How can I test with multiple versions of Firefox?

Question

How can I test my website in multiple versions of firefox? I have v2 installed. Now no matter where or how many times I install FF3, it always executes ff2..

I checked the interweb and it seems there used to be a MultiFireFox tool that could run several versions. It was for apple and I'm on windows. Furthermore all the links to it are dead.
I also found an option I could add to the executable. But since I cannot start FF3 to begin with, I reckon this doesn't make much sence.

Something like MultipleIE would be great. Suggestions?

score 9 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 19 '08 at 14:49

9

Try out Firefox portable... each version one folder.

answered Dec 19 '08 at 14:49

Oliver Friedrich

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score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 19 '08 at 14:48

6

What you need to do is set up two profiles, one for Firefox3 and on for Firefox 2. It's a pretty simple process; I've got them both running and I love it!

Here's one way to set up two profiles

answered Dec 19 '08 at 14:48

sgwill

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it was the combination of the profilemanager (I had found that already) and the -no-remote option :) Thx – Boris Callens Dec 22 '08 at 07:59

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 19 '08 at 14:45

3

You might try setting up a few virtual machines, and installing different browser versions on each.

Ex:

VM1 - IE6, FF1
VM2 - IE7, FF2
VM3 - IE8B, FF3

etc.

answered Dec 19 '08 at 14:45

Mark Carpenter

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That's a bit far fetched. But let's call it plan B – Boris Callens Dec 19 '08 at 14:53
I agree. You definitely don't need to go down this route. – sgwill Dec 19 '08 at 14:56
Agreed, sounds like overkill to me. – Joachim Sauer Dec 19 '08 at 15:05

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 19 '08 at 14:51

2

Use -no-remote to avoid just telling the running instance to open a new window.

Usually you'll want to combine that with -P to run both instances with different profiles.

Just check the available command line options.

answered Dec 19 '08 at 14:51

Joachim Sauer

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 21 '08 at 20:33

0

The general case of running two separate Firefox processes is described in this Mozillazine article. There's also this article which covers different versions specifically.

To make life easier I recommend downloading the nightly builds in zip format rather than trying to run the installers (eg. here's the current 2.0 trunk).

answered Dec 21 '08 at 20:33

robertc

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how exactly would that make life easier? – Boris Callens Dec 22 '08 at 07:49
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If you use the installers they will uninstall older versions automatically. – robertc Jan 18 '09 at 00:37

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 26 '08 at 08:43

0

If you just have to check standalone pages (i.e not part of a flow), you can test your pages online with Browsershots - http://browsershots.org/

Browsershots is a free open-source online service that takes a URL & as per your choosing, checks it on a variety of browsers, different versions of each and on different Operating systems.

answered Dec 26 '08 at 08:43

1

Yes, this service has been suggested to me before. Have you ever actually tried it? Let's just say there are not enough hours in a work day to do the check more then twice ;) – Boris Callens Dec 27 '08 at 13:41

How can I test with multiple versions of Firefox?

6 Answers6