Once upon a time and not so long ago, blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. You could easily tell them apart.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and revolutionized web publishing. Now, it’s getting more difficult to tell if the site is running on “blogging” tools like WordPress, or if it’s been created using some other web editor tool. 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 type of web application is actually powering the site.
(It’s Getting Harder To Tell Websites Built With Web Development Tools Vs ‘Blogging’ Software!)
For website owners, understanding the difference between a CMS application like WordPress and other website-building software 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 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 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 built.
If you went with website ”B” above, then you need to learn more about WordPress, why WordPress can be used to create an eye-catching website that could end up costing you far less to build than websites which use traditional web development tools … and how to tell these apart!
WordPress is the world’s most popular online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a budget-friendly content management tool suitable for most types of business applications.
Whether your reason for having an online presence is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a newbie with no programming skills to use and manage, and offers a range of helpful functions that make your web presence highly effective when it comes to getting your content published and indexed by search engines, promoting visitor interaction, generating business leads and sales, enhancing your site’s functionality, 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 WordPress 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 be able to show your web developer an existing site 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 to a smaller budget if required?
Is It A WP Website?
Do you need to know if your website was built using WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to our site because you’ve heard about all of the great advantages of using WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site was built using WordPress, 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 ways to tell if sites are built with WordPress:
View The Source Code
If you know how to bring up 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 tell-tale footprints …
(View the page source code using Firefox)
Let’s say that you are browsing online and you visit a web site that you like, and you wonder if the site uses WordPress …
First, bring up the site’s source code on your screen, using the methods described above.
In the page’s source code, search for words like “wp-content” either manually …
Or using the browser’s “Find” function …
(Using Firefox’s ‘Find’ function)
This will quickly tell you if the site is powered by WordPress or not.
Note: If you cannot find “wp-content” within the page source code, it does not necessarily mean that this is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to find out if a site runs on the WordPress software, as we will soon see.
As the focus of this article is to help non “techies”, however, below you will find 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.
Simply Ask Your Webmaster
While this may seem like the most obvious thing to do, some web development agencies, for whatever reason, may 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 webmaster or whoever built your website if your site has been built using WordPress.
That was simple, 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 browsing online and would like to know if it was built using WordPress?
Check Below Footer
If the site uses a WP theme where the theme templates have not been modified, you will often see a “Proudly powered by WordPress” notice displayed at the bottom of the site …
(Powered by WordPress – footer)
If the simple methods above haven’t helped you, here are some other ways of telling whether a website was built using WordPress or not …
Sites That Tell You If A Website Runs On WordPress
Here are a some tools that will tell you if the website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WP – WordPress Checker
(Is It WordPress? – WordPress Checker)
Is It WP is a free tool that can check very quickly if a website uses WordPress or not.
Using this site is super simple. Just add the address of the website into the URL field and click the button next to it.
It will then search through the URL code and tell you if the site was built using WordPress, and if so, which version of WordPress it is currently using …
If the web site is not powered by WordPress, you will get 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 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 browse the net using either the Firefox or Google Chrome web browsers and want to be able to tell if the sites that you are visiting have been built using WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a useful extension to install on your web browser.
Wappalyzer identifies what type of 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 easy to install.
Once you have installed Wappalyzer on your browser, icons will display in your web browser menu, in the URL field identifying which software is being used by all the sites you are visiting …
If the WordPress icon shows up on the browser menu (as the above screenshot shows), then the site uses WordPress.
(This is a WordPress site!)
Go here to download and install Wappalyzer:
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, go here:
We hope you have found this information 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