It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. One could easily tell the difference between the two.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and everything changed. Now, it’s getting more and more difficult to tell blogs and websites apart. 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 hood”.
(It’s Getting Harder To Tell Websites Built With Web Development Tools Vs ‘Blogging’ Software!)
For website owners, understanding the difference between a Content Management System application like WordPress and other website-building software is huge, not so much in terms of the technical differences, but more importantly, regarding the things that the majority of website owners care about, such as web development costs, ease of use, ability to maintain the website 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 for a tiny fraction of the cost of getting site ”A”.
If you went with website “B”, then you need to know more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can provide you with a stunning website that will usually turn out to be much less expensive to build than websites which use traditional web development tools … and how to tell these apart!
WordPress is the world’s most used online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a budget-friendly CMS platform suitable for small, medium and even large businesses.
Whether your reason for having a web site is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a newbie with no technical skills to use, yet it offers a range of helpful functions that make your web presence more effective in terms of getting your content published, promoting visitor interaction, 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, your site is also driven by the WP CMS.
And if you don’t have a website yet, or are thinking of getting a website 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 to a smaller budget if required?
The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Was Built Using WP Software
Do you need to know if a website was built using WordPress? Maybe you’ve come here because you’ve heard about all of the great advantages of using WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site runs on 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 some simple methods you can use to quickly tell if a website is powered by WordPress:
Look At The Page Source Code
If you know how to access 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 …
(View the web page source code using the Firefox browser)
Let’s say that you are surfing the web and you come across a web site that you like, and you wonder if the site is built using 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 manually …
Or using the browser’s “Find” function …
(Using the Firefox web browser ‘Find’ function)
This will tell you if the site runs on WordPress or not.
Note: If you cannot locate “wp-content” within the source code, it doesn’t 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 the WordPress software, as we will soon see.
As the point 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 site is built using WordPress other than looking through the source code.
Ask Your Webmaster
While this may seem like the logical thing to do, many website developers, for whatever reason, may build their clients a website and not tell them it’s WordPress.
If you paid a website developer or got somebody else to build your website, just ask your developer or whoever built your web site if your site has been built with 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 website that you really like while surfing the net late at night and need to know if it was built using WordPress?
Powered By WordPress
If the site uses a WordPress theme and the site templates have not been modified, you will typically find a “Powered by WordPress” message shown below the footer area …
(Powered by WordPress – footer)
If the methods above aren’t helpful to you, here are some other ways of identifying WordPress sites …
Sites That Can Tell You If A Website Runs On WordPress
Here are a couple of tools that will tell you if a website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WP – WordPress Website Checking Tool
(Is It WP – WP Checker)
Is It WordPress? is a free tool that can check if a site runs on WordPress or not.
Using this site is really simple. Just type in or paste in the address of the site into the URL field and click the button.
The tool will then search through the URL code and tell you if the site was built using WordPress, and if so, which version of WordPress the site is currently using …
If the site is not powered by WordPress, you will get a message like the one 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 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 – Add-On For Firefox & Chrome Web Browser
(Wappalyzer – Add-On For Firefox & Chrome Web Browser)
If you use a browser such as Firefox or Google Chrome and want to be able to see if the sites that you are visiting were built using WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a very useful extension to add to your web browser.
Wappalyzer identifies what type of software is installed in 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 browser extension to install and use.
After installing Wappalyzer, icons will display in your web browser, next to the site URL allowing you to see which technologies are installed on all the sites you are visiting …
If you see the WordPress icon on your browser menu (as the above screenshot shows), then the site uses WordPress.
(This is a WordPress site!)
Visit the Wappalyzer extension 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:
We hope that you have found the above the information in this tutorial useful.
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