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Looking for before/after screenshot tools

I don’t care if it’s a backend tool, PHP or JS, or even a 3rd party web service. I’m trying to find a way to record snapshots of web pages for the purpose of archiving or before/after updates or other changes to WordPress websites.

Most often when I do updates, I’ll just open a few pages to make sure the site works before the update, then I’ll do the updates, clear any caches, and check the pages again.
Of course, I didn’t memorize exactly what the pages looked like, I can only verify they still open and don’t crash.

What I’m looking for is a tool that can take real full page screenshots and compare to screenshots taken later after the updates. But not only that, I’d like the screenshots as a way to deal with clients when they come to me and say things like “that one box that used to be in that one place isn’t there any more!”
I have no idea what one box they mean or what it looked like, because nobody has screenshots, I’m trying to re-create something or find out what was there based on verbal descriptions. I could have been a plugin that went defunct or someone removed a widget from a sidebar or anything.

So taking screenshots for “before/after” compare is very handy, but also if I grab a screenshot every week and archive it, I could have something to reference if they ever talk about some feature that disappeared or what have you.

Screenshot tools are difficult because sites run on JS these days, there is scroll jacking and lazy loading and ajax stuff, so making sure the whole actual page is really loaded before the screenshot, is important.

Any ideas about something like this? Especially if it can be scaled to the level of a web maintenance company where it can be used across dozens of sites regularly.

Thanks

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4 Comments(s)

Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
@NogDogAug 17.2020 — Looks like a good web search term is "visual regression testing". (I was curious, so started poking around a bit. :) ). This article seems like a decent starting place to find some possible options: https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/visual-validation-testing/ (though it has a couple annoying pop-ups :( ).
Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
@NaheedAug 18.2020 — A print screen button is available in all the systems to capture the image or screen but it has certain limitations in it. It is a tedious job to add text, arrows, and highlighters on the captured image using the print-screen option.

Currently, there are several screen capture tools that are available in the market, which in turn will help you to take a screenshot of the entire desktop or screen. These tools may vary in features such as screenshot size, quality, supported operating system, file format types, etc.

Some of the best tools:

  • - Snagit

  • - VideoProc

  • - Camtasia
  • Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
    @VITSUSAAug 18.2020 — @vigilante#1622233 FastStone Screen Capture, LambdaTest, TechSmith, Fireshot, Lightshot, Greenshot, SnapDraw, and URL2PNG are the best tools to take snapshot.
    Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
    @marksmith121Sep 15.2020 — And here’s a list of the best apps for taking screenshots in order of performance:

  • - Snappy

  • - Cloud App

  • - Lightshot

  • - Marker

  • - Tinygrab

  • - Camtasia

  • - Greenshot

  • - Screenie

  • - CleanShot

  • - Skitch

    -
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