Selenium IDE Firefox add-on end of life

Martin Brinkmann
Aug 21, 2017
Updated • Aug 21, 2017
Firefox
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The Selenium IDE add-on for Firefox, an add-on used to automate tests in Firefox for web development and other testing scenarios, is not compatible with Firefox 55.

We reviewed Selenium IDE back in 2006 and concluded that it is an excellent tool in a web developer's and tester's arsenal.

Selenium is a testing software that is provided as a Firefox add-on, called Selenium IDE, and as a WebDriver version. While Selenium IDE won't work anymore in recent versions of Firefox, the WebDriver continues to be offered by the project.

WebDrivers are offered for several web browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari.

The Selenium project team announced in August 2017 that Selenium IDE is not compatible with Firefox 55 and future versions of the web browser. This means that Firefox users who used to use the extension for web testing won't be able to do so anymore if they update to Firefox 55 or newer.

The only options available are to use Firefox ESR for now, as it will support the extension until mid 2018, and to use older versions of Firefox in a safe environment (since they have security vulnerabilities that are patched in newer versions of the web browser).

Tip: Check out other options to run legacy Firefox add-ons.

Two reasons are provided for this: first, that Mozilla disables the legacy add-on functionality in Firefox 57, and has started to remove bits of it already in Firefox 55. Second, that the project lacks the time and energy to "move the IDE forwards" and "take advantage of the new technologies".

According to the announcement on the official Selenium Blog, only one person has maintained Selenium IDE since 2016.

While the original add-on for Firefox won't run in Firefox 55 and newer, efforts seem to be underway to create an IDE using modern APIs. The project will be open source, and it seems it will be available for Firefox, Chrome and other browsers that support WebExtensions.

The project is in the prototype phase currently, and it is unclear when extensions will be released to the public.

Summary
Selenium IDE Firefox add-on end of live
Article Name
Selenium IDE Firefox add-on end of live
Description
The Selenium IDE add-on for Firefox, an add-on used to automate tests in Firefox for web development and other testing scenarios, is not compatible with Firefox 55.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Eli Davis said on January 8, 2018 at 5:06 pm
    Reply

    It seems like some work is being done to bring Selenium IDE support to Firefox 55+:
    https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium-ide

    Also, here’s another coverage of the situation revolving around the support of Selenium IDE in Firefox

    1. Michael Tomara said on January 16, 2018 at 8:34 pm
      Reply

      That’s my article btw!
      There’s a bunch of alternatives to Selenium IDE. In fact, we’ve covered them in two separate posts: 1) https://screenster.io/selenium-alternatives-for-testing-automation/ 2) https://screenster.io/selenium-ide-alternatives-for-ui-regression-testing/

  2. Joseph said on October 13, 2017 at 5:50 am
    Reply

    https://www.snaptest.io is another great free alternative

  3. Sunnie said on October 2, 2017 at 10:46 am
    Reply

    It’s a bad news for the testing community when Selenium IDE will no longer work from Firefox 55. I’m recently in search of its alternatives. I think some promising names can be called out as Protractor, Screener, Katalon Studio and Robot Framework. This article is good, you guys can refer for your consideration: https://www.katalon.com/resources-center/blog/selenium-ide-alternative-firefox-chrome/

  4. minhhai2209 said on September 9, 2017 at 4:46 pm
    Reply

    This is a good read https://dzone.com/articles/in-search-of-the-selenium-ides-successor. I think for now feature-wise the only free alternative to Selenium IDE is Katalon Studio. It is interesting to see what will be the tool of choice for doing Selenium – Protractor, Robot Framework, Watir, Katalon.

  5. rob said on September 8, 2017 at 7:54 pm
    Reply

    I dont know anything about web development or anything. I just like the record script and use it for repetitive data entry work so i can work smarter not harder. Gonna miss it thanks for being here for my google search.

  6. Adam Sandman said on September 1, 2017 at 12:19 pm
    Reply

    It’s not a complete solution, but you can run your Selenium IDE scripts in their HTML 3-column format against Selenium WebDriver (which does work with Firefox 55+) already using SpiraTest and RemoteLaunch. We have written a quick blog article that explains the option – https://www.inflectra.com/Ideas/Entry/506.aspx

  7. Tim said on August 23, 2017 at 6:33 pm
    Reply

    >While the original add-on for Firefox won’t run in Firefox 55 and newer, efforts seem to be underway to create an IDE using modern APIs.

    I tested a few, and currently the most promising new Selenium IDE is available at this repo:

    https://github.com/A9T9/Kantu-for-Chrome

    Install from here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kantu-browser-automation/gcbalfbdmfieckjlnblleoemohcganoc

    1. Anonymous said on August 23, 2017 at 10:16 pm
      Reply

      As others have said, people use Selenium WebDriver now

  8. Jack Alexander said on August 23, 2017 at 6:22 am
    Reply

    Firefox is committing suicide and Waterfox 55.02, out today, is taking up the slack. It still uses add-ons and they say that the new extensions aren’t going to be in it. I’ve spent the last couple of days converting to Waterfox which still uses Firefox sync.

  9. Takamina said on August 22, 2017 at 9:58 am
    Reply

    It would be good other addons leaves too for a better browser…

    The problem is Firefox with frequent changes whenever a new staff comes.

    Firefox

    in no time

    just started to bloated again in code and size.

  10. RPWheeler said on August 21, 2017 at 9:49 pm
    Reply

    With all my dislike of the Mozilla changes I must say that Selenium IDE is considered legacy stuff in test automation community for 5 years or more.

