When the “blogging revolution” first began, blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. One could easily tell the difference between the two.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and changed everything. Now, it’s getting harder to tell blogs and websites apart. Not so much in terms of what the sites are being used for, but in terms of website design and also being able to tell what type of web application is actually powering the site.
(Can You Tell Which Application A Website Has Been Built With?)
For website owners, understanding the difference between a CMS application 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, such as web development costs, ease of use, ability to keep the site up-to-date, managing 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 website, but for a fraction of the cost of getting option ”A” built.
If you selected option “B”, then you need to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can be used to create a beautiful website that could end up costing you far less to build than websites built using other website editor tools … and how to tell these apart!
WordPress is the world’s most used online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a powerful CMS that is ideally suited for businesses on a budget.
Whether your reason for having a website is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a novice with no knowledge of HTML to use and manage, and offers a range of helpful functions that make your web presence extremely effective when it comes to getting your content published and indexed by search engines, promoting visitor interaction, generating business leads and sales, scalability, etc.
With almost one in every five websites around the world currently being powered by WordPress, chances are that if you already own a website, yours is also a WordPress site.
And if you don’t have a website yet, or are thinking of getting a website built, then wouldn’t it be great to show your web developer an existing website with the design and layout that you like, know that it was built with WordPress and that you can, therefore, get a similar site built for very little cost?
How Can I Tell If My Website Was Built With WordPress?
Do you need to know if your website uses WordPress? Maybe you’ve come here because you’ve heard wonderful things about all of the great advantages of using WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site runs on the WordPress software, or some other website application.
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 ways to tell if a website is running on WordPress:
Look At 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 a tell-tale footprint that the site was built with WordPress …
(Viewing web page source code in the Firefox browser)
Let’s say that you are surfing the web and you visit a web site that you like, and you would like to know if the site was built with WordPress …
First, bring up the site’s source code on your screen, using the methods described above.
Once the source code of the site loads on your screen, search for words like “wp-content” either manually …
Or using the browser’s “Find” function …
(Use the Firefox browser ‘Find’ function)
This will quickly tell you if the site runs on WordPress or not.
Note: If you cannot find “wp-content” in the source code, it does not necessarily mean that the website is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to find out if the site runs on the WordPress software, as we will soon discuss.
As the point of this post is to help non-technical users, however, below you will find a number of easy methods you can use to check if your website is built with WordPress other than scanning the source code.
Just Ask Your Website Developer
While this may seem like the logical thing to do, many website developers, for whatever reason, may build their clients a website and not tell them it’s WordPress.
If you used the services of a website developer or got somebody else to build your website, just ask your web developer or whoever built your web site if your web site runs on WordPress.
That was easy, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t reach your webmaster, or what if you’ve come across a website that you really like while surfing the net late at night and would like to know if it was built with WordPress?
Check Below The Footer
If the site uses a WP theme and the website them template has not been modified, you can often find a “Powered by WordPress” message shown below the footer section …
(Powered by WordPress – site footer section)
If the simple methods above haven’t helped you, here are some other ways of telling whether a website was built using WordPress or not …
Sites That Tell You If A Website Has Been Built With WordPress
Here are a couple of online applications that can tell you if the website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WordPress? – WP Website Checking Tool
(IsItWP.com – WordPress Site Checker)
Is It WordPress? is a free tool that can check if a site uses WordPress or not.
Using this tool is really quite simple. Just type in or paste in the URL of the website into the search field and click the button next to it.
It will search through the URL code and tell you if the site was built using WordPress, and if so, it will even tell you the version of WordPress the site is currently using …
If the site is not a WP-powered site, you will see a message like the one shown below …
To visit this site, 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 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 – Add-On For Firefox / Chrome Browser
(Wappalyzer – Add-On For Firefox / Chrome Browser)
If you browse the net using either Firefox or Google Chrome and want to be able to see if the sites that you are visiting are powered by WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a useful add-on to add to your browser.
Wappalyzer identifies what software is installed in the sites you are visiting.
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 web browser extension.
After installing Wappalyzer, icons will appear in your browser menu allowing you to see which technologies are being used by the sites you are visiting …
If the WordPress icon displays on your browser menu (as shown in the screen shot above), then the site has been built with WordPress.
(A WordPress site!)
Visit the Wappalyzer extension website 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, visit the site below:
I hope you have found the above tutorial useful.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)