It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. One could easily tell the difference.
Then WordPress came along and revolutionized web publishing. Now, it’s getting more difficult to tell if a website is running on a “blogging” CMS software application like WordPress, or if it’s been created using a website development software tooltool. Not so much in terms of what the sites are being used for, but in terms of web design and also being able to tell what kind of web application is actually powering the site.
(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 software is huge, not so much in terms of the technical differences, but more importantly, regarding the things that many website owners are concerned with, 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 the options below 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 cost that is significantly less than the cost of getting option ”A” built.
If you chose web site ”B” above, then you need to learn more about WordPress, why WordPress can provide you with an eye-catching website that will typically end up costing you far less to build than websites which use a website building application … and how to tell these two types 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 all types of businesses.
Whether your reason for having an online presence is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a beginner with no web design skills to use, yet it offers a range of helpful features that make your web presence extremely effective in terms of 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, your site is also driven by WordPress.
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 your business quite inexpensively?
Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Web Site And WordPress-Checking Tools
Do you need to know if a website is powered by WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to our site 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 sites are powered WordPress:
Check The Page Source Code
If you know how to search 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 …
(Viewing page source code using the Firefox web browser)
Let’s say that you are browsing online and you visit a website 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.
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 your browser’s “Find” function …
(Using Firefox’s ‘Find’ function)
This will tell you if the site is powered by WordPress or not.
Note: If you do not see “wp-content” within the source code, it does not necessarily mean that the site you’re looking at is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to find out if the site runs on WordPress, as we will soon discuss.
As the point of this post is to help non-technical users, however, we have listed below a number of easy methods you can use to check if your web site is built using WordPress other than searching the source code.
Simply Ask Your Website Developer
While this may seem like the obvious thing to do, a number of website developers, for whatever reason, will build their clients a website and not tell them it’s WordPress.
If you used the services of a website developer or got somebody else to build your website, just ask your web developer or whoever built your website if the website has been built using WordPress.
That was simple, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t get in touch with the person who built your site, or what if you’ve come across a site that you really like while surfing online and you would like to know if the site was built using WordPress?
Powered By WordPress
If the site uses a WordPress theme where the theme templates have not been edited, you can typically find a “Proudly powered by WordPress” message displayed below the footer section …
(Powered by WordPress – site footer)
If the methods above aren’t helpful to you, here are some other ways of identifying WordPress sites …
Tools That Can Tell You If A Website Uses WordPress
Here are a some sites that will tell you if a particular website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
IsItWP.com
(Is It WP – WordPress Checking Tool)
IsItWP.com is a free tool that can check very quickly if a site runs on WordPress or not.
Using this site is really quite easy. Just type the URL of the site into the URL field and click the button next to it.
It will then go and search through the site code 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 a WordPress website, you will get a message like 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
(Wappalyzer – Extension For Firefox & Chrome Web Browser)
If you use either the Firefox or Google Chrome browser and would like to be able to instantly tell if the sites that you are visiting are WordPress sites, then Wappalyzer is a very 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.”
It’s also a very easy to install and easy to use browser extension.
After installing the Wappalyzer add-on on your browser, icons will show up in your web browser menu allowing you to see which technologies are 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.
(A WordPress site!)
Go here to learn more:
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 you have found this tutorial useful.
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"I am beyond impressed with what you have put together. I can tell that you put a ton of hard work into building what you have. You have the absolute best content on WordPress I have ever seen!" - Robert T. Jillie