    After a few experiments with it back in 2011 I started my journey with Selenium WebDriver, and that experience proven worthy, while for all jobs or job proposals I’ve got I can’t remember any place for Selenium IDE at all.

  11. Nebulus said on August 21, 2017 at 6:15 pm
    Reply

    Very soon Firefox will get exactly what they deserve for not listening to anyone but their own corporate pockets: a browser that nobody wants to use.

    1. Tom Brasil said on August 21, 2017 at 7:14 pm
      Reply

      Keep on dreaming.

      1. Anonymous said on August 23, 2017 at 10:14 pm
        Reply

        If you don’t want it to happen and it would be a “nightmare”, maybe don’t call for it ? It’s not like you have any influence, but if you had, you would be shooting yourself in the foot big time according to your choice of words.

      2. Tom Brasil said on August 22, 2017 at 4:06 pm
        Reply

        A nightmare, no less ? Seriously, get a life.

      3. Nebulus said on August 22, 2017 at 12:09 pm
        Reply

        For me it is actually a nightmare, because Firefox is my primary browser… But it will happen, because that is the path that Mozilla choose.

  12. pHROZEN gHOST said on August 21, 2017 at 6:07 pm
    Reply

    Firefox is at EOL.

    1. Harushi said on August 21, 2017 at 6:45 pm
      Reply

      No, it’s not.
      It’s developing more than ever. Many great features are coming.
      Only “power users” who want to live with their old addons forever and never want to search for alternative addons would left.
      The rest who cares about speed, stability and privacy will be happy when Firefox 57 and later versions come out.

      1. Anonymous said on August 23, 2017 at 10:13 pm
        Reply

        Gorhill said all features of legacy uBlock Origin would work in WebExtension uBO

      2. Nebulus said on August 23, 2017 at 10:50 am
        Reply

        Calogero, I know what gorhill said about script:contains. But I don’t know if there is any link between the removal of the feature and the fact that it is no longer used INTERNALLY by uBlock. After all, it isn’t used now, but it is still supported and working… Maybe I misread gorhill’s statement on the matter, but I guess only he knows (and can tell us) if the removal is just a code simplification or is related to webextensions.

      3. Calogero said on August 22, 2017 at 3:57 pm
        Reply

        Nebulus -> script:contains filters will NOT stop working because of the webextensions API. It will stop working because (according to gorhill) “uBO’s own filter lists have long ceased to rely on this filter syntax to solve reported filtering issues.”.

        Next time do some research before complaining.

      4. Nebulus said on August 22, 2017 at 12:13 pm
        Reply

        OK, let’s assume I would want an alternative add-on (based on webextensions) with support for script content filtering (something that uBlock Origin supports now, but that it will be removed – I suspect that webextensions API will not support such a feature). How would you advise me to proceed?

  13. Anonymous said on August 21, 2017 at 3:32 pm
    Reply

    Taken from the announcement:

    So what can we do to move forward? The first thing is that there are now a wealth of tools that are stepping up to fill the gap. You should go and have a look at them. The second thing is that there is an effort to rebuild IDE using modern APIs, to be usable across more than just Firefox. The fine people at Applitools are helping with this effort.

    Follow up comment from the author:

    I don’t think your information about geckodriver is accurate. With the latest releases, it’s at least as good as the old Firefox driver. The new Selenium 3.5 release contains a lot of work to make the standalone server work seamlessly with the w3c version of the protocol, which was one area of roughness.

    The W3C “WebDriver” specification is nearing the end of its “Candidate Recommendation” period, and should become a standard soon. All the major browser vendors have their own implementations already up and running. The Selenium team have been involved with that effort too. When the spec is complete, a useful set of automation “atoms” will be in place for the next generation of browser automation to build upon.

  14. Rick Grimes said on August 21, 2017 at 2:40 pm
    Reply

    Selenium IDE : last published version March 15, 2015…
    This add-on was abandoned long ago. What’s the point of this news ?

    1. DVDRambo said on August 22, 2017 at 4:14 pm
      Reply

      Rick Grimes: I can’t understand why someone needs to be vitriolic about an article that doesn’t move them. Do you have something useful to add?

    2. Tom Brasil said on August 21, 2017 at 3:21 pm
      Reply

      We’re on ghacks, it’s the usual twice-a-week-Firefox-bashing-article.

      1. Hithere said on August 22, 2017 at 12:09 am
        Reply

        The problem is not Mozilla. The problem is Ghacks.

      2. Calogero said on August 21, 2017 at 10:25 pm
        Reply

        Thorky -> Mozilla is doing it right. The problem comes from some users who are totally unable to adapt to the slightest change, and who remain stuck in the internet of the 2000s.

      3. Thorky said on August 21, 2017 at 9:12 pm
        Reply

        The problem is not Firefox. The problem is Mozilla.

      4. Anonymous said on August 21, 2017 at 3:36 pm
        Reply

        Some people may be interested in that information, but I wouldn’t have put it that way.

        This add-on is not the way to go any more, the future of the project has been decided a long time ago and it is to go with a W3C standardized way of testing, rather than an add-on.

        That is why this add-on hasn’t been updated for two years.

    3. Martin Brinkmann said on August 21, 2017 at 3:05 pm
      Reply

      Works — Does not work, that is the difference.

      1. Rick Grimes said on August 21, 2017 at 3:20 pm
        Reply

        Yeah sure. Time to make an article for every abandoned add-on out there.

  15. Adam Dempsey said on August 21, 2017 at 1:57 pm
    Reply

    Isn’t the phrase “end of life” not “end of live”?

  16. Weilan said on August 21, 2017 at 1:54 pm
    Reply

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