How to Use AutoBrowser for QA Testing on Staging Sites

After each deploy to a staging site, someone usually clicks through the main pages to check nothing looks broken. AutoBrowser can do the clicking part: it plays a folder of bookmarked pages one after another, so you just watch. It's a visual smoke check, not a replacement for automated tests.

1. Build a page list

Create a bookmark folder, such as "Staging check", with one page of each type:

• Home, a category or listing page, and a detail page.
• Sign-in and account pages.
• Cart or checkout steps, where you can open them directly.
• Error pages, such as a 404.
• Pages with complex layouts, embeds or forms.

2. Sign in first

If staging is behind a password or sign-in, sign in in the tab before you start, so each page loads normally.

3. Choose the timing

AutoBrowser shows each page for a time you set, from one second to five minutes, and loops at the end. Five to ten seconds per page is usually enough to spot broken layouts. It reloads each page as it comes round, so a second loop after a fix shows the new version.

4. Check phone sizes

Open DevTools in the same tab and turn on the device toolbar (Ctrl + Shift + M). The tab keeps the phone size as AutoBrowser moves between pages, so you can run a whole loop at a phone width.

5. Avoid stale files

With DevTools open, tick "Disable cache" in the Network panel, so each page loads the latest styles and scripts rather than cached ones.

What to watch for

• Missing images, icons or fonts.
• Overlapping text or content running off the screen.
• Blank sections where data should load.
• Error messages or unstyled pages.
• Red error counts in the DevTools Console.

Keep a list as you go. Sticky Notes Anywhere lets you jot notes on the page itself.

What it doesn't do

AutoBrowser doesn't click buttons, fill forms, take screenshots or check results. For those, use proper tools:

• End-to-end tests with Playwright or Cypress for key journeys like sign-up and checkout.
• Visual comparison tools that flag pixel differences between builds.
• Link checkers and Lighthouse for performance and accessibility.

See extensions for QA testers and automated accessibility testing.