Beta Testers
The house rules, the vibes, and how to help.
Welcome — read this first
First off, thank you. Seriously. Beta testing is unpaid work and you're doing it anyway — that's the only reason this project gets better. Before anything else, please skim the rules below. They set the tone for how this whole thing works.
House Rules
I'm in pain 24/7. If I'm being an ass, say so. I apologize ahead of time.
Chronic pain has a way of leaking into how I write things. If a reply comes across as short, sharp, or grumpy — call it out. I'd rather know and clear the air than have you assume the worst.
I typo all the time — my brain works faster than my fingers. I care that it works, not that I mis-used "there" or "their." This is not English class. Don't be a 🥒 — no one wants to hear that you're a vegetarian.
If a typo genuinely makes something unclear or unreadable, sure — point it out. Otherwise just answer the actual question. Grammar pedantry is its own flavor of Rule 3.
If you're being an ass, you may get warned, you may get banned. Depends on why.
One bad day is fine — we all have them (see Rule 1). Repeated hostility, harassment, or making the space worse for other testers is not. Warnings come first, bans come if the warning didn't land.
This is done out of pocket, on people's free time. If we don't respond right away, just assume we were gravely attacked by a leprechaun wearing a purple pimp suit carrying a titanium cane — and hope we can respond when able.
Yes, the leprechaun is canon. No, we will not be taking questions about the titanium cane.
Everyone has different sleep and work schedules. If you don't want to be contacted at a certain time, let everyone know — and accept our apologies when we forget.
Mirror of Rule 4, basically. We don't expect you to drop everything to reply to us, and you shouldn't expect that of us either. Quiet hours are valid — just say them out loud so we know.
The only dumb question is the one not asked — or the one answered with a simple Google search. =P
Ask anything. Genuinely. The worst that happens is we link you to the docs page that already covers it, and now you know it exists.
Your level of involvement can be as much or as little as you want. Just tell us if you want more or less (see Rule 6).
Some testers run weekly waffles and file detailed reports. Some lurk and pop in once a month. Both are completely valid. Just let us know roughly where you're at so we don't either ghost you or spam you.
Dani and Crysis have the final say on things — but they're busy. Ask me first before reaching out to them. Unless it's about a waffle they're actively running — in that case, go straight to them. Don't ask me about their live waffles. I'll just take your spots. 🦖 Dinosaur rawr.
The order: me first for anything project-related, escalation questions, or "is this a bug or am I holding it wrong" stuff. Direct to them only for their own active drops — I am not a middleman for their live waffles, I am a participant who will absolutely steal your numbers.
You don't have to install anything. We have a dev site for testing — you can poke at beta builds in the browser without touching Docker, Compose, or a terminal. The self-hosted Docker setup is there if you want it, but it's 100% optional. DM or Discord for the link and password (it's gated for now since it's running out of my home lab).
Beta testing is most useful when it's a mix of technical folks and the artists/collectors who actually run waffles in the wild. If you've never run docker compose in your life, you're still exactly the kind of tester we want — the dev site is for you.
I hate creating documentation. Expect this list to expand at any time.
If a rule shows up here it's because something happened that made writing it down feel less painful than explaining it again. Check back occasionally.
How to Help
The most useful things beta testers can do, in rough order of impact:
- Run a real waffle on a beta build. Nothing finds bugs faster than actual buyers tapping actual spots.
- Report what broke and what you expected instead. Even one-line reports help. Screenshots help more.
- Note anything that felt awkward, even if it technically "worked." Friction is a bug too.
- Suggest features — especially small ones. The random spot picker in v0.1.21-beta started as an Instagram DM from @OrangeSoJuicy. If you want a suggestion tracked rather than buried in chat, file it as a GitHub issue (see Feature Requests).
- Test inside Instagram's in-app browser. That's where most real buyers actually claim spots, and it behaves differently from desktop Chrome. To get there: send yourself the dev site link in an Instagram DM, then tap it from inside the IG app — the link opens in the in-app browser. Bugs that only show up here are gold (and easy to miss otherwise).
