It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. You could easily tell blogs and websites apart.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and changed all this. Now, it’s becoming increasingly harder to tell if a site was built using “blogging” tools like WordPress, or if it’s been created using a traditional website editing 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’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 Content Management System application like WordPress and other website-building tools is huge, not so much in terms of the technical differences, but more importantly, in terms of the areas that matter to most website owners, like web development costs, ease of use, ability to keep the website up-to-date, managing content, etc.
Think about this …
Which of the following options 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 website, but for a tiny fraction of the cost of getting site ”A” built.
If you selected option ”B” above, then you need to know more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can give you a beautiful website that could turn out to be much less expensive to build than websites which use a web development tool … 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 flexible and powerful content management system that is ideally suited for all businesses and non-technical users.
Whether your reason for having a web site is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a beginner with no programming skills to use and manage, and offers an array of helpful extensions that make your web presence extremely effective when it comes to getting your content published, promoting visitor engagement, generating business leads and sales, enhancing your site’s capabilities, 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 website 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?
Does My Web Site Run On WordPress?
Do you need to know if a website was built using WordPress? Maybe you’ve come here because you’ve read about all of the great benefits of using WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site was built using WordPress, or some other CMS.
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 a website has been built using WordPress:
Look At The Page 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 telltale footprint that the site was built using WordPress …
(Viewing your web page source code in the Firefox web browser)
Suppose that you are browsing online 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.
Once the source code of the page loads on your screen, you can search for “wp-content” either by visually scanning the code …
Or using the browser’s “Find” function …
(Using Firefox’s ‘Find’ function)
This will tell you if the site was built using WordPress or not.
Note: If you are unable to find “wp-content” within the source code, it does not mean that this is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to find out if a site runs on the WordPress software, as we will soon be discussing.
As the point of this post is to try and help non-technical users, however, we have listed below a number of easier ways to check if your website is built using WordPress other than looking at the source code.
Just Ask Your Webmaster
While this may seem like the most obvious thing to do, a number of web developers, for whatever reason, will build clients a website and not tell them it’s been built with WordPress.
If you have an existing website and you can’t tell what application was used to build it, just ask your web developer or whoever built your website if your website runs on 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 site that you really like while browsing online and you really would like to know if it was built using WordPress?
Check Below The Footer
If the site uses a WP theme where the website theme templates have not been edited, you will often see a “Proudly powered by WordPress” notice shown below the footer area …
(Proudly Powered by WordPress)
If these simple methods haven’t helped you, here are some other ways of identifying WordPress sites …
Online Tools That Can Tell You If A Website Uses WordPress
Here are a some sites that will tell you if your website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WordPress? – WordPress Website Checking Tool
(Is It WP – WP Site Checking Tool)
Is It WordPress? is a free online tool that tells you if a site uses WordPress or not.
Using this tool is really quite easy. Just add the URL of the website into the URL field and click the button next to it.
The tool will then search through the URL pages and tell you if the site was built using WordPress, and if so, which version of WordPress it is currently using …
If the site is not a WordPress-driven website, you will see a message similar to the one shown in the screen shot 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.com
(Wappalyzer – Browser Extension (Firefox / Chrome))
If you use a browser like Firefox or Google Chrome and want to be able to see if the sites that you are visiting use WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a useful extension for your browser.
Wappalyzer identifies what software is installed on 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 very easy to install and very easy to use.
After installing Wappalyzer on your web browser, icons will show up in your browser menu identifying which software is installed on all the sites you visit …
If the WordPress icon shows up on your browser menu (as the above screen shot shows), then the site uses WordPress.
(It’s a WordPress site!)
Visit the Wappalyzer add-on site 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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"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