tab.
2.  In **[Rendered bindings](https://docs.amadalis.ai/reference/glossary/#binding)**, search for the page the test belongs to.
3.  Bind that page.

The draft’s alternative starts from a copy of that page.

[![Configuration and QA, Rendered bindings: Not bound to any page, and the page search showing Docs Walk First Page.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S042-experiments-bind-search-fixture-page.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S042-experiments-bind-search-fixture-page.png "Open full-size image")

Find the published page to bind.

[![Rendered bindings: Bound to 1 page, Docs Walk First Page, arms with a version: control, treatment; QA preview with Variation Control and Open forced preview.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S042-experiments-rendered-binding-and-qa-preview.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S042-experiments-rendered-binding-and-qa-preview.png "Open full-size image")

The binding and the QA preview control.

The binding names Docs Walk First Page, and Control is selected in the preview controls below it.

1.  Open the page in [the Composer](https://docs.amadalis.ai/composer/composer/).
2.  Choose the chip that reads **The live page**.
3.  Pick the experiment.
4.  Pick its variation.
5.  Make the changes that version should test.
6.  Review that version before starting traffic. Repeat for the other versions.

While you edit a variation, the chip reads **Editing Variation**, then the variation and the experiment’s name.

[![Composer with the chip Editing Variation Treatment, Docs Walk Experiment, and the page outlined with the label Variation Treatment.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S042-experiments-editing-variation-treatment.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S042-experiments-editing-variation-treatment.png "Open full-size image")

Pick a variation from The live page chip to edit it.

[![Composer is editing Variation Treatment; its headline reads DOCS WALK VARIATION: a first page, with section toolbar Undo and 1 change this session.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S042-experiments-variation-marker-edited.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S042-experiments-variation-marker-edited.png "Open full-size image")

Each variation holds its own content.

You can also start a draft test from the Composer’s **New experiment** action, or from a campaign’s experiment action. Check its page binding and content in the same way.

## Use the planner

On a draft without a locked plan, choose **Plan sample & duration**. The **Power & duration planner** opens with **Setup**, **Estimate**, **[Provenance](https://docs.amadalis.ai/reference/glossary/#provenance)** and **Saved plans** views.

In **Setup**, review:

-   The history window used to estimate traffic and outcomes.
-   **80% power** or **90% power**. Higher [power](https://docs.amadalis.ai/reference/glossary/#power) usually needs more visitors.
-   The primary measure, its target change and direction.
-   Any secondary measures and guardrails.
-   The outcome delay and [attribution window](https://docs.amadalis.ai/reference/glossary/#conversion-window).
-   The actual traffic shares of your variations.

1.  Choose **Calculate estimate**.
2.  Review the visitors and duration it estimates.
3.  Use **Provenance** to inspect where those inputs came from.

The saved calculation appears in **Saved plans**.

If the site lacks usable traffic history, or the chosen goal has no conversions yet, the planner can show **No estimate yet**. Use **Run for** to choose the duration for that case. Read the planner’s explanation before continuing.

[![Experiment planner Setup with history dates, target effect, power and Run for fields; calculation and locking are disabled.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/owners/platform-experimentation-plan-it-planner.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/owners/platform-experimentation-plan-it-planner.png)

The planner before the experiment is bound. This frame shows its inputs, not a calculated estimate or a locked plan. [Open full size](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/owners/platform-experimentation-plan-it-planner.png).

## Lock the plan

Choose **Review & lock plan**. Read **Lock this metric plan permanently?** It lists each measure being locked with its direction, delay and attribution window, and says the plan cannot be edited, replaced or undone. The lock is refused if the settings or page bindings changed after the estimate.

