When the “blogging revolution” first began, blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. One could easily tell the difference.
Then WordPress came along and revolutionized online publishing. Now, it’s getting almost impossible to tell blogs and websites apart. 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 type of web application is actually powering the site.
(It’s Getting Harder To Tell Websites Built With Web Development Tools Vs ‘Blogging’ Software!)
For website owners, understanding the difference between a CMS tool like WordPress and other website-building tools is huge, not so much in terms of the technical differences, but more importantly, regarding the things that many website owners are mostly concerned with, like web development costs, ease of use, ability to keep the site up-to-date, managing web content, etc.
Think about this …
Which of the following options 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 at a cost that is significantly less than the cost of getting option ”A” above built.
If you selected site ”B” above, then you need to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can give you an expensive-looking website that could cost far less to build than websites which use website-building software … and how to tell these apart!
WordPress is the world’s leading online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a flexible and powerful CMS that is ideally suited for businesses on a budget.
Whether your reason for having a website or blog is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a beginner with no programming skills to use, yet it offers an array of helpful extensions that make your web site highly 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, 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 powered by WordPress.
And if you don’t have a website yet, or are thinking of 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 something similarly built for a much smaller cost?
Does My Web Site Run On WordPress?
Do you need to know if your website was built using WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to our site because you’ve heard about all of the great advantages of using WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site was built using WordPress, 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 built using WordPress:
Search The Page Source Code
If you know how to search 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 obvious tell-tale footprints …
(Viewing web page source code using the Firefox browser)
Suppose that you are surfing the web and you visit a web 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.
Once the source code of the page loads on your screen, you can search for words like “wp-content” either manually …
Or use your browser’s “Find” function …
(Using the Firefox web browser ‘Find’ function)
This will quickly tell you if the site runs on WordPress or not.
Note: If you cannot locate “wp-content” in the page source code, it does not mean that the website is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if a site runs on WordPress, as we will soon see.
As the point of this article is to try and help non “techies”, however, we have listed below a number of easier ways to check if your website is built using WordPress other than looking through the source code.
Ask Your Webmaster
While this may seem like the most logical thing to do, a number of website development companies, for whatever reason, will build their clients a website and not tell them it’s WordPress.
If you have an existing web site and you’re not sure what application is driving it, just ask your webmaster or whoever built your website if your website runs on WordPress.
That was simple, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t reach the person who built your site, or what if you’ve come across a website that you really like while surfing the net and you really need to know if it was built with WordPress?
Check Below The Footer
If the site uses a WP theme and the templates have not been modified, you will typically find a “Proudly powered by WordPress” notice showing below the footer section …
(Powered by WordPress)
If the methods above aren’t helpful to you, here are some other ways of identifying WordPress sites …
Online Tools That Tell You If A Website Uses WordPress
Here are a some tools that can tell you if a website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WordPress?
(Is It WP – WP Checker)
IsItWP.com is a free tool that can tell you very quickly if a website was built using WordPress or not.
Using this site is really easy. Just type the URL of the site into the search field and click the button next to it.
It will then go and 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 web site is not a WP-powered site, you will see a message similar to the one shown in the screenshot 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.com
(Wappalyzer – Browser Add-On (Firefox / Chrome))
If you use a browser like Firefox or Google Chrome and would like to be able to instantly tell if the sites that you are visiting have been built using WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a useful extension to install on your web browser.
Wappalyzer tells you 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.”
Wappalyzer is also a very easy to install and easy to use web browser add-on.
Once you have installed the Wappalyzer extension on your browser, icons will show up in your web browser identifying which software is installed on the sites you visit …
If you see the WordPress icon showing on the browser menu (as the above screenshot shows), then the site has been built with WordPress.
(This website uses WordPress!)
To learn more and download the Wappalyzer browser extension, 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, visit the site below:
I hope that you have found the above information useful.
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"Learning WordPress has been a huge stumbling block for me. I've been looking for something that covers absolutely everything but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Thank you so much ... you have just provided me with what I have been looking for! Truly appreciated!" - Tanya