Optimizely Web Companion

  • Updated

Optimizely Web Companion is a browser extension that opens the Visual Editor for Web Experimentation directly from your browser. It helps when the Visual Editor does not open normally. Some sites remove the query parameters from the URL as the page loads. Others drop the hash values the editor needs to launch. Either case leaves you on a blank or non-editor page. The extension launches the editor without relying on the URL. The editor opens on those sites with no website changes.

The extension only launches the editor. You edit, save, and publish in the Visual Editor on your site, the same as before. Use the extension when a site strips the URL and the Visual Editor does not open. For all other cases, launch the Visual Editor from app.optimizely.com as usual. The standard launch still works, and users who do not install the extension are not affected.

Prerequisites

Optimizely Web Companion requires the following:

  • Google Chrome. Support for Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox is planned.
  • An Optimizely account with Web Experimentation.
  • An Editor or Administrator role on the project you want to work in. See Manage collaborators.
  • An Opti ID account.

Optimizely Web Companion shows only the accounts, projects, and experiments you already have access to. It does not grant extra access.

Some organizations restrict which browser extensions employees install. If you cannot install Optimizely Web Companion, contact your IT team to request approval.

Install the extension

  1. Open Optimizely Web Companion in the Chrome Web Store.
  2. Click Add to Chrome.
  3. Confirm the installation.
  4. Pin Optimizely Web Companion to your browser toolbar.

Log in

  1. Open Optimizely Web Companion from your browser toolbar.

  2. Click Log In.

  3. Sign in with your Opti ID in the window that displays.

After you log in, Optimizely Web Companion takes a moment to load while it retrieves the accounts and projects you can access. You stay logged in until you log out or your session expires.

Open the Visual Editor

  1. Open Optimizely Web Companion.
  2. Click the Edit tab.

  3. Select the account you want to work in.

  4. Select a Project, an Experiment, a Page, and the Variation from the drop-down lists.

  5. Click Open Editor.

Each list becomes available after you select the one before it. To search a list, enter text in it.

Optimizely Web Companion opens a browser tab with the Visual Editor loaded on your page in the variation you selected. The editor loads as long as the Optimizely snippet is running on the page. The snippet is the Optimizely JavaScript that runs your experiments on the site.

To work in a different account, select another account before you choose a project. Optimizely Web Companion reloads the available projects and experiments for that account.

Click Reset to clear your selections and return to project selection.

Available projects and experiments

Optimizely Web Companion lists only the projects and experiments you can open in the Visual Editor. If a project or experiment is missing, confirm it meets these conditions:

  • Project status – Only active projects display.
  • Experiment status – Optimizely Web Companion lists running, paused, and not-started experiments. It does not list archived or concluded experiments.

Permissions and data

Optimizely Web Companion requests the access it needs to open the Visual Editor on any site:

  • Access to all websites – Optimizely Web Companion injects the Visual Editor and runs on the customer site you open.
  • Your Opti ID login – Optimizely Web Companion authenticates you through the extension. It grants no access beyond what your Optimizely user already has.

Some sites have strict security policies that block the Visual Editor. To load the editor there, Optimizely Web Companion removes the Content Security Policy (CSP) header on the tab it opens. This change applies only to that tab.

Optimizely Web Companion sends product-usage events, such as Open Editor clicks, to Optimizely to improve the product.

Log out

  1. Open Optimizely Web Companion.
  2. Click Log Out.

Logging out clears your selections and ends your Optimizely session for the extension. Logging out does not affect your experiments or data in Optimizely.

Troubleshoot

The Visual Editor does not load, or the page is blank

  • Wait a moment. Optimizely Web Companion reloads the page one time when the editor does not load.
  • Confirm the Optimizely snippet is installed and active on the page. The editor does not load when the snippet is missing, blocked, or not deployed in that environment.
  • Confirm the page has a valid activation URL in its page settings.

An access or permissions error displays

  • Log out and log back in to refresh your access, then try again.
  • Confirm you have the Editor or Administrator role on the project.

An expected account, project, or experiment is missing

  • Confirm you have the Editor or Administrator role on the project.
  • Confirm your access in app.optimizely.com, or contact your Optimizely administrator.
  • For the projects and experiments Optimizely Web Companion lists, see Available projects and experiments.

You cannot install the extension

  • Some organizations block browser extensions. Contact your IT team to request approval.