Debugging ajax problems with firebug.

Now WordPress 2.5 RC1 is out it the wild for testing we are receiving some reports of strange problems with some of the ajax functionality in the admin pages so I have prepared a quick tutorial to help people collect the relevant debugging information to help us investigate the problems.

Here is how to prepare:

  1. Install Firefox (if you don’t have it already!)
  2. Install firebug. This is the web debugging tool of choice.
  3. Load up the relevant WordPress admin page that is not working for you.

Now to collect the information. First load up firebug for the current page by clicking on the icon in the status bar or using the Tools menu to select “Tools>Firebug>Open Firebug”.

Next you need to fill in the form that is causing you problems:

Now you can click on the form submission button and see the activity in the firebug console:

Next you can switch between the tabs to display the other information:

You can then copy this data out of the firebug windows by right clicking and selecting the appropriate copy option.

This information can then be provided either via the wp-testers mailing list or in the trac ticket you have created for your issue.