It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. You could easily tell them apart.
Then WordPress came along and revolutionized web publishing. Now, it’s getting more and more difficult to tell if a website was built using “blogging” software like WordPress, or if it’s been built using a website development 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’s “under the hood”.
(Can You Tell Which Application Your Website Is Powered By?)
For website owners, understanding the difference between a CMS application like WordPress and other website-building tools is huge, not so much in terms of the technical differences, but more importantly, regarding the things 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 these options would you choose?
A) An eye-catching, professional-looking website that is expensive to build, or
B) The same eye-catching, professional-looking website, but at a much cheaper cost than the cost of getting site ”A”.
If you went with website “B”, then you need to learn more about WordPress, why WordPress can give you a professional-looking website that will probably end up costing you far less to build than websites which are built with other website editing applications … and how to tell the two apart!
WordPress is the world’s preferred online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a flexible and powerful CMS suitable for local businesses.
Whether your reason for having a digital presence is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a novice with no programming skills to use, yet it offers an array of helpful functions that make your website more effective when it comes to getting your content published, promoting visitor interaction, generating business leads and sales, enhancing your site’s capabilities, 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 could also be powered by WordPress.
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 something similarly built to a smaller budget if required?
How To Tell If A Website Is A WP Site
Do you need to know if a website uses WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to our site because you’ve heard about WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site was built using 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 some simple ways to tell if sites are built with WordPress:
Check The Page’s Source Code For Tell-Tale WordPress Footprints
If you know how to search 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 …
(How to view your web page source code using the Firefox web browser)
Suppose that you are browsing online and you visit a website 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 page’s source code, you can search for words like “wp-content” either manually …
Or use the 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 cannot locate the words “wp-content” within the source code, it does not mean that the website is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if a site runs on the WordPress software, as we will soon be discussing.
As the point 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 site is built using WordPress other than viewing the source code.
Just Ask Your Website Developer
While this may seem like the obvious thing to do, some website development agencies, for whatever reason, may build their clients a website and not tell them it’s WordPress.
If you paid a website developer or got somebody else to build you a website, just ask your developer or whoever built your web site if your website has been built using WordPress.
That was simple, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t get in touch with your webmaster, or what if you’ve come across a site that you really like while browsing the net and you really would like to know if the site was built with WordPress?
Check Below Footer
If the site uses a WP theme where the them template has not been modified, you can typically see a “Powered by WordPress” notice displayed at the bottom of the site …
(Proudly Powered by WordPress)
If these simple methods aren’t helpful to you, here are some other ways of telling whether a website runs on WordPress or not …
Tools That Tell You If A Website Uses WordPress
Here are a some sites that will tell you if a particular website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WordPress?
(Is It WordPress? – WordPress Checker)
Is It WP? is a free online tool that can tell you if a site was built with WordPress or not.
Using this site is super simple. Just add the URL of the site into the URL field and click the button next to it.
The tool will then go and search through the URL pages and tell you if the site was built using WordPress, and if so, which version of WordPress the site is currently using …
If the site was not built using WordPress, you will see a message like the one 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 – Browser Extension (Firefox / Chrome)
(Wappalyzer.com)
If you browse the net using either the Firefox or Chrome web browsers and would like to be able to see if the sites that you are visiting are WP-driven, then Wappalyzer is a useful add-on for your browser.
Wappalyzer helps you identify what type of 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.”
It’s also an easy to install and easy to use web browser extension.
Once you have installed Wappalyzer, icons will display in your browser identifying which software is being used by all the sites you visit …
If you see the WordPress icon displayed on the browser menu (as shown in the screen shot above), then the site has been built with WordPress.
(This is a WordPress site!)
To install the Wappalyzer extension, 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:
I hope you have found the above information useful.
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum