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What is StepTrails?
In plain words
StepTrails is a helper for checking websites. You show it what to do once. After that it can repeat the steps for you and tell you when something stops working.
The problem it solves
Someone says: "I clicked Pay and nothing happened."
The person who has to fix it now has questions. Which page were you on? What did you click first? What did you type? Guessing takes time, and the problem may never be found.
The idea
StepTrails removes the guessing. It watches the steps, saves them, and can play them back exactly. A problem that happened once can be shown again and again.
A short story
Sam works in customer support. A customer says the checkout is broken.
- Sam opens the shop in the browser and turns on StepTrails.
- Sam follows the customer's steps: add a product, go to the basket, press Pay.
- The Pay button does nothing. Sam turns StepTrails off.
- StepTrails creates a report with every step, what went wrong and a picture of the page.
- Sam sends the report to the developers. They press play and see the problem happen in front of them. They fix it in an hour instead of a week.
What can you do with it?
| You want to... | StepTrails can... | Learn how |
|---|---|---|
| Show someone a problem | Record your steps and play them back exactly | Record your steps |
| Check a website again and again | Repeat the steps for you whenever you like | Play steps back |
| Share what happened | Make a report with the steps, the reason and a picture | Reports |
| Never repeat a check by hand again | Make a ready-to-run test file from your recording | Make a test file |
| Report a bug to your team | Create the ticket in Jira with everything attached | Create bug tickets |
| See which page is slow | Rate every page Good, Needs improvement or Poor | Page speed |
| Spot common security problems | List weaknesses, how serious they are and how to fix them | Security checks |
| Keep track of your tests | Keep a list of tests, plan a round of testing and see the results | Keep track of tests |
What is it made of?
StepTrails has three parts. You can start with just the first.
- The browser add-on. A small add-on for Chrome or Edge. This is the part that watches you and records your steps. It also gives you a ready-made test file with one click.
- The helper programs. These play your recording back, make reports and do the extra checks. You start them by typing short commands in a text window. New to that? We will show you how.
- This guide. Everything you are reading now.
Who is it for?
| If you are... | StepTrails helps you... |
|---|---|
| In support | Show developers exactly what a customer did |
| A tester | Turn a manual check into one the computer repeats |
| A developer | See a bug happen instead of guessing |
| A business owner | Check every day that your website still works |
| A manager | Get clear reports without learning technical tools |
You do not need to know how to program. If you can follow a recipe, you can follow the steps in this guide.
What it is not
- It is not a password keeper. Passwords are never saved. How your information is protected.
- It is not for phone apps. It works with websites in a browser.
- It is not a hacking tool. Use it only on websites you own or have permission to test.
- It is not a complete security test. It spots common problems, and it does not replace a specialist.
Where do I go next?
- New to computers? Start here (skip this if you are comfortable with files and downloads)
- Set it up
- Your first recording