{"id":9692,"date":"2020-07-28T15:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/?p=9692"},"modified":"2020-11-13T14:12:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T13:12:56","slug":"wordpress-browser-compatibility-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wordpress-browser-compatibility-test\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Test Browser Compatibility in WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Name a field or a niche of the digital world, and you\u2019ll find a big company whose name is practically \u2014 or sometimes even literally \u2014 synonymous with it. Online shopping? Amazon. Searching the web? Google. Creating a blog or a website? WordPress. A handful of large players dominates the internet and everything on it[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]But even such a landscape has room for variety. Take the internet browser market as an example. Sure, there\u2019s one entity \u2014 Chrome \u2014 that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerworld.com\/article\/3199425\/top-web-browsers-2020-chrome-becomes-third-browser-ever-with-more-than-70.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">controls over two-thirds of it<\/a>. But there are at least three or four other popular web browsers your visitors might be using. That variety is the reason you need WordPress browser compatibility testing for your website.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]In this article, we\u2019ll show you:[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;22px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#the-importance-of-browser-compatibility-tests\">The Importance of Browser Compatibility Tests<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#the-types-of-issues\">The Types of Issues They Can Bring to Light<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#the-types-of-browser-compatibility-testing\">The Types of Browser Compatibility Testing You Can Perform<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#which-tools-to-use\">Which Tools to Use for Cross-Browser Testing?<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;70px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"the-importance-of-browser-compatibility-tests\"><\/a>Why Are Browser Compatibility Tests in WordPress Important?<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"389\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-Are-Browser-Compatibility-Tests-Important.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Why Are Browser Compatibility Tests Important\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-Are-Browser-Compatibility-Tests-Important.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-Are-Browser-Compatibility-Tests-Important-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-Are-Browser-Compatibility-Tests-Important-620x345.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]When you\u2019re creating a website, one of the things you\u2019re engaged in is designing a user experience. <strong>Everything from the color scheme, images, and video you\u2019ve used for the website to the copy of a CTAs button and its placement will affect user experience<\/strong>. The scaling and visibility of different website elements and the users\u2019 ability to navigate the website easily are incredibly important, too.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]If you care about your website\u2019s visitors, which is something you should do, you\u2019ll act to ensure they have a pleasant experience. So perhaps you\u2019ll use a premium theme that\u2019s appropriate for your website\u2019s theme, like an <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/theme-category\/education-wordpress-themes\/\">education WordPress theme<\/a> for an education website. You\u2019ll take steps to optimize your website, perhaps by <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-optimize-images-for-web\/\">optimizing the images<\/a> on it.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]And when that critical work is behind you, you\u2019ll want to test the website. <strong>One of the ways you can check it would be to see and browse it the way your visitors will<\/strong>. But they can access the site from at least three types of devices, run by any one of four or five large operating systems. <strong>And there are at least five different browsers your visitors can use \u2014 each with more than a handful of versions<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Even if you stick with browsers alone, it would be impractical, if not almost impossible, to test your website on every version of every browser. <strong>But that\u2019s what browser compatibility testing tools are for \u2014 to do the bulk of the grunt work for you<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"the-types-of-issues\"><\/a>What Kinds of Issues Can You Find?<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"389\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/What-Kinds-of-Issues-Can-You-Find.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"What Kinds of Issues Can You Find\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/What-Kinds-of-Issues-Can-You-Find.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/What-Kinds-of-Issues-Can-You-Find-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/What-Kinds-of-Issues-Can-You-Find-620x345.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]When you test your website for cross-browser compatibility, it would be best to understand what kinds of errors you\u2019ll be searching for. As you\u2019ll soon learn, not all tools can test for all mistakes. <strong>If you want to perform cross-browser testing on a budget, you\u2019ll need to do a lot of it the hard way<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]It can save you a lot of time to know what to look for. It will also help to know which browsers you get the most traffic from. You might not have that data when building a new website. But if you\u2019re redesigning an existing website, you\u2019ll easily find the information you need in <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/getting-started-with-google-analytics\/\">Google Analytics<\/a>. <strong>That way, you\u2019ll know which browsers are the worthiest of manual inspection<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]You might notice that some elements fail to load in specific browsers. Or the layout varies from one browser to another. <strong>These are some of the mistakes you can quickly catch with a visual inspection<\/strong>. Issues with navigation and functional elements will require more thorough testing. <strong>The only way to identify a link or a button that does nothing when you click on them is to click on them<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Most of the time, the problems you\u2019ll be facing when viewing your website on different browsers stem from them not being on the same page regarding the handling of specific technologies. <strong>A lot of the time, it will have to do with CSS<\/strong>. For example, the current versions of Chrome, 83, and Firefox, 76, don\u2019t support the <a href=\"https:\/\/caniuse.com\/#feat=css-color-function\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CSS color function<\/a>, while Safari and iOS Safari do. These are the things that can cause the issue of how the website looks.