Once upon a time and not so long ago, blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. One could easily tell the difference.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and changed everything. Now, it’s becoming harder to tell the difference between what applications are being used to build the two. Not so much in terms of what the sites are being used for, but in terms of web design and also being able to tell what’s under the surface.
(It’s Getting Harder To Tell Websites Built With Web Development Tools Vs ‘Blogging’ Software!)
For many website owners, understanding the difference between a CMS tool like WordPress and other website-building software is huge, not so much in terms of the technical differences, but more importantly, regarding the things that matter to most website owners, like web development costs, ease of use, ability to maintain the site up-to-date, managing web content, etc.
Think about this …
Which of the options below would you choose?
A) An eye-catching, professional-looking website that is actually expensive to build, or
B) The same eye-catching, professional-looking site, but at a cost that is significantly less than the cost of getting option ”A”.
If you chose option “B”, then you need to know more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can provide you with a professional-looking website that will usually end up costing you far less to build than websites which are built with other web development tools … and how to tell the two apart!
WordPress is the world’s most popular online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a powerful and easy-to-use CMS that is ideally suited for ”non-techy” website owners.
Whether your reason for having a web site is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a beginner with no knowledge of web coding to use, yet it offers an array of helpful functions that make your website extremely effective when it comes to getting your content published and indexed by search engines, promoting visitor interaction, generating business leads and sales, enhancing your site’s functionality, scalability, etc.
With almost one in every five websites around the world being powered by WordPress, chances are that if you already own a website, your site is also driven by WordPress.
And if you don’t have a website yet, or are thinking of getting a website built, then wouldn’t it be great to be able to show your web developer an existing site with the design and layout that you like, know that it was built with WordPress and that you can, therefore, get something similarly built quite inexpensively?
Is It A WordPress Website?
Do you need to know if your website is powered by WordPress? Maybe you’ve come here because you’ve read wonderful things about all of the great benefits and advantages of using WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site runs on the WordPress software, or some other content management system.
Also, have you ever looked at a competitor’s website and wondered what they’re doing to try and get better results online?
Knowing if your competitor’s site is built with WordPress can tell you a few things about their strategies and methods, such as what themes or plugins they are using.
Here are a number of methods you can use to quickly tell if sites are powered WordPress:
Check Your Page Source Code
If you know how to view the source code of a web page (e.g. Firefox Menu > Web Developer > Page Source if using Firefox, or Google Menu > More Tools > View Source if using Google Chrome), you can look for telltale footprints …
(Viewing page source code in the Firefox browser)
Let’s say that you are surfing the web and you come across a web site that you like, and you wonder if the site runs on WordPress …
First, bring up the site’s source code on your screen, using the methods described above.
In the source code, you can search for words like “wp-content” either manually …
Or use your browser’s “Find” function …
(Using the Firefox browser ‘Find’ function)
This will quickly tell you if the site was built with WordPress or not.
Note: If you cannot see “wp-content” within the source code, it does not mean that it’s not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to find out if a site was built using WordPress, as we will soon see.
As the focus of this article is to try and help non “techies”, however, below you will find a number of easier ways to check if your website is powered by WordPress other than looking at the source code.
Ask Your Webmaster
While this may seem like the most logical thing to do, a number of website development agencies, for whatever reason, will build clients a website and not tell them it’s WordPress.
If you paid a website developer or got somebody else to build your website, just ask your developer or whoever built your site if the site was built using WordPress.
That was easy, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t get in touch with your website developer, or what if you’ve come across a website that you really like while surfing the net late at night and you really want to know if the site was built using WordPress?
Powered By WordPress
If the site uses a WP theme and the site templates have not been customized, you can typically see a “Powered by WordPress” notice showing at the bottom of the site …
(Powered by WordPress)
If the methods above haven’t helped you, here are some other ways of telling whether a site uses WordPress or not …
Online Tools That Can Tell You If A Website Runs On WordPress
Here are a couple of online applications that will tell you if your website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WordPress? – WP Checking Tool
(IsItWP.com)
IsItWP.com is a free online tool that can tell you very quickly if a website uses WordPress or not.
Using this tool is super easy. Just type the URL of the website into the URL field and click the button next to it.
It will then go and search through the site code and tell you if the site was built using WordPress, and if so, it will even tell you which version of WordPress the site is currently using …
If the web site is not a WordPress-driven website, you will see a message like the one below …
To use this tool, go here:
Advanced WP Theme Checker by Satori
(WordPress Theme Detector)
WordPress Theme Detector by Satori Studio is a free tool that can help determine whether or not a website uses WordPress as its CMS engine; it will also tell you which theme the site is using and provide a link to the theme’s official page.
To use this tool, paste the URL of a web page (it doesn’t have to be the home page) into the ‘Enter website URL’ field and click on the ‘What WordPress theme is that?’ button …
(Enter website URL and click the button)
The Theme Detector will automatically scan the website and output its theme information …
(WordPress Theme Detector displays theme results)
If a website is built with WordPress but the theme is too customized to contain any traces of its origins, the Detector will still let you know it’s a WP site by outputting a message on the right.
(Modified WordPress theme message)
If the website is not using WordPress at all, the tool will also let you know …
(This website is not WordPress)
You can try the Detector yourself by visiting this link:
Wappalyzer – Browser Add-On (Firefox / Chrome)
(Wappalyzer – Web Browser Extension (Firefox / Chrome))
If you use either the Firefox or Google Chrome web browser and want to be able to know if the sites that you are visiting are powered by WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a great extension for your web browser.
Wappalyzer identifies what software is installed in the sites while you are browsing.
According to their website …
“Wappalyzer is a browser extension that uncovers the technologies used on websites. It detects content management systems, eCommerce platforms, web servers, JavaScript frameworks, analytics tools and many more.”
It’s also an easy to install and easy to use browser extension.
Once you have installed Wappalyzer on your browser, icons will show up in your web browser allowing you to see which technologies are being used by all the sites you are visiting …
If you see the WordPress icon showing on your browser menu (as the above screen shot shows), then the site has been built with WordPress.
(This is a WordPress site!)
To learn more, go here:
SpyBar
(SpyBar – Browser Addon For WordPress)
SpyBar is a browser addon that lets you ‘reverse engineer’ any WordPress site you visit and see which WordPress plugins and themes are being used, right inside your web browser …
(SpyBar – Discover WordPress Plugins And Themes Used By Your Competitors)
SpyBar can be installed as a browser extension on Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox and is compatible with PC and Mac.
To download or learn more about SpyBar, visit the site below:
Plugin Sniper
(Plugin Sniper – Find out what plugins a WordPress site is using)
Plugin Sniper lets you find out what plugins a WordPress site is using. This is a useful tool if you want to know what WordPress plugins are being used by your competitors.
Plugin Sniper is also a useful tool for researching what kinds of plugins businesses in certain niches are using …
(Search WordPress sites by categories and location)
To download or learn more about Plugin Sniper, go here:
We hope you have found the above information useful.
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum