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 changed everything. Now, it’s getting increasingly harder to tell if a website is being powered by a “blogging” CMS tool like the WP CMS, or if it’s been created using a web development software tooltool. 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 CMS application like WordPress and other website-building software 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 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 turns out to be fairly 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 option ”B” above, then you need to know more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can provide you with an eye-catching website that will normally turn out to be far less expensive to build than websites which are built using web-building software … 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 powerful and easy-to-use CMS 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 novice with no technical knowledge to use and manage, yet it offers an array of helpful features that make your web site extremely effective when it comes to getting your content published and indexed by search engines, promoting visitor engagement, generating business leads and sales, enhancing your site’s functionality, 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, yours is also a WordPress site.
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 site 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 Blog Was Built Using WP Software
Do you need to know if your website uses WordPress? Maybe you’ve come here because you’ve read about all of the great benefits of using WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site runs on 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 some simple methods you can use to quickly tell if a site has been built with WordPress:
Check The Source Code For TellTale A WordPress Footprint
If you know how to check 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 …
(Viewing the web page source code in the Firefox browser)
Suppose that you are browsing online and you come across a website that you like, and you wonder if the site was built with WordPress …
First, bring up the site’s source code on your screen, using the methods described above.
After the source code of the site loads on your screen, search for the words “wp-content” either by visually scanning the code …
Or use the browser’s “Find” function …
(Use the Firefox web browser ‘Find’ function)
This will quickly tell you if the site was built using WordPress or not.
Note: If you are unable to find “wp-content” in the source code, it does not necessarily mean that you are not looking at a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if a site was built using WordPress, as we will soon discuss.
As the point of this article is to try and 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 scanning the source code.
Simply Ask Your Webmaster
While this may seem like the obvious thing to do, a number of website developers, for whatever reason, may build clients a website and not tell them it’s been built with WordPress.
If you have an existing web site and you’re not sure what CMS application is driving it, just ask your web developer or whoever built your website if the web site has been built using WordPress.
That was simple, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t reach the person who built your website, or what if you’ve come across a website that you really like while surfing the net and would like to know if it was built using WordPress?
Check Below Footer
If the site uses a WordPress theme where the templates have not been customized, you can often find a “Proudly powered by WordPress” notice shown at the bottom of the site …
(Proudly Powered by WordPress)
If the simple methods above haven’t helped you, here are some other ways of identifying WordPress sites …
Sites That Tell You If A Website Runs On WordPress
Here are a some online applications that will tell you if the website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WordPress? – WP Website Checker
(Is It WordPress? – WordPress Checker)
IsItWP.com is a free tool that tells you if a site runs on WordPress or not.
Using this site is really simple. Just paste the URL of the site into the URL field and click the button next to it.
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, which version of WordPress the site is currently using …
If the web site is not a WordPress-driven site, you will see a message like the one shown in the screen shot 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 – Browser Extension (Firefox / Chrome)
(Wappalyzer)
If you browse the net using either Firefox or Google Chrome and would like to be able to see if the sites that you are visiting are powered by WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a very useful add-on to add to your browser.
Wappalyzer tells you what 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.”
It’s also a very easy add-on to install and use.
Once you have installed the Wappalyzer extension on your web browser, icons will appear in your browser, in the URL field allowing you to see which software is being used by all the sites you visit …
If the WordPress icon displays on the browser menu (as shown in the screenshot above), then the site uses WordPress.
(It’s a WordPress site!)
To visit the site, go 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, go here:
We hope you have found the above tutorial useful.
***
"I love the way your email series "Infinite Web Content Creation Training Series" is documented and presented. It is very absorbing and captivating. The links and tutorials are interesting and educational. This has motivated me to rewrite my content following the concepts I am learning from the email series." - Mani Raju, www.fortuneinewaste.com