It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. One could easily tell blogs and websites apart.
Then WordPress came along and changed all this. Now, it’s becoming more and 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 website design and also being able to tell what’s under the surface.
(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 software is huge, not so much in terms of the technical differences, but more importantly, in terms of the areas that the majority of website owners are deeply concerned with, like web development costs, ease of use, ability to keep the website 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 turns out to be fairly expensive to build, or
B) The same eye-catching, professional-looking site, but at a much cheaper cost than the cost of getting option ”A”.
If you went with site “B”, then you need to know more about the benefits of using WordPress, why WordPress can give you a professional-looking website that will usually cost far less to build than websites which use a website building 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 CMS application 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 novice with no technical skills to use and manage, yet it offers an array of helpful features that make your web presence highly effective when it comes to getting your content published, promoting visitor engagement, generating business leads and sales, enhancing your site’s functionality, 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 is probably powered by WordPress too.
And if you don’t have a website yet, or are thinking of getting a website built, then wouldn’t it be great 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 a similar site built for your business to a smaller budget if required?
Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Web Site And WP-Checking Tools
Do you need to know if your website was built using WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to our site because you’ve heard or read about WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site runs on 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 a site has been built with WordPress:
Search Your Page’s Source Code For Tell-Tale WordPress Footprints
If you know how to access 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 …
(Viewing page source code in the Firefox web browser)
Let’s say that you are browsing online and you come across 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 words like “wp-content” either by scanning the code visually …
Or use the browser’s “Find” function …
(Using the Firefox browser ‘Find’ function)
This will tell you if the site was built using WordPress or not.
Note: If you are unable to see “wp-content” within the source code, it does not mean that the site you’re looking at is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to tell if the 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 easier ways to check if your web site is powered by WordPress other than looking at the source code.
Simply Ask Your Webmaster
While this may seem like the logical thing to do, some web developers, for whatever reason, may build their clients a website and not tell them it’s WordPress.
If you have an existing website and you’re not sure what CMS application is driving it, just ask your developer or whoever built your site if your website has been built with WordPress.
That was easy, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t reach your webmaster, or what if you’ve come across a website that you really like while surfing online and you really would like to know if the site was built with WordPress?
Powered By WordPress
If the site uses a WordPress theme and the templates have not been modified, you will often see a “Proudly powered by WordPress” notice shown in the footer section of the site …
(Powered by WordPress)
If the simple methods above aren’t helpful to you, here are some other ways of telling whether a site uses WordPress or not …
Tools That Can Tell You If A Website Was Built Using 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 …
IsItWP.com – WP Checking Tool
(IsItWP.com)
Is It WP? is a free tool that can check if a website was built using WordPress or not.
Using this tool is super easy. Just enter the URL of the website into the URL field and click the button next to it.
It will then 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 was not built using WordPress, 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.com
(Wappalyzer.com)
If you browse the net using either the Firefox or Google Chrome browsers and want to be able to see if the sites that you are visiting are WordPress sites, then Wappalyzer is a very useful extension to add to your web 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 a very easy to install and easy to use web browser add-on.
After installing Wappalyzer on your browser, icons will display in your web browser identifying which software is installed on the sites you visit …
If you see the WordPress icon displayed on your browser menu (as shown in the screenshot above), then the site uses WordPress.
(This is a WordPress site!)
Visit the website 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, visit the site below:
I hope you have found this information useful.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)