Loading a page
Once a URL is in scope, Silktide opens it in the browser and waits for it to become usable. Most sites work with the defaults. Change these controls only when you have a specific testing need - they live under Advanced settings.
Waiting for the page
- Timeout - the maximum time Silktide waits for a page to finish loading. Raise it only for consistently slow pages; a high timeout makes stuck pages hold up the whole test.
- Extra wait - additional time after the page appears loaded. Use this for single-page applications and other client-rendered sites that populate content after the initial load.
Cookie banners and first visits
- Click selector - an optional CSS selector. If it matches on a page, Silktide clicks it before capturing results. This is the usual way to dismiss a simple cookie or consent banner (for example
#accept-cookies). - First-time visit flow - on new sites, Silktide may run a short warm-up visit to prime caches and cookies. Disable it only if that warm-up interferes with testing.
- Richer journeys (login, multi-step consent, age gates) need user flows or configured authentication, not only a click selector. See How does Silktide detect cookies?.
Scrolling and animation
By default Silktide scrolls down the page so lazy-loaded images and content appear. Disable scroll-down if that motion breaks the page or you need a fold-only view.
Enable animations only when you need CSS animations during the test. Leaving them off is usually faster and more stable.
Discovery-related crawler options
These Advanced settings change which URLs Silktide treats as distinct, or whether it follows links at all:
| Setting | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Max connections | How many pages download in parallel. Lower this first if the site rate-limits testing. |
| Disable link discovery | Only test URLs from rules and forced pages - do not follow links. |
| Ignore automatic sitemaps | Skip sitemaps Silktide would otherwise find (for example /sitemap.xml). |
| Treat URL fragments as distinct pages | Test each unique #fragment URL separately. Off by default. |
| Force lowercase URL paths | Normalize mixed-case paths when the site serves the same page inconsistently. |
| Excluded query parameters | Strip tracking parameters (for example utm_source) before treating a URL as unique. |
| Allowed HTTP response codes | Treat selected non-2xx codes (for example 401) as successful loads when that matches your intent. |
| Enable stealth mode | Disguise automation signals to look more like a real browser. May slow crawling; turn it off if the site already trusts Silktide's user agent. |
Authentication and proxy
HTTP basic, digest, or NTLM credentials, and proxy location, are also configured on Advanced settings. They affect whether Silktide can connect at all - see Where Silktide connects from and Can Silktide test password-protected websites?.
Saved changes take effect on the next test.