5 Ways to Test Web Pages Across Several Web Browsers
It took me three weeks to code Project Afterlight Burnt Edition. In the first week, I made sure that my design displayed properly in Firefox 2. Luckily, it did. However, I wouldn’t want my Web pages to be viewable only in Firefox. What about in different versions of Internet Explorer? What about Opera, Safari and Konqueror? Without support for these browsers, I’ll surely lose 70% of my readership. So in the second week, I began altering my CSS code to accommodate Opera 9.21 Web browsers. A few minor adjustments here and there, then it was fixed. Little did I know that my ordeal has just begun.
My design was rendered so badly in IE7 and I was about to drop the whole project. I even thought of getting back to square one. That means that I’ll be testing my design in Firefox again, which actually took me a week to code. It was a tough decision until a couple of days later, I finally got a hint. It was a combination of browsing through my CSS e-books and hopping through a variety of discussion forums that I realized the role of container DIVs in Internet Explorer. 2 days for 2 lines of code was a hard lesson for me. I had no choice but to charge it to experience.
In the third week, it was all good stuff. It was finally time to test the layout of my Web pages. I tested Project Afterlight Burnt edition in IE5.5, IE6, Konqueror, Safari and previous versions of Opera. It was rendered well in the Web browsers except IE5.5. Now you may ask, How were you able to do that with only one computer? Well, I used browser screenshot services and a nifty program. But there are other methods to test your Web pages. Let’s begin with the rundown.
1. Running Multiple Versions of Internet Explorer
Some of you may have already heard of the method posted at PositionIsEverything, but in case you didn’t know, the updated article mentioned a nifty program available so you can install multiple versions of IE in one click (Windows only).
2. Virtual Machines
If you want to test your Web pages in different Web browsers on Linux, you can use virtual machines. VMware Workstation is a popular virtual machine application in Windows. You can then download a bunch of Linux distros and install them as guest operating systems. On the other hand, Mac users can use Boot Camp so they can emulate Windows. For Linux users, there’s Wine.
VMware Workstation
3. Multiple Booting
If time isn’t an issue and if you’re inclined enough, then go ahead and install multiple operating systems in your PC. However, Mac OS is an exception.
4. Linux Live CDs
If memory and hard disk space requirements are one of your problems when running virtual machines, use Live CD’s instead. Aside from low memory and hard disk space demands, your Windows operating system will also be safe from unexpected data corruption problems while running Linux temporarily. The LiveCD List has a long list of (what else?) Live CD’s for you to download.
Here are a few Live CD’s to get you started:
5. Browser Screenshots
With browser screenshots, you won’t be able to test the functionalities of your Web pages. The very purpose of this service is to provide you with a screen shot of your Web pages so you can quickly spot layout problems. Here are a few that I’ve used:
Test Shot Your Web Pages in Safari
- BrowsrCamp
- BrowserShots.org (long queue)
- iCapture (currently not working)
- lixlpixel Screenshot Generator (currently not working)
Test Shot Your Web Pages in Internet Explorer
- IE NetRenderer
- ieCapture (long queue)
Test Shot Your Web Pages in Konqueror, Opera and a few more
- BrowserShots.org (long queue)
Paid Services
- BrowserCam (screenshots only)
- BrowsrCamp (live test on a Mac)
Browsershots.org is, in my opinion, the best free screen shot service because of its extensive factories of Web browsers and operating systems. However, a wait time of 4 hours sometimes isn’t enough for 4 browser screen shot requests. For browser specific needs, in this case, IE or Safari, then IE NetRenderer and BrowsrCamp almost always give you instant screenies.
I hope this article can help you test your Web pages in the cheapest and most efficient way. And by the way, good luck on your quest for cross-browser compatibility.
Update:
Safari for Windows has already been released.
June 7th, 2007 at 0:33
[...] Continue reading… [...]
June 7th, 2007 at 16:44
[...] stumbled on the article about “5 Ways to Test Web Pages Across Several Web Browsers” at Project Afterlight before I intended to. Perhaps it leapt out at me as I was going through my Technorati Fans earlier [...]
