Once upon a time, no one had to teach you how to tell if a website runs on WordPress. They all resembled each other, looked very basic, and used a similar design and layout and even identical widgets. Luckily, those days are over. So, unless you recognize the installed WordPress theme, it’s hard to determine which CMS (Content Management System) powers it. Yes, with around 40% of indexable websites using WordPress, you can always assume. But, there are more reliable methods to conclude that. Let’s get into how to know if a website is made in WordPress.
1. Check the website footer credits
We taught you how to remove the credits footer in WordPress. Well, owners who haven’t done that provide the easiest and fastest way to know if their website is made in WordPress.
2. Know if a website is made in WordPress by checking license.txt
Another quick and easy method to find out if a website is made in WordPress is to add license.txt to the website URL. This is how it should look: “www.website.com/license.txt”. If nothing comes up, this is not conclusive proof – the owner might have restricted access or deleted the file.
3. Check for the existence of the readme.html file
This works identically to the technique above, except that you should add “readme.html” after the website URL. If it works, you’ll see a big WordPress logo, as well as a list of WordPress resources for new owners.
4. Tell if a website is made in WordPress by opening Admin Section
Although you can’t access the website’s WordPress Admin Section, seeing the login page tells you the website is built with WordPress. As suggested, enter the website URL, add a forward slash (/), then either wp-admin, wp-admin.php, admin, or login. Again, its absence proves nothing. Changing the WordPress login URL is a popular security measure against brute-force attacks.
5. Know if a website is made in WordPress via dedicated tools
Because this is a common question, others have built online analysis tools. There are many free options, so here’s one of the popular choices for learning if a website runs on WordPress. Open the isitwp.com page, enter the target website URL, then click on Analyze Website.
6. Install a browser extension
To learn if a website is built in WordPress, you can also install a browser extension. Although we have no affiliation and you’re free to use any you come across, we recommend one named BuiltWith Technology Profiler. They have a website (builtwith.com) you can use in method 4, as well as extensions for Chrome and Firefox.
7. Know if a website is built in WordPress via source code
Our final method has to do with inspecting the website source code and finding a typical file system. Because this can also help you tell which theme a WordPress website uses, use the steps outlined in method 3, submethod 2. But, instead of “style.css” in step 4, search for “wp-content” or “wp-includes”. If you can find any of the two, or both, that’s a sure-fire way to know a website is built with WordPress.