Sunils blog

Xrefresh – An automated refresh tool for web developers

Posted by Sunil | Filed under Web Development

On Mac there is cool tool called CSSEdit, Which can write CSS lively and see the results without refreshing the browser. As I am using PC, I could not use this software. But I really wish if I could get one for PC that would be nice.

Couple of weeks back when I browsing through some website, I found Xrefresh, A software which will refresh the browser as you modify source file. And it will work on both Firefox and Internet Explorer. This software make it possible to do live page editing with your favorite HTML / CSS editor. It also supports mac.

If you have dual monitor, it makes you surprisingly easy to edit the files and see the results in real-time. And it not only useful for the HTML / CSS but also you can work with other programming language like PHP, Ruby, Perl, ASP , Java etc.

Installation

Installation is super easy.

Install Firebug 1.4 or higher
Install XRefresh Addon (you don’t need this step if you are going to use XRefresh with IE only).
Download Windows Monitor and go through installation process. It will install XRefresh traybar application and IE plugin.

Usage

Launch XRefresh and check for it in the traybar.

After start the icon is gray and it means that there are no browsers connected to XRefresh.

Tell XRefresh where are located your files. XRefresh will watch for your modifications.
Tip: You can simply drag&drop interesting folders onto configuration dialog.