Selenium IDE for File Upload Testing (and potential solution concept)

[Alex B]

Hello everyone! I’m attempting to use Selenium IDE to automate my testing of a content management system—however, a large portion of my tests involve uploading files from my computer. I’ve done some research, and what I understand is that IDE can only interact with HTML elements and not OS interface elements, but I believe this limitation could theoretically be circumvented for my particular testing case: 

When the file explorer is launched from the HTML page, the cursor is already in the file name box—so if IDE had a Target input that told it to (effectively) ignore the Target, it could run the “type” Command with the provided file path Value; then run the “send keys” Command using the provided $(KEY_ENTER) Value; so then the file would populate in the HTML upload page, and the IDE program could continue running the subsequent commands with the expected Target values. 

Would this feature (creating a Target input that instructs IDE to execute a command without a valid Target) be something that could be implemented with a plugin or even a potential future update? Would this be a reasonable/feasible solution for my particular test case? If you already have ideas/feedback, I believe I’ve included the most pertinent information above, but if you want further context, or are dying to answer more questions, I’ve added some below.
__________________________

Setup context: I’m using the Selenium IDE Chrome plugin that I downloaded directly from the Chrome Web Store and my computer is running Microsoft Windows 11 Home. I’m not sure if it’s pertinent, but that’s what I’m working with!

Personal context & current findings: I have next to no coding knowledge–this is why I haven’t delved into using Selenium WebDriver and am trying to get IDE to work for uploading files. I found this Stackoverflow thread from 2018 which makes it seem like uploading with IDE used to be feasible. I followed the recommendation to change my plugin settings to allow access to URLs, but there are also some more technically advanced suggestions that I have not yet pursued (I’d have to learn a fair bit to attempt their suggestions, but since it’s such an old thread my worry is that their solution may not be achievable anymore). 

I also started looking for plugins, to no avail, but I did stumble across “UI.Vision.” Their page on form filling has a section on automating file upload, which is exactly what I want to do, but the way they mention Selenium IDE across their site is a bit confusing to me. For example: their UI.Vision RPA Software page seems to describe their software as “Selenium IDE++” and claims “it has many features that the classic IDE does not (want to) have”–which makes me think it’s a plugin; but they have a section, “How is UI.Vision RPA related to the Selenium IDE?” that asserts that UI.Vision has a completely different base code. So: is UI.Vision a completely separate competitor to Selenium IDE, or does it have to be used in addition to IDE? Since it seems to offer a ready-made solution to my testing issues with IDE, I’m tempted to switch over–but the Selenium community seems more established, presently active, and supportive; so if there’s a avenue for me to use Selenium IDE for my upload tests, I feel like I’d prefer to hold out and attempt to contribute to a solution rather than jumping to a different software.