Opera releases full version of Dragonfly web testing kit

Opera has announced the full availability of its Dragonfly web development and design tool after a six week beta test, touting its abilities to help designers create sites that work on desktops and mobile devices.

The firm said that the software can be used for development and design, and includes a colour picking tool that enables colour matching and examines and checks font styles live.

Dragonfly can also look at page items, and determine how cookies and HTML5 web storage elements operate and how resources affect a site's performance and compatibility. It also offers a JavaScript debugger to portion off correct code and focus on troublesome areas.

Opera said that developers creating mobile versions of web sites can use the remote bugging feature to debug sites on smartphones, tablets and web-enabled TVs to ensure that web users get a good experience when browsing on the go.

Dragonfly can also mask itself as other web browsers to ensure that a site will work on all mobile platforms. The tool is a 'hybrid web application' and will always be the most up to date version, the firm said.

Opera browser users can access Dragonfly by right-clicking on any page and choosing 'Inspect Element', or it can be downloaded from the Opera Dragonfly web site directly if using another browser.

David Storey, product manager for Opera Dragonfly, was in playful mood in welcoming the new product, urging developers to give it a try to save unnecessary stress when designing web sites.

"Developers of the world, unite! You have nothing to save but your time, frustration and probably some hair. Opera Dragonfly is more refined, more beautiful and more awesome than our earlier releases," he said.