It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. You could easily tell blogs and websites apart.
Then WordPress came along and changed all this. Now, it’s becoming increasingly harder to tell if a site is running on “blogging” applications like the WordPress platform, or if it’s been developed using some other website editing application. 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 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 many website owners, understanding the difference between a CMS tool 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 quite expensive to build, or
B) The same eye-catching, professional-looking website, but at a much cheaper cost than the cost of getting option ”A”.
If you selected website “B”, then you need to learn more about WordPress, why WordPress can be used to create an attractive, professional-looking and fully functional website that could turn out to be much less expensive to build than websites built using traditional website development tools … and how to tell these apart!
WordPress is the world’s leading online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a powerful and easy-to-use content management application suitable for local businesses.
Whether your reason for having a website is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a novice with no technical skills to use, and offers an array of helpful functions that make your web site extremely effective in terms of getting your content published and indexed by search engines, promoting visitor engagement, 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 WordPress CMS.
And if you don’t have a website yet, or are considering 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 a similar site built for very little cost?
Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Web Site And WordPress-Checking Tools
Do you need to know if a website was built using WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to this page 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 CMS.
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 powered WordPress:
Look At Your Source Code
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 telltale footprints that the site was built with WordPress …
(How to view web page source code using Firefox)
Let’s say that you are browsing online and you visit a web site that you like, and you would like to know if the site uses WordPress …
First, bring up the site’s source code on your screen, using the methods described above.
In the source code, search for words like “wp-content” either by scanning the code visually …
Or using your 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 are unable to locate “wp-content” within the page source code, it doesn’t mean that you are not looking at a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if the site runs on WordPress, as we will soon see.
As the point of this post is to try and help non “techies”, however, we have listed below a number of easier methods you can use to check if your web site is built using WordPress other than viewing the source code.
Simply Ask Your Web Developer
While this may seem like the obvious thing to do, many web 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 you a website, just ask your developer or whoever built your site if it has been built using WordPress.
That was easy, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t get in touch with the person who looks after your website, or what if you’ve come across a site that you really like while surfing online and you really would like to know if it was built using WordPress?
Powered By WordPress
If the site uses a WP theme where the template has not been edited, you can often find a “Proudly powered by WordPress” notice shown below the footer area …
(Proudly Powered by WordPress – site footer section)
If these simple methods 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 particular website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
IsItWP.com – WP Checking Tool
(IsItWP.com)
IsItWP.com is a free tool that can tell you very quickly if a website was built using WordPress or not.
Using this tool is very easy. Just add the URL of the website 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, it will even tell you the version of WordPress it is currently using …
If the site is not a WordPress web site or blog, you will see a message like 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 – Extension For Firefox / Chrome Web Browser
(Wappalyzer.com)
If you browse the net using either the Firefox or Google Chrome web browsers and want to be able to instantly tell if the sites that you are visiting are WordPress-driven, then Wappalyzer is a useful add-on to install on 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.”
It’s also a very easy browser extension to install and use.
Once you have installed the Wappalyzer extension on your browser, icons will appear in your web browser identifying which technologies are installed on the sites you are visiting …
If the WordPress icon displays on the browser menu (as the above screenshot shows), then the site uses WordPress.
(This website is built using WordPress!)
Go here to visit the site:
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, visit the site below:
We hope that you have found the above tutorial useful.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)