I will try to be short. If anything is unclear, please ask.

When I start testing a feature, the first test that I write is usually a check if the (correct) page opens at all. If the page does not open for what ever reason (redirect, error page, server down, network down...) all other tests will fail anyway. The experience has shown that when a lot of tests fail, it is important to quickly figure out what failed. Everything? Just a few things? Maybe just one? If the test that checks if the page opens fails, then it is clear where the problem is.

How to test if the (correct) page opens?

#1 go to the page

#2 check the page

Going to the page is simple, but checking the page could take a lot of effort if we decide to check for every single page element. So, we check just the relevant ones.

My experience has shown that from all page attributes URLs tend to be the most stable ones. So, when I am thinking what should I check for first, I usually check the URL and then a few relevant page elements.

I never thought about it a lot, since URLs are pretty stable and/or easy to encode/decode. If that is not the case in your experience, feel free to delete all URL checks.

Željko