To test the OTU mapping features, use Whitmore, 2013 on devtree. This has a number of non-standard taxon labels which should fail the standard "quick" mapping tool. Then try "Fuzzy matches" on the first few OTUs. Some (like Sarcophaga mediterranea) will fail to get even a fuzzy match, but most will return a list of possible matches. Clicking any match will accept it, just as if a single match had been accepted with the "check" button. Clicking the "X" rejects all the suggested matches.
Once you see a list of possible matches, click the "key" link to see a popup explaining the colors and opacity. Mousing over any match in a list will show the same information.
Back in the synth-tree viewer, you can confirm the presence of working taxon search (context list appears) on the Contact page.
Other changes (to visualization and resource downloads) should be available for review on files.opentreeoflife.org, since these are generally deployed immediately from the local repo, by the person who made the changes.
There is a test script for the to_nexson method (the service that converts and imports studies from uploaded files or pasted text) in curator/test/test.sh.