Once upon a time and not so long ago, blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. You could easily tell the difference.
Then WordPress came along and changed all this. Now, it’s getting more and more difficult to tell if a site was built using a “blogging” CMS tool like WordPress, or if it’s been created using web-building software. 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 many website owners, understanding the difference between a Content Management System tool 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 keep 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 is expensive to build, or
B) The same eye-catching, professional-looking site, but at a fraction of the cost of getting option “A” above.
If you decided to go with website “B”, then you need to know more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can provide you with an eye-catching website that will probably end up costing you far less 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 flexible and powerful CMS platform suitable for businesses on a budget.
Whether your reason for having an online presence is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a novice with no technical knowledge to use, yet it offers an array of helpful features that make your web site more effective when it comes to getting your content published, promoting visitor engagement, generating business leads and sales, scalability, 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 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 Check If Your Site Was Built Using WordPress
Do you need to know if a website is powered by WordPress? Maybe you’ve come here because you’ve heard or read about WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site was built using 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 some simple methods you can use to quickly tell if a website has been built using WordPress:
Look At The Source Code
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 telltale footprints that the site was built with WordPress …
(Viewing page source code using Firefox)
Suppose that you are browsing online and you come across a web site that you like, and you’re wondering 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 “wp-content” either by visually scanning the code …
Or use the browser’s “Find” function …
(Using Firefox’s ‘Find’ function)
This will tell you if the site runs on WordPress or not.
Note: If you are unable to locate “wp-content” in the source code, it does not necessarily mean that the site you’re looking at is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if a site runs on the WordPress software, as we will soon see.
As the focus of this article is to try and help non “techies”, however, we have listed below a number of easy methods you can use to check if your site is built using WordPress other than searching the source code.
Simply Ask Your Webmaster
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 website and you can’t tell what application is driving it, just ask your web developer or whoever built your site if your site 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 need to know if the site was built using WordPress?
Powered By WordPress
If the site uses a WordPress theme and the theme templates have not been edited, you can typically find a “Proudly powered by WordPress” notice showing in the footer section …
(Powered by WordPress)
If the simple methods above aren’t helpful to you, here are some other ways of telling whether a site runs on WordPress or not …
Sites That Tell You If A Website Has Been Built With WordPress
Here are a some tools that will tell you if your website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WP
(Is It WordPress? – WP Site Checker)
IsItWP.com is a free online tool that can check if a website uses WordPress or not.
Using this site is really simple. Just type the URL of the website into the URL field and click the button.
It will go and search through the URL files and tell you if the site was built using WordPress, and if so, it will even tell you which version of WordPress it is currently using …
If the site is not powered by WordPress, you will see a message like the one 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 – Web Browser Extension (Firefox / Chrome)
(Wappalyzer.com)
If you use either the Firefox or Google Chrome browser and want to be able to see if the sites that you are visiting have been built using WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a useful extension for your browser.
Wappalyzer tells you 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.”
Wappalyzer is also an easy browser add-on to install.
After installing the Wappalyzer add-on on your browser, icons will appear in your browser, in the URL field identifying which software is installed on the sites you are visiting …
If you see the WordPress icon displayed on the browser menu (as the above screenshot shows), then the site has been built with WordPress.
(A WordPress site!)
To visit the website, 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 the information in this tutorial 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