Summary: This walkthrough will show you how to take advantage of LiftIgniter's A/B Testing Feature by using the "Pages" and "Rec Units" sections within the console.






High-Level Overview


Summary: To run an A/B Test in the console, the first step is to create a new Recommendation Unit for each configuration that you want to test. Afterwards, create a Page Group to specify which pages (by URL) to run the A/B test on and allocate traffic between different testing slices.



Rec Units Tab (Recommendation Units): Here, you can create different Recommendation Units to test within each placement. For each Recommendation Unit, you can configure the following:


  1. Recommendation Count - how many items to recommend 
  2. Mode - The stage of the Recommendation Unit
  3. Default Boost - which Boost logic to use
  4. Default Filter - which Filter logic to use
  5. Overwrite Existing Items - toggle: on/off
  6. Item Template - The HTML code for each recommended item



Pages Tab: Here, you can create individual page groups to specify which URLs you want to load recommendations on. Within each page group, you can configure the following under the Placements section: 


  1. Placement Location - Where the Recommendation Unit should be placed on the page
  2. Activation Mode - Which event should trigger the Recommendation Unit to render
  3. Mode - The stage of the placement (i.e. draft, preview, live)
  4. % of traffic you want to direct to each Recommendation Unit.




IMPORTANT! - To access the full-menu for either the Pages or Rec Unit section, click on the "Hamburger" button on the top-right corner of your screen.









Step 1: Rec Units Section - Create Recommendation Unit(s)


General: In this section, you can create a recommendation unit for each specific area within your page that you want recommendations sent to.





Recommendation Count: select the number of recommendations you want to render within the Rec Unit.


  • Default Boost: Select the specific boost for this Rec Unit.
  • Default Filter: Select the specific filter for this Rec Unit.




Under Mode" (like in Step 1), select from the following options:

  • Disabled:  A/B test is disabled.
  • Draft:  A/B test will only show up under preview mode.
  • Preview:  A/B test will only show up on URLs that contain a special parameter.
  • Live: A/B test is live on all sites that fall within the page group.




Overwrite Existing Items (toggle on/off):


If enabled, any pre-existing items within the container will be overwritten by our recommendations.


If disabled*, you will see the following options appear: Insertion Type, Container Selector, Container Template.




Container Selector*: Enter the Rec Unit (container) CSS selector.


Container Template*: Include the HTML code for the container element that holds the recommendation items.


Insertion Type*:



  • Before: Insert the recommendation item before the specified container – as its sibling.
  • Beginning: Insert the recommendation item inside of the specified container- as its first child.
  • End: Insert the recommendation item inside of the specified container – as its last child.
  • After: Insert the recommendation item after the specified container – as its sibling.
  • Replace: Insert the recommendation item as a replacement for the current item that is specified under the “Item Selector” section.


Item Template:



Copy and paste HTML code for a specific item within the specified container – using mustache bars for any content that you want to source from returned recommendations.

In this example, we are passing in the following content:

  • {{ section }}
  • {{ url }}
  • {{ article_title }}


Important Note: To verify that you are using the correct parameter names inside of your “Item Template,” check the Catalog Tab.


Include CSSIn this section, you can add CSS code to style the container. The CSS syntax should be the same as if it were in a separate .css file.


Include Script: In this section, you can add additional JS to run on the page that is rendering the Recommendation Unit.


API Parameters: This section is for advanced users. In this section, you can add additional API parameters that will be sent to the Model-Server once the page loads.


Once you’re finished configuring your Recommendation Unit:

  • Preview: View your current configuration in “Preview Mode”.
  • Save: Save your configuration changes.
  • Publish: Push your current configuration to go “live”.






Step 2: Pages Section - Configure a Page Group



Summary: Create a page group to filter pages by URL where you want to recommendations to render.






Page Details (top)


Filter Pages by URL - Include Pages that Match


In the Include Pages that Match entry field, you can add static URL parameter(s).



or dynamic URL parameter(s) that starts with a colon “:”




For each dynamic URL parameter, you can filter by either character set or a specific key word - see example below:




Url Tester - click "Test URL Match"


After you configure your URL parameter settings, you can test different URLs to make sure your settings are correct.





Placements (below Page Details)


General: Create a placement for each Recommendation Unit you want to A/B Test.





Under “Placement Location”, enter the CSS selector of your Recommendation Unit (container).



Under “Mode,” select from the following options:

  • Disabled:  A/B test is disabled.
  • Draft:  A/B test will only show up under preview mode.
  • Preview:  A/B test will only show up on URLs that contain a special parameter.
  • Live: A/B test is live on all sites that fall within the page group.



Under “Activation Mode,” you can specify which event causes the Recommendation Unit(s) to render on your page.

  • When the page loads: Recommendation Unit(s) will render when the page loads.
  • When an element is clicked: Recommendation Unit(s) will only render when a specified element is clicked.
  • When an element is visible:  Recommendation Unit(s) will only render when a specified element becomes visible in the viewport.



Allocating Traffic Between Rec Units


Use the slider (circle) to allocate traffic between different Recommendation Units.


Once Finished configuring the Page Group:

  • Preview: View your current configuration in “Preview Mode”.
  • Save: Save your configuration changes.
  • Publish: Push your current configuration to go “live”.





Step 3: Confirm that both Recommendation Unit(s) and Page Group(s) are Published and set to "Mode: Live"


Summary: Once completed, the A/B Test configuration will be officially up-and-running!