When the “blogging revolution” first began, blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. You could easily tell the difference between the two.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and everything changed. Now, it’s becoming more and more difficult to tell if a site was built with “blogging” tools like the WordPress platform, or if it’s been created using a traditional website development software application. 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 kind of web application is actually powering the site.
(It’s Getting Harder To Tell Websites Built With Web Development Tools Vs ‘Blogging’ Software!)
For many website owners, understanding the difference between a Content Management System tool like WordPress and other website-building software is huge, not so much in terms of the technical differences, but more importantly, regarding the areas 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 turns out to be quite expensive to build, or
B) The same eye-catching, professional-looking site, but at a fraction of the cost of getting option ”A” built.
If you chose website ”B” above, then you need to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can give you an eye-catching website that could turn out to be far less expensive to build than websites built using a website building application … and how to tell the two types apart!
WordPress is the world’s preferred online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a powerful CMS suitable for businesses on a budget.
Whether your reason for having an online presence is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a beginner with no technical skills to use and manage, and offers an array of helpful functions that make your web site extremely effective when it comes to getting your content published, promoting visitor engagement, generating business leads and sales, enhancing your site’s capabilities, 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 considering getting one built, then wouldn’t it be great 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 a similar site built for a much smaller cost?
Does My Blog Run On WordPress?
Do you need to know if a website uses WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to this page because you’ve heard or read 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 some simple ways to tell if sites are running on WordPress:
Look At Your Source Code
If you know how to check 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 …
(How to view web page source code using the Firefox browser)
Let’s say that you are surfing the web and you come across a site that you like, and you’re wondering 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, search for “wp-content” either by visually scanning the code …
Or using the browser’s “Find” function …
(Using the Firefox web browser ‘Find’ function)
This will tell you if the site is powered by WordPress or not.
Note: If you do not see “wp-content” in the page source code, it does not necessarily mean that it’s not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to find out if a site runs on the WordPress software, as we will soon discuss.
As the focus of this post is to help non “techies”, however, we have listed below a number of easier ways to check if your site is powered by WordPress other than searching the source code.
Just Ask Your Webmaster
While this may seem like the logical thing to do, some website development companies, for whatever reason, will build clients a website and not tell them it’s been built with WordPress.
If you have an existing web site and you can’t tell what application was used to build it, just ask your developer or whoever built your site if your site has been built with WordPress.
That was easy, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t get in touch with your webmaster, or what if you’ve come across a website that you really like while surfing the net and you really need to know if the site was built with WordPress?
Check Below The Footer
If the site uses a WP theme and the templates have not been customized, you can typically see a “Proudly powered by WordPress” message showing below the footer section of the site …
(Powered by WordPress – footer)
If these simple methods aren’t helpful to you, here are some other ways of identifying WordPress sites …
Sites That Can Tell You If A Website Was Built Using 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 …
IsItWP.com – WP Checking Tool
(Is It WP)
Is It WP is a free online tool that can check very quickly if a website uses WordPress or not.
Using this tool is really quite easy. Just add the URL of the website into the search field and click the button.
It will go through the URL pages and tell you if the site was built using WordPress, and if so, it will even tell you which version of WordPress it is currently using …
If the site is not a WP site, you will see a message similar to 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 – Extension For Firefox & Chrome Web Browser
(Wappalyzer.com)
If you browse the net using either the Firefox or Google Chrome browsers and would like to be able to know if the sites that you are visiting are WP sites, then Wappalyzer is a useful extension to add to your browser.
Wappalyzer identifies what software is installed on 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 very easy to install and easy to use.
Once you have installed Wappalyzer, icons will show up in your browser identifying which software is installed on all the sites you visit …
If the WordPress icon shows up on your browser menu (as shown in the screen shot above), then the site uses WordPress.
(It’s 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.
***
"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