Testing Data Sources

This article describes how to test lead data sources within the FORTH system manually. It was developed for FORTH CRM Administrators and Marketing Operations Teams who need to verify the accuracy of external lead integration and field mapping.

The article is organized into the following sections:

• Overview
• Prerequisites
• How to Access
• How it Works
• Troubleshooting / FAQ
• Assistance

Overview

Testing your data sources ensures leads from external vendors or web forms transfer into the FORTH CRM accurately. Direct manual testing lets you verify your post URL and field mapping without relying on third-party lead providers. This process eliminates lead loss, saves troubleshooting time, and confirms system readiness before launching marketing campaigns. You can also use this feature to isolate whether posting issues occur inside FORTH or on the vendor side.

Prerequisites

Standard user access to the FORTH CRM with data source management permissions.

How to Access

To begin testing:

1. Log in to the FORTH CRM.
2. Click the Contacts tab.
3. Click Data Sources in the navigation bar.
4. Select the target Data Source from the top-left dropdown menu.
5. Click Edit.
6. Locate the Post URL at the top of the page and the Import Fields section lower down the page.
   

How it Works

1. Copy the Post URL: Highlight and copy the complete URL displayed at the top of your Data Source page.
   
2. Format Test Data: Add test information to the end of the URL. After the final forward slash (/), add a question mark (?) followed by field names and values in [FieldName]=Value format. Separate multiple fields with an ampersand (&).
   • Example Format: ?[FieldName1]=Value&[FieldName2]=Value&[FieldName3]=Value

3. Match Field Labels: Ensure field names match the exact labels listed on the left side of your Import Fields section.
   
   
   If the following information is provided for each field...
         FirstName = Test
         LastName = Testing
         Phone = 555-555-5555
         State = IL

   ...The POST URL will look like this for testing.
   Example Formatted URL: https://client.forthcrm.com/post/[YOUR_POST_KEY]/?FirstName=Test&LastName=Testing&Phone=555-555-5555&State=IL

4. Run the Test: Paste the complete, formatted URL into your web browser address bar and press Enter.
   

[INSERT SCREENSHOT: Web browser displaying the success response banner and generated customer identification number after pressing Enter.]

5. Confirm Success: Verify that the browser displays a "Success" message along with a unique customer identification number.

6. Verify the Contact: 

• Copy the customer identification number (customer ID) from the success message. 
• Click the Contacts tab.
• Paste the number into the search bar
• Click Enter to view the newly created test lead..
  

Troubleshooting / FAQ

• Why did I receive an error message in the browser? Verify that the field names in your test URL match the CRM field names in the Import Fields section exactly. Field names are case-sensitive and must not contain extra spaces.
• The test succeeded, but fields are missing in the contact record. What happened? Check the spelling of your URL query parameters. If a parameter name does not match an active Import Fields label, FORTH creates the record but ignores the unmapped field.

Assistance

For further assistance, please reach out to support@setforth.com