It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. You could easily tell them apart.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and changed everything. 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 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 CMS tool like WordPress and other website-building tools is huge, not so much in terms of the technical differences, but more importantly, regarding the areas that matter to most website owners, like web development costs, ease of use, ability to maintain 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 turns out to be quite expensive to build, or
B) The same eye-catching, professional-looking site, but at a fraction of the cost of getting site ”A”.
If you chose web site “B”, then you need to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can be used to create a beautiful website that will normally cost far less to build than websites which are built with a web building application … and how to tell these apart!
WordPress is the world’s preferred online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a budget-friendly content management system suitable for local businesses.
Whether your reason for having a website or blog is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a beginner with no technical skills to use and manage, yet it offers a range of helpful tools that make your website extremely effective in terms of getting your content published and indexed by search engines, 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 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 a similar site built for your business quite inexpensively?
Is It A WordPress Web Site?
Do you need to know if your website is powered by WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to this page because you’ve heard about all of the great benefits of using WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site runs on the WordPress software, 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 ways to tell if sites are powered 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 a telltale footprint that the site was built using WordPress …
(Viewing page source code in the Firefox browser)
Let’s say that you are browsing online and you come across a site that you like, and you’re wondering 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 the words “wp-content” either by scanning the code visually …
Or using your browser’s “Find” function …
(Using the Firefox browser ‘Find’ function)
This will quickly tell you if the site was built using WordPress or not.
Note: If you are unable to locate the words “wp-content” within the source code, it does not necessarily mean that the website is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if the site was built using the WordPress software, as we will soon be discussing.
As the focus of this post is to try and help non “techies”, however, we have listed below a number of easy methods you can use to check if your site is powered by WordPress other than looking through the source code.
Just Ask Your Web Developer
While this may seem like the most logical thing to do, some web developers, for whatever reason, will build clients a website and not tell them it’s been built with WordPress.
If you have an existing website and you’re not sure what CMS application was used to build it, just ask your developer or whoever built your website if your web site was built using WordPress.
That was easy, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t get in touch with your website developer, or what if you’ve come across a site that you really like while surfing online and you want to know if it was built with WordPress?
Check Below The Footer
If the site uses a WP theme and the website them template has not been modified, you will often find a “Proudly powered by WordPress” message shown below the footer area …
(Powered by WordPress – footer)
If these simple methods haven’t helped you, here are some other ways of identifying WordPress sites …
Tools That Can Tell You If A Website Is Built With WordPress
Here are a couple of sites that can tell you if your website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WordPress?
(Is It WP)
Is It WP? is a free tool that can tell you very quickly if a website runs on WordPress or not.
Using this tool is really easy. Just paste the URL of the site into the URL field and click the button.
The tool will then go 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 web site was not built using WordPress, 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 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 – Web Browser Add-On (Firefox / Chrome))
If you browse the net using either the Firefox or Chrome browsers and would like to be able to instantly tell if the sites that you are visiting use WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a useful extension for your browser.
Wappalyzer tells you 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.”
Wappalyzer is also an easy to install and easy to use web browser extension.
Once you have installed Wappalyzer, icons will display in your web browser, next to the site URL identifying which technologies are installed on the sites you visit …
If the WordPress icon shows up on your browser menu (as shown in the screen shot above), then the site uses WordPress.
(This is 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:
We hope you have found this the information in this tutorial useful.
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