It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. You could easily tell the difference between the two.
Then WordPress came along and changed everything. Now, it’s getting almost impossible 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’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 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 things that many website owners are mostly concerned with, such as web development costs, ease of use, ability to keep 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 site, but at a cost that is significantly less than the cost of getting option ”A” above built.
If you went with site ”B” above, then you need to know more about WordPress, why WordPress can be used to create an expensive-looking website that will normally turn out to be much less expensive to build than websites built using a web development tool … and how to tell the two apart!
WordPress is the world’s preferred online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a powerful and easy-to-use content management system suitable for businesses on a budget.
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 manage, yet it offers a range of helpful add-ons that make your website extremely effective in terms of getting your content published, 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, 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 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?
How Can I Check If My Website Was Built With WordPress?
Do you need to know if your website was built using WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to this page because you’ve heard wonderful things about WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site runs on WordPress, or some other content management system.
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 methods you can use to quickly tell if a website is powered by WordPress:
Search The Source Code For WordPress Footprints
If you know how to view 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 tell-tale footprints that the site was built with WordPress …
(Viewing page source code using Firefox)
Let’s say that you are browsing online and you visit a site that you like, and you would like to know if the site was built on WordPress …
First, bring up the site’s source code on your screen, using the methods described above.
Once the source code of the site loads on your screen, you can search for words like “wp-content” either by scanning the code …
Or use your browser’s “Find” function …
(Using Firefox’s ‘Find’ function)
This will quickly tell you if the site was built using WordPress or not.
Note: If you do not find “wp-content” in the source code, it does not necessarily mean that it’s not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if the site runs on WordPress, as we will soon discuss.
As the focus of this post is to help non “techies”, however, below you will find a number of easy methods you can use to check if your website is powered by WordPress other than looking at the source code.
Just Ask Your Webmaster
While this may seem like the most logical thing to do, a number of website development agencies, for whatever reason, will build clients a website and not tell them it’s WordPress.
If you hired a website developer or got somebody else to build you a website, just ask your webmaster or whoever built your web site if the web site runs on 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 site that you really like while browsing the net late at night and would like to know if it was built with WordPress?
Check Below The Footer
If the site uses a WP theme and the template has not been edited, you can typically see a “Powered by WordPress” notice displayed below the footer section …
(Proudly Powered by WordPress – 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 Was Built Using WordPress
Here are a couple of tools that will tell you if a website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
IsItWP.com – WordPress Site Checking Tool
(IsItWP.com)
Is It WP? is a free online tool that can check very quickly if a site runs on WordPress or not.
Using this site is very simple. Just type in or paste in the address of the website into the URL field and click the button.
It will 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 powered by WordPress, you will get a message similar to 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 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 the Firefox or Chrome browsers and would like to be able to see if the sites that you are visiting use WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a useful add-on to install on your web browser.
Wappalyzer identifies 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.”
Wappalyzer is also a very easy add-on to install and use.
Once you have installed Wappalyzer on your browser, icons will display in your browser menu, next to the site URL identifying which technologies are being used by the sites you visit …
If you see the WordPress icon displayed on the browser menu (as the above screen shot shows), then the site uses WordPress.
(A WordPress site!)
Go here to learn more:
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 information useful.
***
"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com