It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. One could easily tell them apart.
Then WordPress came along and everything changed. Now, it’s getting harder to tell the difference between what tools are being used to build the two. 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.
(Can You Tell Which Application Your Website Is Powered By?)
For many website owners, understanding the difference between a Content Management System application 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, such as web development costs, ease of use, ability to maintain the site up-to-date, managing web content, etc.
Think about this …
Which of the following options 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 for a fraction of the cost of getting option ”A”.
If you chose website ”B” above, then you need to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can provide you with an eye-catching website that could end up costing you far less to build than websites which use website-building software … and how to tell the two types apart!
WordPress is the world’s most popular online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a flexible and powerful content management software suitable for small, medium and even large businesses.
Whether your reason for having a web site is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a newbie with no programming skills to use, yet it offers a range of helpful add-ons 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 capabilities, etc.
With almost one in every five websites around the world being powered by WordPress, chances are that if you already own a website, your website could also be powered 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 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 quite inexpensively?
Is My Website WordPress?
Do you need to know if a website was built using WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to our site because you’ve read 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 some simple methods you can use to quickly tell if sites are running on WordPress:
View The 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 a telltale footprint …
(Viewing page source code using the Firefox browser)
Let’s say that you are surfing the web and you visit a 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.
After the source code of the page loads on your screen, you can search for “wp-content” either manually …
Or using the browser’s “Find” function …
(Use Firefox’s ‘Find’ function)
This will quickly tell you if the site was built with WordPress or not.
Note: If you are unable to see “wp-content” in the source code, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to find out if the site was built using the WordPress software, as we will soon see.
As the point of this article is to try and help non-technical users, however, below you will find a number of easy ways to check if your website is built with WordPress other than viewing the source code.
Just Ask Your Website Developer
While this may seem like the most logical thing to do, many web developers, for whatever reason, will build their clients a website and not tell them it’s WordPress.
If you have an existing web site and you can’t tell what application was used to build it, just ask your webmaster or whoever built your site if it was built with WordPress.
That was simple, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t reach your webmaster, or what if you’ve come across a site that you really like while browsing online and you would like to know if the site was built with WordPress?
Powered By WordPress
If the site uses a WP theme where the them template has not been customized, you can typically find a “Proudly powered by WordPress” notice showing below the footer area …
(Powered by WordPress)
If these simple methods haven’t helped you, here are some other ways of telling whether a website runs on WordPress or not …
Tools That Can Tell You If A Website Has Been Built With WordPress
Here are a couple of online applications that will tell you if the website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WordPress?
(Is It WP – WordPress Checking Tool)
Is It WP? is a free tool that can tell you if a site uses WordPress or not.
Using this site is very simple. Just add the URL 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 the site is currently using …
If the web site is not a WordPress web site or blog, 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 Theme 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)
If you browse the net using either Firefox or Google Chrome and want to be able to see if the sites that you are visiting use 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.”
It’s also an easy to install and very easy to use browser extension.
Once you have installed the Wappalyzer extension on your web browser, icons will appear in your web browser identifying which software is being used by all the sites you are visiting …
If the WordPress icon displays on the browser menu (as shown in the screenshot above), then the site has been built with WordPress.
(This website is built using WordPress!)
To learn more and download Wappalyzer 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, 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 that you have found this information useful.
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"Learning WordPress has been a huge stumbling block for me. I've been looking for something that covers absolutely everything but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Thank you so much ... you have just provided me with what I have been looking for! Truly appreciated!" - Tanya