Nelio A/B Testing (version 8.3 and later) includes built-in Debug Tools that help you validate your tests without affecting your analytics data or consuming your monthly testing quota.

When enabled, the Debug Tools display a floating debug panel on your site while it’s running in Staging Mode. The panel provides real-time information about your tests, making it easy to verify that variants are loading correctly, tracking is working as expected, and conversion events are triggered properly.

The Debug Tools are especially useful when:

• setting up a new test;
• validating your site before going live;
• testing segmentation rules;
• troubleshooting unexpected behavior; or
• confirming that page views, conversions, and heatmap events are being detected correctly.

Enabling the Debug Tools

The Debug Tools are enabled by default. To check their configuration:

1. Go to Nelio A/B Testing → Settings.
2. Under Plugin Behavior, locate Debug Tools.
3. Enable Show debugging tools on the site (staging only).

If this option is disabled, Nelio A/B Testing won’t display the debug panel, even in Staging Mode.

Entering Staging Mode

The debug panel is only available while your site is running in Staging Mode.

Staging Mode is activated automatically when:

• your website is detected as a staging environment; or
• you add the nabstaging query parameter to any page URL.

Once activated, Nelio A/B Testing creates the nabSimulateStaging cookie so Staging Mode remains active while you browse your site.

While Staging Mode is enabled:

• page views and conversions aren’t sent to Nelio Cloud;
• your monthly testing quota isn’t consumed;
• tracking events are simulated locally; and
• the debug panel is displayed on every page.

This lets you validate tests safely before running them on your production site.

Understanding the Debug Panel

When the Debug Tools are enabled, a floating debug panel appears on the page. By default, it’s displayed in the upper-right corner of the browser window.

If the panel covers part of your website while you’re testing, you can easily move it. Simply click the position icon in the panel’s upper-right corner to cycle through the available screen positions until you find the one that’s most convenient.

The debug panel is organized into four tabs, each focusing on a different aspect of your tests.

Status

The Status tab provides an overview of the current page and visitor.

From here you can quickly verify:

• whether the site can communicate with Nelio Cloud;
• whether tracking is active or blocked;
• whether tracking is waiting for GDPR consent;
• whether the current page belongs to an active test; and
• the current value of the nabAlternative cookie.

Since the assigned variant is determined by the nabAlternative cookie, you can also change its value to preview other variants without clearing your browser cookies.

Tests

The Tests tab lists every test that may affect the current page.

For each test, you’ll see:

• whether the visitor participates in the test;
• the test’s current status;
• the visitor’s assigned segments; and
• whether the current page can record page views or conversions.

If a test uses segmentation, you can also simulate different audiences by manually adding or removing the visitor from individual segments. This makes it easy to validate segmentation rules without changing your browser, location, or device.

Test Status

Tests may appear in one of the following states.

1. Missing Participation or Excluded from Participation (shown in grey).

The visitor isn’t currently participating in the test because segmentation hasn’t been evaluated yet or the visitor doesn’t match the required segments.

2. Inactive (shown in red).

The current page can’t record events for this test.

For example, page views are only recorded on pages included in the test’s scope. Conversions may be tracked more broadly depending on your tracking scope settings, but only after the visitor has visited the tested page at least once.

Goal Tracking Only (shown in orange).

The current page isn’t under test, but it can still trigger conversions. This usually happens after the visitor has already viewed the tested page and later completes a conversion elsewhere on the site.

Active (shown in green).

The current page is actively participating in the test, so variants can be displayed and page views may be recorded.

Events

The Events tab displays every page view and conversion that would normally be sent to Nelio Cloud. Instead of syncing them, Staging Mode displays them locally in real time.

This allows you to verify that:

• page views are recorded only when expected;
• conversion goals trigger correctly; and
• the overall tracking flow behaves as intended.

Since nothing is sent to Nelio Cloud, you can repeat the same actions as often as needed without consuming your quota.

Heatmap

The Heatmap tab displays the click events detected on the current page. These are the interactions used to generate Nelio A/B Testing’s clickmaps and heatmaps.

Use this tab to verify that:

• clicks are detected correctly;
• interactive elements generate events; and
• heatmap data will be collected correctly when the test runs on your production site.

Include Test Names in the Public Script

The Debug Tools section also includes the option Include test names in public script. When enabled, the public tracking script includes the names of your tests, making it easier to identify them while inspecting the page source or using browser developer tools.

This option is intended for debugging purposes only. It has no effect on how tests run or how visitors are tracked.

Disable the Debug Tools

If you no longer want the debug panel to appear while working in Staging Mode, go to Nelio A/B Testing → Settings → Plugin Behavior and disable Show debugging tools on the site (staging only).

When disabled, Staging Mode still prevents events from being sent to Nelio Cloud, but diagnostic information is logged to the browser’s JavaScript console instead.