June 8th, 2007 at 17:30
Dude… that is a long list of testing.. bet it gives you headache… anyway is there any free software for browser cam?
June 8th, 2007 at 18:47
Unfortunately bro, there is none at the moment. But you can sign-up for a free 24 hour evaluation. That seems a good deal to me.
June 12th, 2007 at 21:55
Wow …. you sure spent alot of effort in making sure your site can be displayed on most browser. I just live with the limitations, I know nuts CSS and those techie stuff but I can do a plugin. Great job, great determination. You are admirable
June 13th, 2007 at 13:03
Hi Karen,
Thank you for your kind words.
It sure is a lot of effort, but making my blog accessible across several browsers is a benefit I can hardly take for granted.
July 1st, 2008 at 8:56
Speacial Thx !
July 31st, 2008 at 15:10
Thanks for this blog post, we’ve been able to get great advice. Keep up the good work.
August 1st, 2008 at 9:48
Ty admin
August 21st, 2008 at 17:19
Hi there just wanted to say i found your website really interesting .. and informational I have managed to get something good out of it .. not many sites let you get get somthing good out of what you read xx thanks xx
February 18th, 2009 at 9:07
i have never used anything except internet explorer, but lots of people i know use “firefox” ive always been way more please with IE.
February 24th, 2009 at 8:17
I use Firefox3.0 but it sometimes crashes when i am browsing.Now i use opera its good and fast.I will try IE 8 version its better than 7.Thank you.
March 3rd, 2009 at 22:06
I would imagine that multiple virtual machines running would slow your computer to a crawl. It’s something I’d like to try out though, on my budget laptop.
March 5th, 2009 at 19:49
VMs are great to avoid viruses and trojans, but they slow things down considerably! Thanks for some useful links.
March 20th, 2009 at 5:24
Thx for blog posts . . .
April 3rd, 2009 at 17:48
IE usually works well for me, if something runs fine on IE, it can run anywhere, mozilla is bit more tolerant for code errors.
April 5th, 2009 at 22:34
I’m not a pr designer, but I find it a bit of a nightmare. I work on a mac at home, and I have been building a website for work. Everything looked fine till I looked at in on IE and the algnment had totally messed up. As the old version was fine, I suspect it may be something to do with the friends connect social bar I added at the bottom.
April 6th, 2009 at 10:11
First we have to check web log statistic, to see witch browsers most used.
April 14th, 2009 at 5:40
Thanks for the details, I am always looking for better things to speed up my blogging.
April 24th, 2009 at 13:04
Does anybody know browser switcher software? I often have to check my web pages in different browsers, to check page appearance. In addition, it is taking time to copy paste URL to different browsers, such as Firefox or IE6- 7 -8.
April 24th, 2009 at 23:52
If you use Microsoft Expressions, it has a preview function that lets you view the pages in multiple Web Browsers at different resolutions. There also a free service online that will show you a screenshot of your page in like 100 different browsers/resolutions, akthough I cant recall the site.
Hope this helps.
April 25th, 2009 at 13:15
Could you recommend me any of the free services online?
Microsoft Expressions seems very complicated for me; also, I found its price about $999.
Thanks for any suggestions,
April 28th, 2009 at 22:23
I am using firefox and some it create lots of problem and slow down. it create more tolerant for code errors.thanks for your article this will help me to test my Web pages.
July 29th, 2009 at 22:53
Thanks for the details, I am always looking for better things to speed up my how to treat hemeroids blogging .
September 3rd, 2009 at 21:41
I have never done thought about this. Most of my blogs are optimized to for firefox. Recently, I read an article from Matt Cutts that the second largest portion is from Internet Explorer and following by Safari. Chrome is gaining popularity (8%) of global usage. It is important to look good in major web browsers instead concentrating on all. I would concentrate on firefox, safari, opera and chrome instead.
September 3rd, 2009 at 22:09
This is fascinating stuff, I try to optimise for Firefox and ie, never even given the others a thought until now! Thank you.
September 3rd, 2009 at 22:11
I would never have thought that Chrome had as much as 8% - this stuff is really important!