Every Fontdue site comes with a test mode – a sandboxed copy of your store where you can run end-to-end test purchases, experiment with settings, and trial new features without affecting your live customers. Switch into it from the dropdown next to your site name in the sidebar.
What test mode actually is
Test mode is a second, independent Fontdue store linked to your live one. It has its own database, settings, fonts, licenses, customers, and orders – none of which are shared with live. The only thing the two stores have in common is your Stripe account: test mode talks to your same Stripe Connect account but uses Stripe’s test API, so charges go through as test transactions in your Stripe dashboard.
A few things follow from this:
- Data doesn’t flow between modes. Anything you create in test – fonts, licenses, settings, even your store currency – only exists in the test store.
- There’s no migration from test to live. When you’re ready to launch, set up your live store separately. Treat test mode as a place to learn the product and try things out, not as staging that gets promoted later.
- Test orders are Stripe test transactions. They appear in the Test mode tab of your Stripe dashboard, not your live data.
Switching modes
Click your site name in the top of the sidebar and select Test mode from the dropdown. You’re taken to your test store, which lives at its own URL: https://your-site--test.fontdue.com. A Test mode badge appears next to your site name so you always know where you are. Click the dropdown again and choose Exit test mode to switch back.
Your test store is created alongside your live store at signup, but starts empty. You’ll need to upload fonts, set up licenses, and configure the rest independently – nothing is copied over from live.
Stripe in test mode
Test mode is wired to your live store’s Stripe account, but every API call runs against Stripe’s test mode. Use Stripe test cards (e.g. 4242 4242 4242 4242 with any future expiration and any CVC) at checkout, and the resulting orders appear in the Test mode tab of your Stripe dashboard.
You can complete Fontdue’s Stripe onboarding from test mode, before ever flipping to live – test orders work as soon as the account is created, even before Stripe has finished verifying you. See Payments with Stripe for the full onboarding walkthrough.
Cross-origin and external integrations
The cross-origin allowlist is per-store, so domains you’ve added to your live store’s Cross-origin allowlist aren’t carried over. If you’re testing Fontdue components on an external site, add that domain to Settings → Integration in the test store as well.
When pointing fontdue-js at the test store, change the url parameter to your test subdomain:
fontdue.initialize({ url: "https://your-site--test.fontdue.com" });