Why Selenium IDE 4 Is a Game‑Changer for Web Test Automation

The new Selenium IDE 4 brings a stronger, more complete, and easier‑to‑use record‑and‑playback tool for web test automation, available for both Chrome and Firefox.

Key enhancements include a modular plugin system, a NodeJS‑based CLI runner that supports WebDriver playback, parallel test execution with timing and pass/fail reporting, and built‑in CI/CD capabilities.

History of Selenium IDE

First released in 2006 as a Firefox‑only extension, Selenium IDE allowed users to record interactions and generate Selenium test scripts without any special setup. The latest version (3.17.0) now supports Chrome as well, and can be downloaded from the official links:

Chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/selenium-ide/mooikfkahbdckldjjndioackbalphokd?hl=en

Firefox add‑on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/selenium-ide/

Main Features of Selenium IDE 4

Test execution: run individual tests or full test suites.

Cross‑browser testing via SIDE files.

Debugging with breakpoints and pause on exceptions.

Rich command set for assertions, script injection, loops, etc.

Logic control with commands such as if, if..else, while.

Test case reuse across suites.

Selenese command grouping for organized scripts.

Test scripts stored as JSON files for easy modification and comparison.

A recorded test case example (JSON) is shown below, illustrating commands like open, setWindowSize, click, type, and sendKeys:

{
  "id": "ab514091-68ca-4b4c-a232-587a0b82fcaa",
  "version": "2.0",
  "name": "FunTester",
  "url": "https://cn.bing.com",
  "tests": [{
    "id": "e34fd206-9ab8-4a6c-a543-0f80d1ba3fe9",
    "name": "FunTester",
    "commands": [{
      "id": "92e8a427-e37e-4c6b-88c4-718d4e6c606e",
      "command": "open",
      "target": "/",
      "value": ""
    }, {
      "id": "780adf28-4694-4c2b-fbd1-74e09bf80775",
      "command": "setWindowSize",
      "target": "1680x1027",
      "value": ""
    }, {
      "id": "2d8284e8-8475-4d75-9740-b407d6317b95",
      "command": "click",
      "target": "id=sb_form_q",
      "value": ""
    }, {
      "id": "ddd0e97d-6474-4a3e-a260-02f3a573f84f",
      "command": "type",
      "target": "id=sb_form_q",
      "value": "FunTester"
    }, {
      "id": "959e1353-de22-4997-9b26-3ed02a55d3d6",
      "command": "sendKeys",
      "target": "id=sb_form_q",
      "value": "${KEY_ENTER}"
    }, {
      "id": "d964cc49-1d76-41e2-b2aa-e0ad34da2999",
      "command": "click",
      "target": "linkText=FunTester - 知乎",
      "opensWindow": true,
      "windowHandleName": "win2584",
      "windowTimeout": 2000
    }]
  }],
  "suites": [{
    "id": "5915a8a1-cce3-42f9-ad68-5022d7fcfc1f",
    "name": "Default Suite",
    "persistSession": false,
    "parallel": false,
    "timeout": 300,
    "tests": ["e34fd206-9ab8-4a6c-a543-0f80d1ba3fe9"]
  }],
  "urls": ["https://cn.bing.com/"],
  "plugins": []
}

For testers needing automated browser testing, Selenium IDE 4 offers a powerful, extensible solution, and the author plans to publish step‑by‑step tutorials on its advanced features such as parallel and distributed testing.