It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. You could easily tell the difference.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and changed everything. Now, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to tell blogs and websites apart. 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 surface.
(Can You Tell Which Application A Website Has Been Built With?)
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 the majority of website owners care most about, such as web development costs, ease of use, ability to keep the site up-to-date, managing content, etc.
Think about this …
Which of the options below would you choose?
A) An eye-catching, professional-looking website that is actually expensive to build, or
B) The same eye-catching, professional-looking site, but at a much cheaper cost than the cost of getting site ”A” above built.
If you chose site ”B” above, then you need to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can be used to create an eye-catching website that could turn out to be far less expensive to build than websites which use web-building software … and how to tell these apart!
WordPress is the world’s preferred online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a powerful and easy-to-use CMS platform suitable for ”non-techy” website owners.
Whether your reason for having a web site is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a beginner with no programming skills to use and manage, yet it offers many helpful extensions that make your web site more effective when it comes to getting your content published and indexed by search engines, promoting visitor engagement, generating business leads and sales, enhancing your site’s functionality, 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 site could probably be powered by WordPress too.
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 for your business to a smaller budget if required?
Is Your Website Powered By WordPress?
Do you need to know if your website uses WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to this page because you’ve read about all of the great benefits and 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 a number of methods you can use to quickly tell if sites are powered WordPress:
Search Your Source Code For Obvious Tell-Tale A WordPress Footprint
If you know how to bring up 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 an obvious telltale footprint that the site was built using WordPress …
(Viewing your web page source code in the Firefox browser)
Suppose that you are browsing online and you visit a 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 page’s source code, search for “wp-content” either manually …
Or use 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” in the source code, it does not necessarily mean that it’s not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if a site runs on WordPress, as we will soon be discussing.
As the focus of this article is to try and help non-technical users, however, below you will find a number of easier ways 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, some website development companies, for whatever reason, may build their clients a website and not tell them it’s been built with WordPress.
If you have an existing web site and you’re not sure what CMS application is driving it, just ask your webmaster or whoever built your site if your website was built using WordPress.
That was easy, 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 online and you really would like to know if the site was built with WordPress?
Powered By WordPress
If the site uses a WP theme and the site them template has not been customized, you can typically find a “Proudly powered by WordPress” message displayed at the bottom of the site …
(Proudly Powered by WordPress)
If the methods above haven’t helped you, here are some other ways of telling whether a site runs on WordPress or not …
Online Tools That Tell You If A Website Has Been Built With WordPress
Here are a couple of online applications that will tell you if your website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WP – WordPress Checking Tool
(Is It WordPress? – WordPress Website Checker)
Is It WP? is a free online tool that can check very quickly if a site was built using WordPress or not.
Using this tool is very easy. Just type the URL of the site into the URL field and click the button next to it.
It will go through the site code and tell you if the site was built using WordPress, and if so, it will even tell you which version of WordPress the site is currently using …
If the site has not been built with 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 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 – Add-On For Firefox / Chrome Browser)
If you use a browser such as Firefox or Google Chrome and would like to be able to instantly tell if the sites that you are visiting are WP sites, then Wappalyzer is a great 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 an easy to install and very easy to use web browser add-on.
Once you have installed Wappalyzer, icons will appear in your browser menu, next to the site URL allowing you to see which software is being used by the sites you visit …
If you see the WordPress icon on the browser menu (as shown in the screen shot above), then the site has been built with WordPress.
(A WordPress site!)
Visit the Wappalyzer extension site 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:
We hope you have found this 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