# Page Inspector UI tour

This article is a quick tour of the main sections of the Page Inspector's user interface.

It covers the three top-level components of the Inspector's UI:

- the "Select element" button
- the HTML pane
- the CSS pane

```{image} pageinspector.png
:alt: The all-new Inspector panel in Firefox 57.
```

This guide is intentionally kept as short as possible. It links to various how to guides for the details of how to work with the Inspector.

(page-inspector-select-element-button)=

## Select element button

The Inspector gives you detailed information about the currently selected element. The Select element button is one way you can select an element for inspection:

```{image} select_element_button.png
:alt: This is the button in Firefox 57 Inspector you can use to select elements on
:  a web page.
:class: center
```

Note that it's actually part of the {ref}`main toolbox toolbar <tools-toolbox-toolbar>`, so it's immediately accessible from any tool, not just the Inspector.

To learn how to select an element, see the guide to {doc}`selecting an element <../how_to/select_an_element/index>`.

(page-inspector-ui-tour-html-pane)=

## HTML pane

The Inspector is split into two or three sections, depending on your settings. You can toggle the 3-pane view of the Inspector. The following image shows the 2-pane layout:

```{image} inspector_2pane.png
:alt: These are the tasty new HTML and CSS panes in Firefox 57.
:class: border
```

In 2-pane mode, the Inspector includes the HTML Pane, and the CSS Pane, which can contain one of six tools:

- Rules view
- Layout view
- Computed view
- Changes view
- Compatibility view (Firefox Developer Edition 77 and later)
- Fonts view
- Animations view

The following image shows the 3-pane mode which moves the CSS Rules view into a separate pane in the center of the Inspector:

```{image} inspector_tool.png
:class: border
```

As you can see, the CSS pane has moved into the center of the Inspector. To learn more about the structure of the HTML pane, see the guide to {doc}`examining and editing HTML <../how_to/examine_and_edit_html/index>`.

(page-inspector-ui-tour-rules-view)=

## Rules view

The Rules view lists all the rules that apply to the selected element, ordered from most-specific to least-specific. See above.

```{image} indpextor_rules.png
:alt: The rules view within the Inspector.
:class: border
```

See {doc}`Examine and edit CSS <../how_to/examine_and_edit_css/index>` for more details.

## Layout view

The Layout view displays the box model of the page. If the page includes any sections using either the Flexbox display model or CSS Grids, this view shows the Flexbox or Grid settings used on the page.

```{image} inspector_layout.png
:class: border
```

To learn more about the Layout view, see {doc}`Examine and edit the box model <../how_to/examine_and_edit_the_box_model/index>`.

## Changes view

When you are editing in the Rules view, you can see the changes you have made in the Changes view.

```{image} track_changes.png
:class: border
```

(page-inspector-ui-tour-computed-view)=

## Computed view

The Computed view shows you the complete computed CSS for the selected element (The computed values are the same as what [getComputedStyle](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/getComputedStyle) would return):

```{image} inspector_computed.png
:alt: The Computed view within the Inspector
:class: border
```

To learn more about the CSS declarations listed in this view, see {ref}`Examine computed CSS  <page-inspector-how-to-examine-and-edit-css-examine-computed-css>`.

(page-inspector-ui-tour-compatibility-view)=

## Compatibility view

Starting with Firefox Developer Edition version 77, the Compatibility view shows CSS compatibility issues, if any, for properties applied to the selected element, and for the current page as a whole. It shows icons for the browsers that *do* support the properties, and notes properties that are experimental or deprecated.

```{image} compat_view.png
:alt: Screenshot of the Compatibility view
:class: center
```

- Click the name of the property to open the reference article for that property on *MDN Web Docs*. The "Browser compatibility" section of the article gives details of browser support for the property.
- In the **All Issues** section, click the name of the element that uses the property to select that element in the inspector. If more than one element has a given property applied to it, click the triangle to show all the occurrences.
- To configure the set of browsers you want the Compatibility view to check for, click **Settings** at the bottom of the panel.

```{image} compat_panel_settings.png
:alt: Screenshot of the Settings for the Compatibility view
```

Untick the checkbox for any browser you are not interested in. As new browser versions are released, the version numbers in this list will be updated.

## Fonts view

The Fonts view shows all the fonts in the page along with editable samples.

```{image} inspector_fonts.png
:alt: The all-new Inspector panel in Firefox 57.
:class: border
```

See {doc}`View fonts <../how_to/edit_fonts/index>` for more details.

(page-inspector-ui-tour-animations-view)=

## Animations view

The Animations view gives you details of any animations applied to the selected element, and a controller to pause them:

```{image} animation_detail.png
:alt: This is the Animations pane in the Firefox 57 Inspector.
:class: border
```

See {doc}`Work with animations <../how_to/work_with_animations/index>` for more details.
