Why Page title and URL retrieval in Selenium Python? - Purpose & Use Cases

The Big Idea

What if you could instantly know if every page on your website has the right title and URL without lifting a finger?

The Scenario

Imagine you are testing a website manually. You open each page, look at the browser tab to see the page title, and check the address bar to note the URL. You write these down on paper or in a document to verify later.

The Problem

This manual checking is slow and tiring. You might miss typing the exact title or URL, or mix them up. If the website changes often, you have to repeat this boring task many times, increasing the chance of mistakes.

The Solution

Using automated testing with Selenium, you can write a simple script that opens the page, grabs the title and URL directly from the browser, and checks them instantly. This saves time and avoids human errors.

Before vs After

✗ Before

Open browser
Look at tab title
Write title down
Look at address bar
Write URL down

✓ After

title = driver.title
url = driver.current_url
print(f'Title: {title}, URL: {url}')

What It Enables

This lets you quickly verify that your website pages load correctly with the right titles and URLs every time you run your tests.

Real Life Example

When a company updates their website, testers use Selenium scripts to automatically check that all page titles and URLs are correct, ensuring users see the right information and links.

Key Takeaways

Manual checking of titles and URLs is slow and error-prone.

Selenium can retrieve page title and URL automatically.

This speeds up testing and improves accuracy.

Practice

1. Which Selenium WebDriver property is used to get the title of the current web page?

easy

A. driver.current_url

B. driver.page_source

C. driver.title

D. driver.get_title()

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the purpose of driver.title

   The driver.title property returns the title of the current page as a string.

2. Step 2: Compare with other properties

   driver.page_source returns the HTML source, driver.current_url returns the URL, and driver.get_title() is not a valid method in Selenium Python.

3. Final Answer:

   driver.title -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Page title = driver.title [OK]

Hint: Use driver.title to get page title quickly [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing driver.title with driver.current_url
• Using driver.get_title() which does not exist
• Trying to get title from page_source

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to get the current page URL in Selenium Python?

easy

A. url = driver.current_url

B. url = driver.get_current_url()

C. url = driver.url()

D. url = driver.getUrl

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall the property for current URL

   In Selenium Python, driver.current_url is a property that returns the current page URL as a string.

2. Step 2: Check syntax correctness

   driver.get_current_url(), driver.url(), and driver.getUrl use invalid method names or syntax. Only url = driver.current_url is correct without parentheses.

3. Final Answer:

   url = driver.current_url -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Current URL = driver.current_url [OK]

Hint: Remember current_url is a property, not a method [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Adding parentheses to current_url like a method
• Using incorrect method names like get_current_url()
• Trying to access URL via driver.url()

3. What will be the output of the following code snippet if the browser is currently on the page with title "Welcome Page" and URL "https://example.com/home"?

print(driver.title)
print(driver.current_url)

medium

A. Welcome Page
https://example.com/home

B. https://example.com/home
Welcome Page

C. driver.title
driver.current_url

D. Error: driver.title and driver.current_url are methods

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand what driver.title returns

   driver.title returns the page title string, here "Welcome Page".

2. Step 2: Understand what driver.current_url returns

   driver.current_url returns the current URL string, here "https://example.com/home".

3. Final Answer:

   Welcome Page https://example.com/home -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Title then URL printed correctly [OK]

Hint: driver.title prints title; driver.current_url prints URL [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Swapping title and URL order in output
• Thinking driver.title/current_url are methods needing ()
• Expecting variable names printed instead of values

4. You wrote the code below to print the page title and URL, but it raises an AttributeError. What is the mistake?

print(driver.get_title())
print(driver.get_current_url())

medium

A. You must import get_title and get_current_url from selenium

B. driver.get_title() and driver.get_current_url() are not valid methods in Selenium Python

C. driver.title and driver.current_url are not accessible properties

D. driver.title and driver.current_url need parentheses

Solution

1. Step 1: Check method existence in Selenium Python

   There are no methods named get_title() or get_current_url() in Selenium Python WebDriver.

2. Step 2: Use correct properties

   The correct way is to use driver.title and driver.current_url without parentheses as they are properties, not methods.

3. Final Answer:

   driver.get_title() and driver.get_current_url() are not valid methods in Selenium Python -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Use properties, not get_ methods [OK]

Hint: Use driver.title and driver.current_url properties, no () [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Calling driver.title() or driver.current_url() as methods
• Trying to import non-existent get_title functions
• Confusing Selenium Python with other language APIs

5. You want to verify that after navigating to "https://example.com/login", the page title is exactly "Login Page" and the URL contains "/login". Which code snippet correctly performs these checks using Selenium Python?

hard

A. assert driver.title == "Login Page" or driver.current_url == "/login"

B. assert driver.title() == "Login Page" and driver.current_url() == "/login"

C. assert driver.get_title() == "Login Page" and driver.get_current_url() == "/login"

D. assert driver.title == "Login Page" and "/login" in driver.current_url

Solution

1. Step 1: Use correct properties and operators

   Use driver.title to get the page title and driver.current_url to get the URL. Use == to check exact title and 'in' to check substring in URL.

2. Step 2: Understand assertion logic

   Use 'and' to ensure both conditions are true. assert driver.title == "Login Page" or driver.current_url == "/login" uses 'or' which passes if only one condition is true, not both.

3. Final Answer:

   assert driver.title == "Login Page" and "/login" in driver.current_url -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Use properties and 'and' for combined checks [OK]

Hint: Use assert with driver.title and 'in' for URL substring [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Calling title or current_url as methods
• Using 'or' instead of 'and' in assertions
• Checking URL equality instead of substring