Report Broken Websites!

Since we started we have thousands of reports filed (many on the same sites, some invalid reports, and some just using the tool thinking it’s for tech support requests) reporting issues encountered on the web. This is awesome feedback (and a big thank you to everyone who filed a report). I’ve noticed several sites have since resolved their issue(s). I want to do more. But to do so help is needed (that’s where you come in).

Want to help? It’s simple, you don’t need to write a line of code. Just tell everyone who says something along the lines of “Firefox doesn’t work with ___________.com” to “Report It!”. Just go to the Help menu and select “Report Broken Website”. Fill out the form as much as you can (it takes < 10 seconds in most cases) and submit. That’s all you have to do to help us!!!

The data can be used two ways:

• Find websites that should be contacted about their incompatibility. It’s not always laziness, it’s sometimes the sites operators just don’t know because they use IE themselves (workstations have IE installed on them). Having data to show them makes it a much stronger point, and tells them explicitly what’s wrong.
• Find regressions and problems in Firefox. Using the data, and examining the pages it’s possible to find errors due to Firefox bugs. This is something I hope to improve upon in the future.

I’ve been working on a new version of the webtool to analyze the data which so far looks like it will be making it much easier to do. In Firefox 3.0 I’m hoping to land support for sending us screenshots (opt in only of course) so you can show us your problem if you want. I already drafted a patch for that.

I’m also brainstorming on how to help webmasters who want to improve their Firefox compatibility. More on that some other time. I’ve got more ideas than MacGyver.

So remember, next time you encounter a problem to report it. And tell your friends.