While creating websites that can be fun to appeal to a large number of people can be quite a task for web developers. Especially when it comes to delivering it faster within a tight deadline, that’s where the need for additional web development tools arises.
So, where is the most accessible place to search for such tools? Of course, the browsers! Even though almost all web browsers, like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, etc., come with built-in web development tools, sometimes there is a need for more. So, where to find them? In the form of extensions. Yes, an extensive library of extensions can be accessed within a browser, making your job as a web developer more accessible than ever!
My elder brother is a web developer who is always busy making websites. Yesterday, he had an important assignment to complete in a limited time, and he was running out of options to make changes to his website. Just then, I introduced him to the browser extensions for web design.
So here in this article, we will see 7 of the best extensions exclusively for web developers. We have also listed their pros and cons so you can decide which one to choose.
These best web developer-friendly extensions are selected based on their ratings, downloads, and of course, their offered features:
Web Developer
The first extension in this list is Web Developer. This extension adds a toolbar in your browser with a full suite of web development tools when installed.
All these tools come in handy for both developers and designers. Tools are divided into a total of 10 separate tabs. It was from PNH Developer Toolbar; the developer Chris Pedrick got the original concept of this extension.
Features for Web Developers:
- Add outlines to elements just by clicking
- Finds broken images on a page
- A wide range of user-friendly tools
- It can also disable javascript, plugins, popups, and notifications
Web Developer chrome is a flexible extension that the developers can customize per their preferences. Also, it is highly secure and functions much better than a standard chrome inspector.
Even though it is a trustworthy extension, Web Developer chrome asks for many permissions while installing, thus making the user concerned about security issues. The latest versions appear to have a little problem with the tools. Though it’s one of the best chrome extensions, it has challenges.
Clockwork
Clockwork comes with a collection of web development tools for PHP. This extension uses a server-side component to collect all the data. This data will be integrated with the PHP project.
It can help with profiling and debugging PHP applications. Also, it will give you an insight into your application runtime, tracing, variable values, etc.
Features of ClockWork:
- Integration with all PHP projects
- First-class Laravel and Lumen support
- Integration with vanilla or custom apps
- Limited support for Symfony and Slim framework
It has a pretty good PHP debugging tool, making it a perfect extension for debugging and one of the best chrome extensions.
One of the main drawbacks of Clockwork is that it will not work with an internal PHP web server.
Web Developer Checklist
As the extension’s name indicates, this tool will help you discover problem areas in your newly created website. It will analyze each web page, check whether there has been a violation of best practices, and report it to the developer.
Web Developer Checklist details usability, accessibility, SEO, environment integration, and the web page’s performance.
Features of Web Developer Checklist:
- Work as a task reminder
- Verifies the latest deployment
- Flawlessly coordinates the web development processes
- Identifies the problem before website delivery
Web Developer Checklist saves you a lot of time and work. It is an excellent tool since it discovers bugs and plugins too.
There are no significant problems with the Web Developer Checklist, except it doesn’t work sometimes.
WhatFont
WhatFont is a simple extension that instantly helps you find the fonts used in a webpage. It comes with a variety of fonts palette.
Instead of writing codes for finding the font of a webpage, you can identify it with a single click. It makes it one of the best chrome extensions designed to save much of your precious time.
Features of WhatFont:
- Simple and user friendly
- Identify as many fonts as you want by dragging the cursor on the web page
- Detects the services used for serving the web fonts
- Supports Typekit and Google Font API
WhatFont is a quick and time-saving extension making it a better option than all other similar extensions.
Sometimes you must repeatedly refresh the webpage since it cannot identify the font quickly. Another issue with WhatFont is that it doesn’t work on offline web pages and local websites.
Wappalyzer
Wappalyzer chrome is an excellent extension tool that helps you identify the technologies used on various websites within seconds.
It is a cross-platform technographic data provider. It detects CMS, analytics tools, frameworks, etc., associated with a specific website.
Features of Wappalyzer:
- Instant access to website technology stacks
- Tracks your competitor’s technology choices
- Provides Extension Programming and API Access Management
- Real-Time Analytics
Wappalyzer Chrome extension is a simple and user-friendly extension. Plus, it can instantly detect the content and call of web pages.
The Wappalyzer extension doesn’t work for unpopular websites. Since it cannot differentiate between angular and react, the results may not always be accurate.
CloudQA
CloudQA is another browser extension for web developers. This tool will help you automate all your browser tests within 10 minutes. All you have to do is to install the extension and login in to it.
All the tests recorded with this extension can be easily modified; you don’t need to write code.
Features of CloudQA:
- Cloud-based service
- Run complex functional tests without coding
- Re-use functional scripts for recurring tests
- Complete control over workflow scripts
- Uses multiple datasets for each workflow
- Test Plan allows playback of recorded tests
One of the most appealing features of this extension is that you can playback recorded tests at any time as per the requirement with the aid of the Test Plan. This will save a lot of time and effort usually needed for QA. Also, you can easily record the test cases and execute them in all three main web browsers- IE, Firefox, and Chrome.
There are two issues associated with CloudQA. One is that there is no maintenance scheduling feature. Another drawback is that it doesn’t provide real-time monitoring of processes.
Colorzilla
Colorzilla chrome is an excellent extension that can get a color reading in your web browser anytime. So, as a web developer, you can quickly adjust the selected color and paste it into your program as required.
It comes with an ultimate CSS gradient generator. In addition, this tool has a palette viewer in it with seven pre-installed palettes, which you can easily access.
Features of Colorzilla:
- Comprises of tools like advanced eyedropper, color picker, gradient generator, etc.
- It comes with a webpage color analyzer, which examines DOM element colors on any web page, thus locating corresponding elements.
- Access to the color history of recently picked colors
Colorzilla chrome has one of the best color management systems among other similar extensions. This extension can instantly pick the color, even from any zoom level. In addition to that, you can pick colors from flash objects too.
In some instances, this tool won’t be able to pick the right color even when you place the cursor over it. Also, in some cases, the viewport will go blank while selecting the color picker.
Bottom Line: Chrome Extension Web Developer
The above extensions are beneficial if you are a web developer looking for more exciting tools other than the in-built tools to make your web development process smoother and faster. Each extension in this list serves an essential requirement.
This article was written after I saw my brother troubled with the same issue of adding more designs to his website in less time. So keeping him and other web developers in mind, I decided to write this one. This article certainly helped my brother to work more efficiently in less time. I hope it does the same for you!
Every extension comes with its advantages and functional issues. This article will give a brief idea about their merits and demerits. You can go for the ones you need the most.
Did we miss any of your favorites? If yes, mention it in the comment section. We would love to hear from you.
Hi Revathy,
Good list. I’m a long-time user of Colorzilla but there were many I never heard of — thank you!
You may want to check out ExplainDev, a browser extension that explains code in natural language using AI.
Full disclosure: I’m the author 🙂