It used to be that blogs looked like blogs and websites looked like websites. You could easily tell the difference between the two.
Then the WordPress CMS came along and changed everything. Now, it’s getting more difficult 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 website design and also being able to tell what type of web application is actually powering the site.
(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 many website owners care most about, such as web development costs, ease of use, ability to maintain 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 website, but at a cost that turns out to be significantly less than the cost of getting option ”A” above built.
If you picked site “B”, then you need to know more about WordPress, why WordPress can provide you with a professional-looking website that could cost far less to build than websites which use web-building software … and how to tell these two types apart!
WordPress is the world’s preferred online publishing platform and content management system (CMS). It is a powerful CMS suitable for ”non-techy” website owners.
Whether your reason for having a website or blog is for personal blogging or business use, WordPress is easy enough for a beginner with no knowledge of HTML to use and manage, and offers an array of helpful features that make your web site more 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, your site is also driven by the WP CMS.
And if you don’t have a website yet, or are thinking of getting one 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 quite inexpensively?
Was My Website Built Using WordPress? How To Tell
Do you need to know if a website is powered by WordPress? Maybe you’ve come to our site because you’ve read about WordPress, and you’re now wondering if your site was built using the WordPress software, 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 some simple methods you can use to quickly tell if a web site has been built with WordPress:
Check Your Source Code For TellTale The Tell-Tale WordPress Footprint
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 telltale footprints …
(Viewing your web page source code in the Firefox web browser)
Suppose that you are browsing online and you visit a web site that you like, and you’re wondering if the site runs on 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 by visually scanning the code …
Or use your 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 do not see the words “wp-content” within the source code, it does not mean that this is not a WordPress site.
There are other ways to find out if the site runs on the WordPress software, as we will soon see.
As the point of this post is to help non “techies”, however, we have listed below a number of easy methods you can use to check if your web site is powered by WordPress other than searching the source code.
Just Ask Your Website Developer
While this may seem like the obvious thing to do, a number of web development agencies, for whatever reason, will build clients a website and not tell them it’s been built with WordPress.
If you paid a website developer or got somebody else to build you a website, just ask your developer or whoever built your site if your website runs on WordPress.
That was simple, huh?
Okay … what if you can’t get in touch with your website developer, or what if you’ve come across a website that you really like while browsing online and you really need to know if the site was built with WordPress?
Powered By WordPress
If the site uses a WP theme where the them template has not been customized, you can often find a “Powered by WordPress” notice showing below the footer section …
(Powered by WordPress)
If the methods above haven’t helped you, here are some other ways of identifying WordPress sites …
Tools That Can Tell You If A Website Was Built Using WordPress
Here are a couple of online applications that can tell you if a particular website uses WordPress or not, and what themes or plugins the site uses …
Is It WP
(IsItWP.com – WP Site Checking Tool)
Is It WP? is a free online tool that can check very quickly if a site uses WordPress or not.
Using this site is very simple. Just type in or paste in the address of the website into the search field and click the button.
The tool will then 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 the site is currently using …
If the site does not run on WordPress, you will get 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 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 – Web Browser Extension (Firefox / Chrome))
If you use a browser such as Firefox or Google Chrome and want to be able to see if the sites that you are visiting have been built using WordPress, then Wappalyzer is a great add-on for your web browser.
Wappalyzer identifies what software is installed on 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 very easy to install.
After installing Wappalyzer, icons will appear in your web browser menu, in the URL field identifying which technologies are being used by all the sites you are visiting …
If you see the WordPress icon showing on your browser menu (as shown in the screenshot above), then the site uses WordPress.
(It’s a WordPress site!)
Go here to visit the website:
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, visit the site below:
I hope that you have found the above tutorial useful.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group