Firebug offers a variety of customization by unveiling the codes of a web page. This not only helps in understanding how web pages are made but also gives the option of tweaking the available options. The plugin can be downloaded for free from the Firefox official website. Here are five Firebug features that you must be aware of.
1. HTML code option
You can see the entire HTML code and their different functions by clicking on the Firebug option on the top right hand side. Firebug option not only helps you read HTML codes but also highlights which code does what. You can see all the HTML used in a page and try there itself to make some change. It helps you understanding HTML in a better way.
2. Element inspector option
This option is a natural progression once you have familiarized yourself with the coding. By using element inspector, you can focus on one element at a time. Due to this, you can also start to experiment with the web page, the element can be color, typography, image, video etc. once you understand how much time individual element takes to load, you can choose between various design templates depending on what kind of look you want to give your web page.
3. Multiple layers option
The internet designing begun with HTML, but has now moved on to more complex and evolved coding languages. The multiple layering options allow you to go through different kinds of coding like CSS and DOM as well as different layers of the code. This function works in continuation with element inspector. For example, if you want to figure out how to change the dimensions of an image, first select that image with element inspector, and then look through the style window to see how the coding was done.
4. Load times option
At times web pages take longer than usual to load. With load time’s option, you can monitor each element of the page and how much time it takes to load. As a web designer this will help you understand how different elements can be used or avoided for better loading speed.
5. Search option
This is a simple option that can help you detect specific coding. It works exactly like search on MS Word. You can type specific words, codes or keywords in the search box and firebug will highlight them for you.
Firebug is an essential tool for anyone who wants to be a web designer or even for those who are curious about how WebPages work.
You can do lot of things using Firebug and become an expert in web designing by going to complex pages and try out different things. Here is a small video, of how to use firebug:
