Webpage Objects and Web Elements are two of the most fundamental concepts in web automation. A Web Object acts like the “scene” where your automation takes place, while Web Elements are the “things” you interact with on a webpage.
Understanding these concepts will help you build smoother, more reliable workflows in Octoparse AI. Throughout this tutorial, we’ll refer to the automation logic simply as “RPA” for clarity.
What Are Webpage Objects?
A Webpage Object is the background—or the “scene”—where your automation happens. Before RPA can click a button, type in a field, read a title, or even navigate to a new page, it needs to know which webpage you’re operating on.
You can think of it this way:
You cannot click a button if the system doesn’t know which page the button is on.
That’s why every web automation workflow starts with a Webpage Object.
In Octoparse AI, commands like "Go to webpage" or "Get webpage" can help you build the 'stage' for web automation.
Many new users struggle with common issues like “element not found”. In most cases, the root cause is misunderstanding the relationship between object and element. If the Webpage Object is not correctly defined, every element inside it becomes unreachable. Clarifying this concept early helps prevent these avoidable frustrations.
What Are Web Elements?
If a Webpage object is the scene, then Web elements are the specific things in that scene you want RPA to act on. Elements can be clickable buttons, input fields, text blocks, images, links and other components that make up a web page’s structure.
Web Elements are everywhere on a webpage, for example:
A button you want Octoparse AI to click (e.g., “Add to Cart”)
A search box where you type a keyword
A title, price, or description you want to extract
Every action in web automation, like clicking, typing, extracting data, must point to a specific Web Element. RPA does not understand the webpage by vision. Instead, it identifies elements by their structure within the page’s HTML.
So when you want to “click this searchbox,” RPA actually needs to know: Which web page contains the searchbox, and where is it located in the page structure? The following screenshots show what human sees vs. what RPA sees
It looks a bit complecated, but no worries. You don’t need to understand HTML or selectors at this stage. Just remember: target = element. Eevery action—Click, Input, Extract—requires choosing the right element.
What Is Element Capture?
RPA doesn’t “see” the screen the way humans do. It reads the webpage’s underlying structure. Element Capture translates what you see (a button), into what Octoparse AI understands (a structured, identifiable element).
Two Ways to Capture Elements
Method 1: Capture to Use Now
When configuring a command, for example, Fill text field on web page , you can capture the element right in the step editor. This is the fastest, most interactive way to build steps.
Octoparse AI will automatically recognize it and attach the element to the command. After capture, you can open the element editor inside the command to refine the element’s name, check its identification rules, and preview whether Octoparse AI locates it reliably.
LIttle tips : Give your elements meaningful names 💡
After capturing an element, you can open Edit Element inside the command to rename it. Clear and meaningful names help you quickly recognize what each element represents when building your workflow.
For example, naming an element Search_button or Input_box is much more helpful than keeping the default “TEXTAREA” or “DIV”.
This simple habit becomes especially useful as your workflow grows and you work with more elements.
Method 2: Capture first, Use Later
In this way, you can capture elements in advance for reuse. Go to element library on the right hand side, and find the element capturer.
Capture to Library is the practice of collecting and organizing elements before you place them into commands. Remember to rename them for clarity. Later, when you build steps, you simply choose the saved element from the library.
Summary
Webpage objects define where automation action happens; Web elements define what RPA operates on. Element capture bridges the gap between human intent and what RPA can understand. Mastering these basics early prevents many common mistakes and makes building reliable web automations far easier.
With this foundation you’re ready to move on to intermediate topics, such as interacting with common element types, handling dynamic elements, and learning locator strategies for higher stability. Those topics will be covered in the coming tutorial series.