Maruf scribbled this post.
It was only the other day that I was complaining about how cross-browser testing is a pain. While I still think it’s a total pain in the ass, I just found a little tool that made it a little less painful.
Having built the first draft of a website, I usually do a standard test in this order:
- 1) check on windows XP if the CSS renders ok in I.E 6/7, Firefox, and Safari.
- 2) jump onto a Mac and check if the CSS renders fine
- 3) jump onto Linux and check if the CSS renders fine
As you can imagine, a total pain. Anyways, I was just informed about an online tool over at browsershots which makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. It’s all very cool and clever.
All you need to do is slip in the url of your site, select the browsers/Operating Systems that you want to test on, hit the submit button, and voilà. The result is that you get a screenshot of what your site will look like from all the browser and Operating System combinations you ticked.
Granted, it’s not the perfect solution because a virtual screenshot will never beat actual testing, but it definitely helps pick out obvious visual problems. I wouldn’t use this tool to completely abandon actual cross-platform testing, but it’s a helpful tool.
Don’t know what I’m talking about? Then just try it out yourself.
feel free to leave a scribble