diff --git a/doc/en/plugins_index.py b/doc/en/plugins_index.py
index 0e6caa1ec..17765d146 100644
--- a/doc/en/plugins_index.py
+++ b/doc/en/plugins_index.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ from collections import namedtuple
 import datetime
 from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 import itertools
+from optparse import OptionParser
 import os
 import sys
 import xmlrpclib
@@ -126,7 +127,17 @@ def generate_plugins_index_from_table(filename, headers, rows):
         print >> f, get_row_limiter('=')
         print >> f
         
-        print >> f, '*(Last updated: %s)*' % datetime.date.today().strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
+        print >> f, '*(Updated on %s)*' % _get_today_as_str()
+        
+
+#===================================================================================================
+# _get_today_as_str
+#===================================================================================================
+def _get_today_as_str():
+    '''
+    internal. only exists so we can patch it in testing.
+    '''
+    return datetime.date.today().strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
 
 
 #===================================================================================================
@@ -148,9 +159,16 @@ def generate_plugins_index(client, filename):
 # main
 #===================================================================================================
 def main(argv):
-    client = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy('http://pypi.python.org/pypi')
     filename = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'plugins_index.txt')
-    generate_plugins_index(client, filename)
+    url = 'http://pypi.python.org/pypi'
+    
+    parser = OptionParser(description='Generates a restructured document of pytest plugins from PyPi')
+    parser.add_option('-f', '--filename', default=filename, help='output filename [default: %default]')
+    parser.add_option('-u', '--url', default=url, help='url of PyPi server to obtain data from [default: %default]')
+    (options, _) = parser.parse_args(argv[1:])
+
+    client = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy(options.url)
+    generate_plugins_index(client, options.filename)
     print 'OK'
     return 0
 
diff --git a/doc/en/test_plugins_index.py b/doc/en/test_plugins_index.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4183a9e13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/en/test_plugins_index.py
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+import os
+import xmlrpclib
+
+
+#===================================================================================================
+# test_plugins_index
+#===================================================================================================
+def test_plugins_index(tmpdir, monkeypatch):
+    '''
+    Blackbox testing for plugins_index script. Calls main() generating a file and compares produced
+    output to expected.
+    
+    .. note:: if the test fails, a file named `test_plugins_index.obtained` will be generated in
+    the same directory as this test file. Ensure the contents are correct and overwrite
+    the global `expected_output` with the new contents. 
+    '''
+    import plugins_index
+    
+    # dummy interface to xmlrpclib.ServerProxy
+    class DummyProxy(object):
+        
+        expected_url = 'http://dummy.pypi'
+        def __init__(self, url):
+            assert url == self.expected_url
+        
+        def search(self, query):
+            assert query == {'name' : 'pytest-'}
+            return [
+                {'name': 'pytest-plugin1', 'version' : '0.8'},
+                {'name': 'pytest-plugin1', 'version' : '1.0'},
+                {'name': 'pytest-plugin2', 'version' : '1.2'},
+            ]
+            
+        def release_data(self, package_name, version):
+            results = {
+                ('pytest-plugin1', '1.0') : {
+                    'package_url' : 'http://plugin1',
+                    'release_url' : 'http://plugin1/1.0',
+                    'author' : 'someone',
+                    'author_email' : 'someone@py.com',
+                    'summary' : 'some plugin',
+                },
+                
+                ('pytest-plugin2', '1.2') : {
+                    'package_url' : 'http://plugin2',
+                    'release_url' : 'http://plugin2/1.2',
+                    'author' : 'other',
+                    'author_email' : 'other@py.com',
+                    'summary' : 'some other plugin',
+                },
+            }
+            
+            return results[(package_name, version)]
+            
+    
+    monkeypatch.setattr(xmlrpclib, 'ServerProxy', DummyProxy, 'foo')
+    monkeypatch.setattr(plugins_index, '_get_today_as_str', lambda: '2013-10-20')
+    
+    output_file = str(tmpdir.join('output.txt'))
+    assert plugins_index.main(['', '-f', output_file, '-u', DummyProxy.expected_url]) == 0
+    
+    with file(output_file, 'rU') as f:
+        obtained_output = f.read()
+
+        if obtained_output != expected_output:
+            obtained_file = os.path.splitext(__file__)[0] + '.obtained'
+            with file(obtained_file, 'w') as f:
+                f.write(obtained_output)
+
+        assert obtained_output == expected_output
+
+
+expected_output = '''\
+.. _plugins_index:
+
+List of Third-Party Plugins
+===========================
+
+==================================== ============================= ============================= ===================
+                Name                            Version                       Author                   Summary      
+==================================== ============================= ============================= ===================
+ `pytest-plugin1 <http://plugin1>`_   `1.0 <http://plugin1/1.0>`_   `someone <someone@py.com>`_      some plugin    
+ `pytest-plugin2 <http://plugin2>`_   `1.2 <http://plugin2/1.2>`_     `other <other@py.com>`_     some other plugin 
+
+==================================== ============================= ============================= ===================
+
+*(Updated on 2013-10-20)*
+'''