Now Getting Started with Selenium IDE

Started with Selenium IDE

Testing automation is growing in popularity over the years because teams do
not have the time or money to invest in large test teams to make sure that
applications work as they are expected. Developers also want to make sure
that the code they have created works as they expect it to.
Selenium is one of the most well known testing frameworks in the world that
is in use. It is an open source project that allows testers and developers alike to
develop functional tests to drive the browser. It can be used to record workflows
so that developers can prevent future regressions of code. Selenium can work
on any browser that supports JavaScript, since Selenium has been built using
JavaScript.

Very Important preliminary points.

Before we start working through this chapter we need to make sure that Mozilla Firefox

is installed on your machine. If you do not have Mozilla Firefox installed you will need to

download it.

What Selenium IDE

Selenium IDE was developed to allow testers and developers to record their actions as they

follow the workflow that they need to test. 

Selenium IDE is a Firefox Add-on developed originally by Shinya as a way to use the

original Selenium Core code without having to copy Selenium Core onto the server. Selenium

Core is the key JavaScript modules that allow Selenium to drive the browser. It has been

developed using JavaScript so that it can interact with DOM (Document Object Model) using

native JavaScript calls.

Easy installing Selenium IDE

Now that we understand what Selenium IDE is, it is a good time to install it. At the end of

these steps, you will have successfully installed Selenium IDE on to your computer:

1. Go to http://seleniumhq.org/download

2. Click on the download link for Selenium IDE. You may see a message appear saying

Firefox prevented this site (seleniumhq.org) from asking you to install software on

your computer. If you do, click the Allow button.

3. A Firefox prompt will appear, as shown in the following screenshot:

4. You will then be asked if you would like to install Selenium IDE and the exporter

add-ons. These have been made pluggable to the IDE by the work that Adam

Goucher did. You will see a screen like the following appear:

5. Once the countdown has finished on the Install button, it will become active; click it.

This will now install Selenium IDE and formatters as Firefox Add-ons.

6. Once the install process is complete it will ask you to restart Firefox. Click the Restart

Now button. Firefox will close and then re-open. If you have anything open in another

browser it might be worth saving your work, as Firefox will try to go back to its original

state but this cannot be guaranteed.

7. Once the installation is complete, the Add-ons window will show the Selenium IDE

and its current version: