Capturing Page Titles and URLs in Selenium Python

Selenium is a powerful tool for automating web browsers using different programming languages, and Python is one of the most popular choices due to its readability and simplicity. One of the fundamental tasks when working with Selenium is capturing the page title and URL of the current webpage. This is especially useful in test automation scenarios where you want to verify that a user has landed on the correct page or ensure navigation works as expected.

In this blog, we’ll walk you through how to capture page titles and URLs using Selenium with Python, along with some real-world use cases and best practices.

Setting Up Selenium with Python

Before you begin, ensure you have Selenium installed. You can install it using pip:

bash

pip install selenium

You'll also need a web driver (like ChromeDriver or GeckoDriver) compatible with the browser you’re using.

Importing Required Libraries

Here’s a basic setup using Chrome WebDriver:

python

from selenium import webdriver

from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service

from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager

Using webdriver_manager is a convenient way to manage driver binaries automatically.

Capturing Page Title and URL

Here’s a complete example:

python

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from selenium import webdriver

from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service

from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager

import time

# Initialize the browser

driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=Service(ChromeDriverManager().install()))

# Open a website

driver.get("https://www.python.org")

# Wait for the page to load

time.sleep(2)

# Get the page title

page_title = driver.title

print("Page Title:", page_title)

# Get the current URL

current_url = driver.current_url

print("Current URL:", current_url)

# Close the browser

driver.quit()

Explanation

driver.title: Retrieves the title of the current web page.

driver.current_url: Fetches the URL of the currently loaded page.

These two commands are crucial for asserting correct navigation in automated tests.

Real-World Use Cases

• Navigation Validation: After clicking a button or link, you can verify that the user is redirected to the correct page by checking the title or URL.
• SEO Testing: Ensure that each page has the appropriate title for search engines.
• Broken Link Checks: Navigate through links and confirm the resulting pages load correctly and return expected titles/URLs.
• Multi-Page Forms: In multi-step forms, validate that each step leads to the right destination.

Using Assertions for Validation

In test scripts, you can combine these with assertions:

python

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assert "Welcome to Python.org" in driver.title

assert driver.current_url == "https://www.python.org/"

This helps automate quality checks in CI/CD pipelines.

Best Practices

• Avoid Hard-Coding URLs: Use config files or environment variables.
• Add Waits: Use WebDriverWait instead of sleep() for better reliability.
• Use Logging: Instead of print(), use logging libraries for better test traceability.

Final Thoughts

Capturing the page title and URL in Selenium with Python is a simple yet essential skill for anyone working with web automation or testing. It not only helps in navigation validation but also ensures better reliability and accuracy of your automated test cases.

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Read More: Logging In to Websites Using Selenium and Python

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