How to See if a Site Was Made on WordPress?

WordPress powers over 43.5% of websites worldwide, making it the most popular Content Management System (CMS). If you’re curious whether a site is built on WordPress, there are several methods to check. Some are technical, while others are simple and user-friendly. Below, I explain every method in detail, ensuring you have a complete understanding.

Methods to Identify a WordPress Website

1. Check the Site’s Source Code (Technical)

Inspecting a site’s source code is one of the most reliable ways to determine if it’s built on WordPress.

How to Access the Source Code

1. Right-click on the webpage: No matter where you are located on the site, right-click and choose ‘View Page Source’ if you’re using Google Chrome or ‘View Source’ if you’re using Firefox.
2. Use the shortcut: To check for underlined text, press the combination Ctrl+U for Windows or Cmd+U for Mac.

What to Search For?

1. wp-content:
   • Look for this keyword in the source code. It’s the directory where WordPress stores themes, plugins, and uploads.
   • Example snippet:bashCopy code/wp-content/themes /wp-content/plugins
2. wp-includes:
   • This directory includes plain WP files and file definitions for core WP functions.
   • If you see wp-includes, then you know that site is most definitely a WordPress site.
3. Meta Generator Tag:
   • Search for the following meta tag:phpCopy code<meta name="generator" content="WordPress">
   • From this tag, anyone can identify the Content Management System being used is WordPress. However, it could be concealed for one or another security or confidentiality purpose.

Limitations

• Obfuscation: Some developers hide WordPress references in the code.
• Customizations: An advanced site may not contain any visible signs of using WordPress at all.

2. Use Online Tools for Easy Detection

If you prefer not to dive into source code, online tools can simplify the process.

BuiltWith

• Visit BuiltWith.
• You will type the website’s URL and click the “Lookup” button.
• If any then under the Content Management System it will name WordPress.

Wappalyzer

• To download the Wappalyzer extension for your Chrome or Firefox browser, follow the link below.
• Visit the target website.
• The extension will parse and present to the user a breakdown of technologies which, as aforementioned, will be WordPress.

IsItWP

• Visit IsItWP.
• Enter the site’s URL and click “Analyze Website.”
• The tool provides quick results, stating whether the website is built on WordPress.

Advantages of These Tools

• User-friendly: As for special skills, no prior technical expertise is needed to get the work done.
• Fast results: Get answers within seconds.

3. Explore the Login URL (Attempt with Caution)

WordPress websites contain an original format of the admin login URL. You can use this as a clue to determine whether a site is WordPress site.

Steps to Check

1. The attacker has to append either /wp-admin/ or /wp-login.php to the site’s base URL.
   • Example: www.example.com/wp-admin/ or www.example.com/wp-login.php.

Outcomes

• If a login page appears:
  • This is a strong indication of WordPress.
  • Example login page:markdownCopy codeWordPress Login Username: [__________] Password: [__________]
• Custom Login Pages:
  • In general, some sites modify the structure of the URL that asks for a login information for security reasons. Where the capacity utilisation is low, this method may not work well.

Important Notes

• It is always unsafe to log in unless one is told to do so.
• Unauthorized login attempts can trigger security measures.

4. Inspect the License.txt File (Less Common)

Some of the WordPress sites have a license file, it can be downloaded by anyone.

How to Access?

1. Append /license.txt to the site’s URL.
   • Example: www.example.com/license.txt.

What to Look For?

• The file may also hold the GNU General Public License (GPL).
• Such as, “WordPress” or “GPL v2 or later”, or any other similar phrase which refer to usage of WordPress.

Limitations

• Not all WordPress sites include this file.
• While most of the themes and plugins are using WordPress license, GPL is also used by some non-WordPress themes and plugins.

5. Look for the WordPress Footer (Visually Easier)

Some WordPress sites retain the default footer credit text.

What to Check?

1. Scroll to the bottom of the website.
2. Look for text such as:
   • “Powered by WordPress.”
   • “Proudly powered by WordPress.”

Customization and Removal

• Many developers remove or modify the footer text, so its absence doesn’t rule out WordPress.

6. Utilize Chrome Sniffer Extensions (Advanced)

It is also essential to note similar browser add-ons such as Wappalyzer and Built With also help identify WordPress as well as other technologies.

How to Use These Extensions?

1. Install the extension from your browser’s store.
2. Open the website you want to analyze.
3. Click on the extension icon in your toolbar.
4. Check for “WordPress” in the list of detected technologies.

Accuracy

• The main multimedia tools for determining these technologies are updated frequently but may not recognize heavily-tailored sites.

Additional Tips for Identifying WordPress Sites

Look for Common Plugins

• Most WordPress website rely on some of the most common plugins such as Yoast SEO, or WooCommerce.
• Search the source code for plugin-specific terms like:bashCopy codewp-content/plugins/woocommerce

Check for Theme-Specific Elements

• WordPress themes often leave signatures in the source code.
• WordPress themes have some footprint or leave some indications in the source code of a page.

Look for Login Page Captions

• The default WordPress login page often displays the text “Powered by WordPress.”

Analyze the Sitemap

• WordPress sitemaps are usually located at /sitemap.xml.
• Check for WordPress-specific patterns in the sitemap.

Why Identifying WordPress Matters

• Customization Opportunities: Just the fact that a site is built on WordPress can create design ideas, or suggest specific plugins to be utilized.
• Competitive Research: In the case of business, sometimes it is essential to know a competitor’s CMS when deciding on a marketing or SEO campaign.
• Ease of Replication: Developers can replicate functionality using similar WordPress tools.

Read Also: Venv vs Virtualenv: A Comprehensive Guide to Python Environments

Conclusion

It is easy to determine whether a site is made on WordPress using instruments and techniques, which shall be discussed in this paper. While some users would prefer to directly inspect source code, launch an online tool, or decipher perceptual cues, there’s no problem in the accessibility for the general population. The above steps help one to identify whether a site was developed using WordPress or not in the simplest way possible.