[![Lock this metric plan permanently? card for the draft experiment Docs Walk P4 Lock Test: Permanent after approval, there is no Undo; the Primary metric Docs Walk P4 goal conversions, goal conversions, Higher is better; measured by the goal Docs Walk P4 goal with 0 secondary and 0 guardrail; no estimate yet; the plan runs until 15 November and cannot be edited, replaced, or undone; Cancel and Approve & lock permanently.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S044-experiments-lock-plan-card.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S044-experiments-lock-plan-card.png "Open full-size image")

Read every locked measure before you approve.

If delay or attribution is out of view, scroll the card’s table sideways and check those columns before approving. Choose **Cancel** if you do not want to lock this plan. The draft stays unlocked.

[![After Cancel, Docs Walk P4 Lock Test is still a Draft, and Configuration & QA reads There is no locked plan to compare this configuration against. No measurement plan is locked for this experiment yet.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S044-experiments-lock-declined-still-unlocked.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S044-experiments-lock-declined-still-unlocked.png "Open full-size image")

Declining locks nothing.

If the plan measures something other than the draft’s **Primary goal**, the card says what it replaces. From activation, the experiment is measured on the plan’s measure.

Choose **Approve & lock permanently** only when those choices are right. This lock cannot be edited, replaced or undone. If a locked plan no longer fits the question, make a new draft test or clone the experiment rather than rewriting that plan.

[![Docs Walk P4 Lock Test remains Draft with a locked plan, a seven-day attribution window, no start time and an Activate button; Configuration & QA says it matches the plan.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S044-experiments-locked-plan-read-only.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S044-experiments-locked-plan-read-only.png "Open full-size image")

The locked values show read only. Locking is not activation.

[![Settings and audience when the plan was locked: Plan locked since Nov 1, 2026, 10:50 AM EST; Traffic allocation Control 50% and Treatment 50%; Audience & targeting None; Experience bindings /care-guide, Published, with its variant ids.](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S044-experiments-locked-settings-snapshot.png)](https://docs.amadalis.ai/images/steps/S044-experiments-locked-settings-snapshot.png "Open full-size image")

The plan keeps the settings it was locked with.

Locking the plan is separate from sending traffic.

## Activate and check the experience

Choose **Activate**. If the plan still needs work, this can open the planner first. Traffic cannot start without the required locked plan.

In **Optimization** > **Experiments**, open the experiment and use **Activate** in its header to open the activation card once the measurement plan is locked. Review the traffic change, then choose **Approve & go live** to start the split.

Use **QA preview** in **Configuration & QA** to choose the **Variation**, then **Open forced preview**. The preview is intended to show that variation on a published, bound page with a QA marker. In the supplied demo-store walk, the selected Treatment served the live content without that marker, even after consent and a reload. Verify both the variation and the marker before treating a view as a QA check. Correctly marked forced QA exposures are intended to be excluded from experiment results. Eligible participation also depends on visitor identity and personalization consent.

## Read the results

1.  Open **Results**.
2.  Open **Results explorer**.
3.  Check the result’s time window and whether it can name a winner before interpreting the difference between variations.

| What you see | How to use it |
| --- | --- |
| Visitor and conversion counts | Check how much measured activity supports the comparison. |
| Lift and intervals | Read the estimated difference together with its uncertainty. |
| **These results cannot name a winner yet.** | Keep the experiment running or resolve the stated missing evidence. |
| A **Sample-ratio mismatch** alert | Investigate the traffic split. The results are not trustworthy while it persists. |

The default analysis waits for the planned end and for visitors to have had their allowed time to reach the outcome. New plans also wait for whole weeks counted from the first exposure’s UTC day. Earlier locked plans keep their own rules. Early results and visitors whose outcome windows are still open do not provide the final decision.

The analysis controls offer several statistical methods for reading the results. See [Experiment results and checks](https://docs.amadalis.ai/optimization/experiment-results/) for those views. Switching the method does not change the recorded decision. Some methods record their own decision when you choose **Evaluate & record decision**. Only the deciding method locked in the plan can support promotion; other methods remain for exploration. Recording the decision changes no traffic. Date slices and exploratory views can help you investigate; the screen identifies when a view cannot decide a winner.

