Software Review: BrowserCam
March 25, 2007 | Comments (3) | Filed under: Reviews
If you’ve ever had to design a new layout before, whether it be a theme or a site built from scratch, you know how painful it can be to make sure your site looks the same no matter what browser it’s rendered on. For any of us who don’t work at big companies with large testing facilities, it can sometimes be difficult to test your new design on a wide variety of platforms and browsers. For example, you might test your site in FireFox 2.0.2, but how does it perform in FireFox 1.0.7 or how about on IE 6.0 in Windows 2000?
BrowserCam is a web application that can help you with your compatibility requirements. If you have a new layout, BrowserCam allows you to evaluate your site from the end-users perspective. You simply enter your site URL, choose from a huge list of platforms and browsers to test on, and let it test your layout for you. It even allows you to test out different screen resolutions, which can help you optimize your design to suit your most common users.
In the backend, BrowserCam is basically a network of servers that can automatically load your site, and screen capture the results. If you enter a URL, say www.BookmarkBliss.com, in a matter of minutes you can see exactly what your site will look like using Konqueror 3.4 in Fedora Core Linux, if you’re so inclined. It’s amazingly useful, and can save you a lot of headaches and lost users, especially when it comes to obscure platforms that may not even cross your mind.
Now unfortunately, BrowserCam does cost you money to use it on a regular basis. Their fee runs from $19.95 - $999.95 depending on your requirements. They do offer a 24 hour trial though, and if you use their system smart and test a lot of sites in one trial, you can actually get away with only needing a trial for most compatibility checks. If you’re a heavy duty web designer though, 24 hours once a month might not be enough to satisfy your needs.
Overall though, BrowserCam is a powerful online application that should be considered for any designers arsenal. After all, what good is an amazing site design if only 10% of your user base can view it?
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You can get together with other designers and purchase a group membership to Browsercam at a much lower rate. Group purchases are frequently organized over at fundable.org, where you can get a full year of access for as low as $25.
I don’t see any be organized right now (one just finished on 3/23) but if you’re interested in a cheap membership, it’s worth checking on fundable.org every few days - new group purchases are being started all the time.
Excellent, that is great advice Kevin. A full year for only $25 is a huge savings.