Once upon a time and not so long ago, blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. One could easily tell the difference.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and changed everything. Now, it’s getting more difficult to tell if the website is being powered by “blogging” applications like the WP CMS, or if it’s been created using some other web 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 things that matter to most website owners, like 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 expensive to build, or
B) The same eye-catching, professional-looking site, but at a much cheaper cost than the cost of getting option “A” above.
If you chose web site “B”, then you need to know more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can provide you with an attractive, professional-looking and fully functional 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 types apart!
WordPress is the world’s most popular online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a powerful and easy-to-use CMS that is ideally suited for ”non-techy” website owners.
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 skills to use and manage, and offers many helpful add-ons that make your web site more 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 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 one 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 a similar site built for very little cost?
How Can I Tell If A Site Was Built With WordPress?
Do you need to know if your website is powered by 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 a number of ways to tell if sites are built using WordPress:
Search Your Source Code For Tell-Tale WordPress Footprints
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 using WordPress …
(Viewing web page source code using the Firefox web browser)
Suppose that you are browsing online and you visit a web site that you like, and you would like to know 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, you can search for words like “wp-content” either by visually scanning the code …
Or use the browser’s “Find” function …
(Using the Firefox browser ‘Find’ function)
This will tell you if the site is powered by WordPress or not.
Note: If you do not see the words “wp-content” in the page source code, it does not necessarily mean that this is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if the site runs on WordPress, as we will soon discuss.
As the point of this article is to help non “techies”, however, we have listed below a number of easy methods you can use to check if your website is built with WordPress other than viewing the source code.
Simply Ask Your Web Developer
While this may seem like the most logical thing to do, many web development agencies, for whatever reason, may build their clients a website and not tell them it’s been built with WordPress.
If you have an existing web site and you’re not sure what CMS application was used to build it, just ask your webmaster or whoever built your site if the site runs on WordPress.
That was simple, 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 the site was built with WordPress?
Check Below Footer
If the site uses a WordPress theme and the website them template has not been modified, you can often find a “Powered by WordPress” notice displayed at the bottom of the site …
(Powered by WordPress)
If the simple methods above aren’t helpful to you, here are some other ways of telling whether a site uses WordPress or not …
Tools That Tell You If A Website Uses WordPress
Here are a couple of online applications that can tell you if a website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WordPress?
(IsItWP.com)
Is It WordPress? is a free online tool that can check very quickly if a site uses WordPress or not.
Using this tool is very easy. Just enter the address of the website into the URL field and click the button.
The tool will then go through the page code on the URL 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 web site is not a WP site, you will get a message similar to the one 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 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
(Wappalyzer.com)
If you use either the Firefox or Chrome web browser and would like to be able to tell if the sites that you are visiting are WP-powered, then Wappalyzer is a great extension to add to your web browser.
Wappalyzer helps you identify 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.”
It’s also an easy to install and easy to use web browser add-on.
Once you have installed Wappalyzer on your browser, icons will appear in your browser menu identifying which software is installed on all the sites you visit …
If you see the WordPress icon on the browser menu (as shown in the screenshot above), then the site has been built with WordPress.
(This is a WordPress site!)
To download and install Wappalyzer 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:
We hope you have found the above tutorial useful.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group