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"the-types-of-browser-compatibility-testing\"><\/a>Types of WordPress Browser Compatibility Testing<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"389\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Types-of-Browser-Compatibility-Testing.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Types of Browser Compatibility Testing\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Types-of-Browser-Compatibility-Testing.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Types-of-Browser-Compatibility-Testing-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Types-of-Browser-Compatibility-Testing-620x345.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>There are two types of testing you can do, interactive manual testing, and screenshot comparison<\/strong>. Most of the testing tools you can use will offer you both. The ones we\u2019ll recommend will have support for both kinds of testing.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]With interactive manual testing, you\u2019re loading your website in an emulated or real combination of a browser, operating system, and a device. <strong>You can poke around there, see what works and what doesn\u2019t, and generally test your website manually<\/strong>. That\u2019s a great way to test everything that\u2019s not merely a visual component of the website.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Screenshot comparison is where you test the website\u2019s visuals.<strong> These tools will automatically take many screenshots on various combinations of browser versions and operating systems and present you with the result<\/strong>. You\u2019ll be able to see where your website fails to load correctly, and you\u2019ll use that info to fine-tune it.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;81px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=&#8221;custom&#8221; accent_color=&#8221;#f0f0f0&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=&#8221;top-picks-banner&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_separator color=&#8221;custom&#8221; accent_color=&#8221;#f0f0f0&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"which-tools-to-use\"><\/a>Which Tools to Use for Cross-Browser Testing?<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]You\u2019ll have plenty of options when it comes to picking the best cross-browser compatibility testing tool for your website. You should be aware, however, that apart from <a href=\"http:\/\/browsershots.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BrowserShots<\/a>, a tool that only lets you take snapshots of your website in different browsers, <strong>most of the tools you can use will be premium or offer a limited free plan<\/strong>. Here are a couple of popular choices.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">LambdaTest<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;24px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"389\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/LambdaTest.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"LambdaTest\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/LambdaTest.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/LambdaTest-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/LambdaTest-620x345.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lambdatest.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LambdaTest<\/a> is a cross-browser testing cloud solution that lets you see how your website behaves in over 2000 different combinations of operating systems, devices, browsers, and browser versions. It comes with lots of integration options to make testing easier for you and your team. <strong>It can, for example, integrate with communication tools such as Slack, as well as project management tools such as Trello. LambdaTest offers limited monthly testing capabilities free of charge<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">BrowserStack<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;24px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"389\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BrowserStack.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"BrowserStack\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BrowserStack.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BrowserStack-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BrowserStack-620x345.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<a href=\"https:\/\/www.browserstack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BrowserStack<\/a> is another tool that boasts over 2000 different combinations where you can test your website. <strong>The service offers a native testing experience for improved accuracy, as well as features such as geolocation testing and display resolution simulation. BrowserStack provides a limited free trial before you sign up for the paid version<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">CrossBrowserTesting<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;24px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"389\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/CrossBrowserTesting.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"CrossBrowserTesting\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/CrossBrowserTesting.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/CrossBrowserTesting-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/CrossBrowserTesting-620x345.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Yet another tool that touts the number of browser combinations it lets you use for testing, <a href=\"https:\/\/crossbrowsertesting.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CrossBrowserTesting<\/a> will offer you <strong>native debugging tools and testing on real devices, not emulators. Available for free during a trial period, CrossBrowserTesting is a premium tool<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\">Let\u2019s Wrap It Up!<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]If you\u2019re keen on launching a WordPress website, you might as well make sure that people who land on it can see it and use it correctly, right? But because there are so many ways to access a website today, properly testing the site is often easier said than done. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]But not if you have the right tools for the job. Sure, the right tools are almost always premium tools, but they can offer tremendous help when it comes to expanding your capacity to test the website. Just remember that, even though the services are helpful, you\u2019ll still need to invest some time into the testing as well.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Need a way to test your WordPress website&#8217;s browser compatibility? It&#8217;s easy to do if you have the right tools. We&#8217;ll show you which ones are the best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9295,"featured_media":9697,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4,39,13],"class_list":["post-9692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-tips","tag-tools","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}