QA finding
A script on the page throws an error or logs one
QA Error Severity: Medium
Part of the audit Page resources and script errors. Finding id: qa.consoleErrors.
What it costs you
When a script stops, whatever it was building stays unfinished: a menu that does not open, a form that does not send, tracking that does not fire. It also means this audit saw a page that may differ from the intended one.
What to do
Give the message and the source file to whoever maintains the script.
What it checks
- Script errors on the page
- Error messages in browser console
How to fix it
Reproduce and fix the script error
- Open one page from the evidence with the browser console open and reload.
- The console shows the same message with file and line. If the file belongs to a third party, check whether its tag is set up as that party documents.
- If the error appears on every page of one template_id, the script is loaded by the template.
How to check: Reload the page: the console shows no error.
A real case
A Shopify merchant learned from a customer that the checkout button did nothing when clicked, on every device. A JavaScript error in a third-party pre-order script was stopping it, and checkout worked again once the script was dealt with.