Need to find out what WordPress plugins a website uses?
Following a previous tutorial, in which we you show how to find out which theme a WordPress website useswe thought the next thing to cover was what plugins a WordPress website uses.
If this is your first contact with WordPress, we invite you to discover How to install a WordPress theme,
What is the point of knowing which plugin uses a WordPress site?
Well, in all likelihood, sooner or later you will come across a website that displays a feature that you will like and want to reproduce on your website. At this point, knowing which plugin is used becomes practical.
The first thing to mention here is that:
- - unfortunately not all features are caused by plugins (some features can be added by the theme itself).
- - there is no foolproof way to find all the plugins used on a website: although there are a number of methods to find this out.
We will start with the easiest method to finish with the more complex methods, let's take a look at the different methods available to us to discover which plugins are used by a WordPress website!
But if you use a test website and want to install plugins, find out How to install (add) a plugin on WordPress
1 - The use of automated tools
The best way to know which plugins a website uses is using tools available on the internet. Unfortunately, these tools are far from being able to detect all WordPress plugins. Additionally, many of these tools are not particularly practical, which often causes people to give up their detective role quickly.
Yet, because these types of online detection tools are so quick and easy to use, they are, nonetheless, a good place to start.
In no particular order, the most popular tools capable of detecting WordPress plugins are: WordPress Plugin Checker, WPThemeDetector (a service aimed primarily at detecting WordPress themes), What Theme Is That et Build With.
To give you a quick idea of how accurate they are, try using one or two to do a quick scan of one of your WordPress blogs.
It should also be noted that each of these tools works a little differently, which means that some can detect plugins that others cannot: it's always good to use more than one tool in order to get a list. more comprehensive results. Even combined these tools cannot detect all plugins on a website.
See also The Guide to best WordPress plugins to install on your blog
Revealing sign on the source code
All websites use HTML to display their content. The browser sees this code and displays it to users, so that they can recognize it (For example in paragraphs and images, etc..). With a little know-how, it will not be difficult to see and understand the source code. When you want to detect plugins, you will usually go through it.
2 - Find the plugins directory
Right-click somewhere on the website in question and select "source page code" from the drop-down menu that will be displayed. Now, do a quick search in the source code on the phrases: " wp-content / plugins / ". Anything after that term in the code could very well be the name of a plugin.
(note: there will probably be multiple instances of this term on the page, if more than one plugin is used, each link will likely be the link to a plugin's directory)
Let's take a look at three ways to find telltale signs that some plugins are leaving behind using Chrome (although the same principle also works with many other browsers):
Note: In the same way, it can also be interesting to look at the style file or the names of JavaScript files (look for anything that comes immediately before ".css" or ".js" in the code) Because these can also sometimes indicate the names of the plugins.
3 - Look for HTML comments
Some plugins will leave their own code on the wrapped page of Comments HTML to help developers understand how they work. The Yoast SEO plugin is a great example. With the use of the "Page Source Code" method described above, you will be able to crawl the code for comments.
Assuming such comments exist, they will provide you with more information about the plugins!
4 - Using specific web elements
The latter method is often a solution that pays more. Trying to find the particular feature generated by a plugin on the page can often succeed when all else fails!
With Google Chrome, go directly to some feature of the page that interests you and right-click. Select " Inspect element In the drop-down menu that will appear and you will access a split view of the page with the underlying. Take a look at the code and try to find "ID" or the class names, which go together.
See also how to effectively use the tabs of your web browser
It often looks something like “class = ''” or “ID = ''”. Anything that comes right after any of these code attributes could very well be the name of the plugin responsible for the functionality!
In the screenshot above, for example, you will see " div class = "jp-relatedposts-post" This is an abbreviation of the name of a plugin which is used to generate images of the related articles under each article.
By doing a Google search on the phrase, you will have a lot more results.
But before you leave, we invite you to discover how to quickly create a WordPress plugin
If you want to find some resources you want to start with, here are some WordPress plugins and themes that we recommend.
1. Simple Product Designer for WooCommerce
Here's another great tool that lets your customers design products based on their ideas and then add them to their cart. All design information will be included in the order.
It is a plugin that is suitable for many types of businesses, such as those that personalize T-shirts, shoes, jackets, hats, glass, soccer balls, cars, cards, services printing, etc.
See also our article on 5 headers to consult to inspire your web design
It's a plugin that we like for its simplicity and the intuitive handling it offers. Your customers will find in him a great idea that will increase your traffic and consequently your financial gains
Download | Demo | Web hosting
2. BackupBuddy
BackupBuddy is a premium WordPress plugin for easily migrating a website from one location to another, but which also serves well as a cloning tool. The Restore / Migrate page is the starting point for your cloning process. At the end of the process, BackupBuddy will deliver a full version of your WordPress installation to you in a zip file.
You will have the possibility to just back up the database or run a full backup, schedule automatic backups, set up different profiles for different backups, so you can work with the version you want.
In short, the WordPress BackupBuddy plugin allows you to download and upload - upload - files between the development environment and the production website, which is particularly useful for developers. However, it does not support the multisite.
It offers different packages for backups and prices range from $ 80 per year to a $ 297 lifetime payment.
Download | Demo | Web hosting
3. Pearl
Pearl is a fully customizable, multipurpose and attractive WordPress theme. Credited to an excellent overall rating by its users, this WordPress theme will be one of the centerpieces in creating your website, if you decide to use it.
With options that cover sections such as price grids, team member profiles, text quotes and captions, charts, online store sections, widget support and a Contact form, this WordPress theme will only be a happiness for any website developer.
This is not a recent WordPress theme, but the accompanying support has kept updating it, so that it can compete with recent WordPress themes, which offer in a native way, new features and trends in the field of web development.
Download | Demo | Web hosting
Recommended Resources
Discover other recommended resources that will help you boost the performance of your website and secure it.
- How to customize the CSS of your WordPress website
- 7 WordPress plugins to optimize the caching of your website
- 5 CDN recommended to boost the performance of your WordPress blog
- How to Add Business Hours in Your Elementor Website
- How to Create Overlapping Sections in Elementor
- How to keep your content safe with BackupBuddy on WordPress
- How to write an irresistible article introduction
Conclusion
Here is ! That's it for this tutorial. I hope it will allow you to easily discover which WordPress plugins are used on a website. Do not hesitate to share with your friends on your favorite social networks.
However, you will also be able to consult our resources, if you need more elements to carry out your projects of creation of Internet sites, by consulting our guide on the WordPress blog creation.
But, in the meantime, tell us about your Comments and suggestions in the dedicated section.
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