Can you test new versions without publishing it on the portal?

[Sesame_Slayer]

I want to update my mod, but I don't want to have it public so that, in case of any bugs, no one will update to the buggy version, and also I don't like going through the trouble of releasing a new version. How could I test my mod? simply putting it in the mods folder and updating the mod list doesn't work. I believe that it has to be on the mod portal for it to recognize the file. Is there a way around this? Am I missing something?

[Loewchen]

You don't need the mod portal at all to mod the game, if your game does not recognize a mod in your mods folder then you must be doing something wrong.

[Sesame_Slayer]

I'll try again.

Edit: I don't know what I did differently, but it worked this time. sorry for being an inconvenience.

Edit, again: actually, that's exactly what happened, PI-C. Found the error.

[Pi-C]

I'll try again.

Check the log file! If your mod isn't loaded it may be because of some stupid mistake, like a comma in the wrong place in info.json.