## Stop or promote

To pause a running experiment:

1.  Use **Stop** in its header.
2.  Read **Stop this experiment?**
3.  Choose **Approve & stop**.

All traffic returns to the default, and the receipt’s **Undo** starts the split again.

When the evidence supports promotion:

1.  Choose **Promote winner**, or **Promote** followed by the winning variation’s name.
2.  Read **Promote the winner?** and review the pages it will affect.
3.  Choose **Approve & promote**.

Promotion stops the split and prepares the winner in the bound pages’ drafts. Traffic returns to the default when the split stops.

Review those drafts and publish them through their separate page approval cards when ready. Read the promotion receipt for its available **Undo**, which can restore the pages and the running split.

## Copy or archive an experiment

Editors and Admins can reuse a setup or remove an old experiment from **Current**. Use its row buttons, or open its **Actions** menu when they are folded into a menu.

### Copy the setup into a new draft

1.  Choose **Clone** on the source experiment.
2.  Enter the new **Experiment name**.
3.  Choose a unique **Experiment key**. It is fixed after creation.
4.  Review the copied setup under **Clone as draft**.
5.  Choose **Preview draft**.
6.  Read **Create this clean draft?**.
7.  Choose **Create draft**.

The copy is a new draft. It carries editable setup, not the source’s traffic, bindings, locked plans, results or history. Review and lock its own plan before separately activating it. The receipt’s **Undo** reverses the clone.

### Archive and bring it back

Stop a running experiment through [Stop or promote](https://docs.amadalis.ai/optimization/experiments/#stop-or-promote) before archiving it.

1.  Choose **Archive** on a Draft or Stopped experiment.
2.  Read **Archive this experiment?**.
3.  Choose **Archive experiment**. It leaves **Current**, keeping its setup and history.
4.  To bring it back later, choose the **Archived** filter.
5.  Choose **Unarchive** on the experiment.
6.  Read **Return this experiment to Current?**.
7.  Choose **Unarchive**.

It returns as its saved Draft or Stopped state. Unarchive does not resume visitor traffic. The archive receipt’s **Undo** restores the exact state before that archive; Unarchive has its own receipt Undo.

You can also ask the copilot to “Copy \[experiment name\] into a new draft called \[new name\]”, “Archive \[experiment name\]” or “Unarchive \[experiment name\]”. These requests do not need an approval card; the screen’s review steps above still apply when using its controls. See [Experiment requests](https://docs.amadalis.ai/reference/copilot/experiments/#experiment-stages-planning-and-results).

## Give an older experiment a measurement plan

Editors and Admins can use this for an older running or stopped experiment whose goal was free text. Have its recorded page placements, analysis dates, the time data is complete through, and its planned sample or end date. Do not guess missing history. A draft should use [Lock the plan](https://docs.amadalis.ai/optimization/experiments/#lock-the-plan) instead.

1.  Ask the copilot to preview migrating the named older experiment, supplying those recorded facts.
2.  Read the proposed outcome and its reason. The preview writes no migration record, plan or saved result.
3.  Read **Migrate this legacy experiment?**.
4.  Choose **Run legacy migration** only if the historical facts and outcome are right.
5.  Read the receipt and any next action it names.

History that can reproduce the saved result against one goal receives a locked plan. Ambiguous or unreconstructable history remains in a named state that cannot authorize promotion. The receipt can ask you to resolve the goal and try again, or explain that only the older saved result can be read.

This has no Undo. It does not rewrite an existing locked plan, and a migrated lock cannot be edited or replaced. See [Older experiment requests](https://docs.amadalis.ai/reference/copilot/experiments/#experiment-stages-planning-and-results).

## Your next step

After approving publication, check the affected public pages. Use [Experiment results and checks](https://docs.amadalis.ai/optimization/experiment-results/) to review the recorded outcome before planning another comparison.