Creating new scripts

In order to create a script, you will need to install the CoScripter sidebar for Firefox. Follow the instructions on the download page to install it.

After installing the extension, open the CoScripter sidebar by choosing "CoScripter" from the "Tools" menu in Firefox. CoScripter will open in the left side of your browser window:

To create a new script, click on the New () icon. The sidebar will now display a blank script. If you wish, type in a title for your script (you can change this later). If you want your script to be private, click the "Private" checkbox (see also the documentation about script privacy).

When you create a new script, CoScripter is automatically in "record" mode. That means it is now recording the actions you are taking on the web. For example, try typing "http://google.com" into the location bar of your browser. CoScripter will record this step into your script as "Go to http://google.com".

Now if you click on a link on a web page, or type text into a field on a web page, CoScripter will record that as another step in your script. Try this out and see what CoScripter records.

You can also type your own instructions into your script. CoScripter understands a simple language for doing things on the web; you can read about CoScripter's scripting language if you want to learn more. You can also read the scripts other people have created to see what else CoScripter can do.

Once you are finished recording your script, click the Save ( ) button at the top of the CoScripter window.

Note that every script you create is automatically saved on the CoScripter website for other people to view and run! The exception to this rule is private scripts, which are only visible to you when you are logged in to the system.

Go ahead! Record your own scripts. There are lots of scripts on the CoScripter site, and you can't harm anything by adding more. Feel free to experiment. And, if you don't want to keep a script, you can delete it at any time. There's a Delete button at the top of every script that you create if you don't want to keep it.

Editing a script

Once you have a script loaded into the sidebar, you can edit it directly within the sidebar. Click the Edit button at the top of the sidebar, and the sidebar will display a text box containing your script.

When you first edit a script, CoScripter is put into record mode. If you wish to add a new step, position the cursor at the right point in the script, and demonstrate what you want CoScripter to do. Alternatively, you can simply edit the text to move steps around, create new steps, or delete unneeded steps.

What Doesn't Work Yet

CoScripter is a work in progress, and recording might not work 100% correctly. Here are some of the things we recognize are problems:

• We don't record actions in dialog boxes and new windows.
• We don't record actions on menu items in the web browser, including copy and paste.
• We don't record selections or drag-and-drop.
• We need to add pauses for DHTML and AJAX changes (some scripts run too fast, before page changes are fully loaded).

If you find other problems, please let us know!