Reporting Bugs
When something goes wrong, the most helpful report includes:
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What you were doing | Helps us reproduce it. "Tried to claim spots 4 and 7 as a buyer" beats "claim broke." |
| What you expected to happen | Sometimes the behavior is intentional and the expectation is the actual bug to fix. |
| What actually happened | Error message text, blank screens, wrong numbers — anything visible. |
| Build version | Look at the footer — it shows the version (e.g. v0.1.22 for stable, v0.1.23-beta.0 for a beta). Critical for knowing if a fix already shipped. |
| Browser / device | "Instagram in-app on iPhone" vs "Chrome on a laptop" are basically different platforms. |
| Screenshot (if visual) | Worth a thousand words. |
Feature Requests (Optional)
Feature ideas dropped in chat or DMs are great, but they tend to scroll away and get lost. If you have a suggestion you want to actually stick, the most durable place for it is a GitHub issue. They're public, searchable, get tagged into milestones, and can be linked from the commits that ship the feature.
This is completely optional — DMs and Discord still work. It's just the better tool if you want your idea tracked.
Using GitHub Mobile (recommended for non-developers)
You do not need to know git, have a terminal, or write any code. The GitHub mobile app handles everything from your phone — installing it takes a minute, and filing an issue from the app is roughly the same effort as sending a long Instagram DM.
Install
- iOS: App Store — GitHub
- Android: Play Store — GitHub
If you don't have a GitHub account yet, sign up for a free one inside the app — it takes about 60 seconds and doesn't ask for a credit card.
File a feature request (or bug)
- Open the GitHub app and sign in.
- Use the search tab to find
notfixingit3/waffle, then star it so it's pinned in your "Home" tab for next time. - Tap the repo → Issues tab → + New Issue.
- Title: a short, plain-English summary (e.g. "Pin winning spot to the top of the grid").
- Body: what you want, why you want it, and what the current behavior is if applicable. Screenshots welcome.
- Tap Submit. Done.
The same flow works for bug reports too — same form, same place.
Current Beta Build
main and dev are at the same commit, so there's nothing pre-release-only to test against stable right this moment.
The dev site stays up — please keep using it to gut-check regressions, file bugs you spot in v0.1.22 stable, and try out random spot selection / payment methods in the wild. As soon as a new feature lands on
dev ahead of main, this section will name it.
The latest stable is v0.1.22 (June 10, 2026). There are two ways to test it:
🌐 Easiest: use the dev site
A dev site always runs the current beta build. No installation, no Docker, no terminal. Open it in your browser — including inside the Instagram app — and you're in.
How to get in: DM or hit the Discord server for the link and password. The site is gated because it currently runs out of my home lab (see Rule 9).
🐳 Self-hosted: pull the Docker image
If you want to run your own copy (great for poking at the admin/database side, or testing behind a real domain):
WAFFLE_VERSION=v0.1.22 docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -dSee the Getting Started and Deployment guides for the full setup. When a fresh beta tag drops (next would be v0.1.23-beta.0), pin to that instead.
What to poke at right now
v0.1.22 is fresh — the things most worth stress-testing:
- Payment methods (NEW) — create a few entries under Management → Payment Methods, then select them on a waffle via the new multi-select checkboxes. Do the icons and links render correctly on the public page (especially inside the IG in-app browser)? Do soft-deleted methods disappear from new waffles while still rendering on old ones?
- Management dropdown rename — does anything in the wiki, screenshots, or your muscle memory still call it "Admin Tools"? Flag mismatches.
- Random spot selection on the public waffle page — does the "Pick Random Spots" flow feel right? Edge cases when requested count exceeds available?
- Live stats counter on the manage page — does the available/pending/paid count update smoothly when other people claim or pay?
- Multiple winners on multi-item waffles — does the winner dropdown / selection feel reasonable when there are 3+ items?
See the v0.1.22 changelog for the full list of recent changes.
Getting in Touch
- Discord — Notfixingit's Sandbox — the main hangout for beta testers and the place to ask for the dev site link/password. DM me on Instagram for an invite (or ask anyone already in the server).
- Instagram DMs — fine for quick "hey is this a known issue?" pings, and the way to get a Discord invite if you don't have one yet. Slower for back-and-forth than Discord.
- GitHub issues — github.com/notfixingit3/waffle/issues — best place for bug reports and feature suggestions. Public, searchable, won't get lost in chat history.
- Project Syrup site — projectsyrup.app — for general project context.
Who to contact: me first for anything project-related (bugs, features, escalation questions, general "is this normal?" stuff). Go directly to Dani or Crysis only if it's about a waffle they are actively running — see Rule 8.
Thanks for being here. The leprechaun salutes you.