It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. One could easily tell them apart.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and everything changed. Now, it’s becoming almost impossible to tell if the site is being powered by a “blogging” content management system (CMS) like WordPress, or if it’s been created using a traditional 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.
(Can You Tell Which Application A Website Has Been Built With?)
For 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 the majority of website owners are concerned with, such as 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 is expensive to build, or
B) The same eye-catching, professional-looking website, but at a tiny fraction of the cost of getting site “A” above.
If you selected site ”B” above, then you need to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can be used to create an eye-catching website that could end up costing you far less to build than websites built using other web editor tools … and how to tell the two types apart!
WordPress is the world’s most used online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a flexible and powerful content management system that is ideally suited for all types of businesses.
Whether your reason for having a digital presence is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a newbie with no web design skills to use and manage, yet it offers an array of helpful functions that make your website more effective in terms of getting your content published and indexed by search engines, promoting visitor interaction, 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 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 quite inexpensively?
How Can I Check If My Site Was Built With WordPress?
Do you need to know if your website was built using WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to our site because you’ve read about all of the great benefits and advantages of using WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site was built using 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 a number of methods you can use to quickly tell if sites are built using WordPress:
Look At Your Page 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 obvious telltale footprints that the site was built using WordPress …
(Viewing page source code using Firefox)
Suppose that you are surfing the web and you visit a website 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.
Once the source code of the site loads on your screen, search for “wp-content” either manually …
Or using your browser’s “Find” function …
(Use the Firefox web browser ‘Find’ function)
This will tell you if the site runs on WordPress or not.
Note: If you cannot locate the words “wp-content” within the source code, it does not mean that the site you’re looking at is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if a site was built using WordPress, as we will soon discuss.
As the focus of this article is to help non-technical users, however, we have listed below a number of easier methods you can use to check if your web site 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 web development companies, for whatever reason, will build clients a website and not tell them it’s WordPress.
If you used a website developer or got somebody else to build your website, just ask your web developer or whoever built your site if your website was built using WordPress.
That was easy, 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 late at night and want to know if the site was built using WordPress?
Powered By WordPress
If the site uses a WP theme where the theme templates have not been edited, you can often find a “Proudly powered by WordPress” notice shown below the footer section …
(Powered by WordPress – site footer section)
If the methods above aren’t helpful to you, here are some other ways of identifying WordPress sites …
Online Tools That Can Tell You If A Website Runs On WordPress
Here are a couple of tools that can tell you if a website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WP
(Is It WordPress?)
Is It WP is a free tool that can check if a website uses WordPress or not.
Using this tool is really quite easy. Just add the URL of the site into the search field and click the button.
It will go and search 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 the site is currently using …
If the site is not powered by WordPress, you will see a message similar to the one shown 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 Browser
(Wappalyzer)
If you browse the net using either Firefox or Chrome and want to be able to tell if the sites that you are visiting are WP-driven, then Wappalyzer is a useful extension to add to your browser.
Wappalyzer tells you 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.”
Wappalyzer is also a very easy to install and very easy to use web browser add-on.
After installing Wappalyzer on your web browser, icons will display in your web browser identifying which software is being used by all the sites you are visiting …
If you see the WordPress icon showing on your browser menu (as the above screen shot shows), then the site has been built with WordPress.
(A WordPress site!)
Visit the 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:
I hope that you have found the above tutorial useful.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)