Sometimes it is difficult to decide which CMS engine to choose for a website, but then you see successful competitors' sites or resources with features you also want in your own project. Naturally, you start wondering: "What engine is their site built on?" and "What technologies made all of this possible?" If successful competitors use a specific CMS, the same engine may work well for your ideas too.
Now let us move to the main question: how to find out which CMS a website uses.
Online CMS Detection Service
I tried several online services and was very surprised that they either could not detect which engine our website uses or openly gave false answers. Our site is built on Joomla, and we do not hide it. We removed only one code line for better security.
Here is the list of these resources:
- itrack.ru said that the VamShop content management system was detected;
- 2ip.ru ran a long check against 68 different CMS engines, and next to each one it showed "no signs of use found";
- pr-cy.ru and raskruty.ru showed several technologies we use, but could not identify the CMS;
- majento.ru confidently lied that the site was built on MODx;
- BuiltWith was the only online service that identified the CMS we use and also showed many other useful details: server, hosting, scripts, analytics systems, and widgets connected to the site.
Method 1 - identify the website CMS online with builtwith.com.
Identify a Website CMS Manually
The task is to inspect the site code and find signs that reveal which CMS it is built on. There are many ways to view code, but for now I will show only one of the most popular methods:
- Open the target website in Google Chrome.
- Right-click anywhere and choose "Inspect".
First, look at the code lines near the top, between the <head> and </head> tags. Check whether there is a line like <meta name="generator" content="xxxxxx" />. Usually the generator meta tag contains the CMS name, and instead of "xxxxxx" you may see exactly what you are looking for.
Many site owners remove this tag so harmful bots and malware do not learn the CMS and try known hacking methods for that engine.
You can also understand which engine a site uses by other signs: the file structure, the template name, or by searching for the template name to see which CMS it was made for.
In the top bar of the code viewer, choose the Sources tab. You will see the folder structure containing files for the resource. Look for folders named template or theme, because templates are often stored there. As the screenshot shows, our template is called rt_salient.
The same screenshot shows another method. You can open different site files and look at comments inside those files, shown in green. These comments often contain information about the code: who wrote it, which template it belongs to, which CMS engine it was made for, and so on.
Method 2 - identify the CMS yourself using the generator meta tag or other signs in the site code.
Find the Admin Login URL and Check It
Here is another good manual method. Simply add /admin to the URL, and there is a good chance you will be redirected to the admin login page.
If that does not work, try checking robots.txt. Very often the admin area is closed from search bots there, and you can understand which address it uses.
Of course, you do not have a login and password to enter, but we do not need to log in. That page usually says which system's admin panel it belongs to. Many CMS engines show a large logo there, and some add a link in the footer.
Method 3 - look at what is written on the admin panel login page.
Ask the People Who Made the Website
Sometimes the web studio that made the site is listed in the footer. There is nothing difficult about asking the web studio or the site owner which engine they used to implement something similar.
Compliment the site and mention the things you liked most. Wish the project success. Explain that you are also thinking about creating a similar resource. If it is your direct competitor, you can bend the truth a little and say your website will be on another topic but with similar functionality.
After that, you can ask how long development took, which CMS engine was used, who made the site, how much development cost, and how much it takes to maintain and support such a resource.
Do you think they will not answer? I asked questions like this 5-6 times, and people always answered. Try it. You have nothing to lose, especially if the first 3 methods did not help.
Method 4 - ask the developers or the owner using the contacts listed on the site.
If our article was useful, click "Like". If you still could not identify the website engine, it may have been built without a CMS. Write about it in the comments, and we will try to figure it out together.
Comments
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