Once upon a time and not so long ago, blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. One could easily tell them apart.
Then WordPress came along and everything changed. Now, it’s becoming harder to tell if a site was built using “blogging” software like the WP publishing platform, or if it’s been created using web-building software. 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.
(Can You Tell Which Application A Website Has Been Built With?)
For many website owners, understanding the difference between a CMS 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, such as web development costs, ease of use, ability to keep the site up-to-date, managing web content, etc.
Think about this …
Which of these 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 site, but at a much cheaper cost than the cost of getting site ”A” above built.
If you chose web site “B”, then you need to know more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can be used to create a professional-looking website that could turn out to be much less expensive to build than websites built using website-building software … and how to tell the two apart!
WordPress is the world’s most used online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a powerful CMS application that is ideally suited for most business needs.
Whether your reason for having a web site is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a beginner with no technical knowledge to use and manage, yet it offers many helpful tools that make your website more effective in terms of getting your content published, promoting visitor engagement, 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 be able 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 for your business to a smaller budget if required?
Does My Site Run On WordPress?
Do you need to know if your website uses WordPress? Maybe you’ve come here because you’ve read about WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site runs on WordPress, or some other CMS 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 a web site is powered by WordPress:
Look At The 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 an obvious telltale footprint that the site was built with WordPress …
(How to view your web page source code in the Firefox browser)
Suppose that you are browsing online and you come across a web site that you like, and you’re wondering if the site uses WordPress …
First, bring up the site’s source code on your screen, using the methods described above.
In the page’s source code, you can search for words like “wp-content” either by scanning the code visually …
Or using the browser’s “Find” function …
(Using Firefox’s ‘Find’ function)
This will quickly tell you if the site is powered by WordPress or not.
Note: If you do not locate the words “wp-content” within the page source code, it does not necessarily mean that this is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to find out if the site was built using the WordPress software, as we will soon discuss.
As the focus of this article is to try and help non “techies”, however, below you will find a number of easy ways to check if your website is built using WordPress other than searching through the source code.
Just Ask Your Webmaster
While this may seem like the most obvious thing to do, many website developers, for whatever reason, will build clients a website and not tell them it’s been built with WordPress.
If you used the services of a website developer or got somebody else to build your website, just ask your webmaster or whoever built your website if it has been built using WordPress.
That was simple, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t get in touch with the person who built your website, or what if you’ve come across a site that you really like while browsing the net and would like to know if it was built with WordPress?
Check Below The Footer
If the site uses a WordPress theme where the web theme templates have not been modified, you can typically find a “Powered by WordPress” notice showing at the bottom of the site …
(Proudly Powered by WordPress)
If the simple methods above 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 online applications that will tell you if the website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WordPress? – WordPress Site Checking Tool
(Is It WordPress?)
IsItWP.com is a free online tool that lets you easily check if a website was built with WordPress or not.
Using this tool is really simple. Just enter the address of the site into the URL field and click the button next to it.
The tool will search through the URL pages 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 WordPress website, you will see a message similar to 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 – Extension For Firefox / Chrome Browser
(Wappalyzer – Extension For Firefox & Chrome Browser)
If you use a web browser like 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 very useful extension for your browser.
Wappalyzer helps you identify what type of 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.”
Wappalyzer is also very easy to install and easy to use.
After installing Wappalyzer, icons will show up in your web browser menu allowing you to see which technologies are installed on all the sites you visit …
If the WordPress icon displays on your browser menu (as the above screenshot shows), then the site has been built with WordPress.
(This is 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, go here:
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 that you have found this information 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)