Have you ever wanted to discover the WordPress theme used by a particular website?
Many readers reach out to us for assistance in identifying the theme they’ve encountered on another site. This enables them to replicate the same design and layout on their own WordPress site.
In this article, we will guide you on how to determine which WordPress theme a website is utilizing.
Why Is It Important to Identify the WordPress Theme of a Site?
When creating a WordPress website, selecting a theme is one of the most significant choices you’ll face.
Choosing the ideal WordPress theme involves numerous considerations, making the process potentially overwhelming. If you admire the layout, features, icon fonts, and overall design of another website, this can be a helpful shortcut to finding the perfect theme for your own site.
Some websites utilize custom themes that may not be accessible to other website owners. However, many sites employ free WordPress themes or widely-used premium themes.
In such cases, you can easily identify the theme’s name and proceed to download or purchase it for your own use.
With that said, let’s explore how to discover which theme a site is using. You can use the quick links below to jump directly to the method you prefer:
Step 1: Use CanadaCreate’s Free WordPress Theme Detector Tool (Simple Method)
The simplest way to find out the name of a WordPress theme is by using our complimentary WordPress theme detector tool.
Just enter the website’s URL and click the ‘Analyze Website’ button.
Our theme detector will scan the website’s code and display the name of its WordPress theme, if available.
For instance, if a website is utilizing the popular Divi theme, you will see something like this:
If the theme is less well-known, our tool might show just the name of the theme without an image or a ‘Get This Theme’ button.
In such cases, we suggest searching the theme’s name in a search engine like Google for further details.
Step 2: Utilize IsItWP to Identify the WordPress Theme and Plugins of the Website
Another option is to use the free IsItWP tool, which provides the theme name along with additional information, including the WordPress plugins used by the site.
Visit the IsItWP website and input the URL of the site you wish to analyze.
IsItWP will first determine if the website is built on WordPress.
If it is confirmed, IsItWP will attempt to identify the WordPress theme in use and present the findings.
Additionally, it will try to identify the website’s WordPress hosting provider and any active plugins.
IsItWP will provide download links for these plugins along with reviews to help you select the best WordPress plugin for your needs.
However, IsItWP might not be able to retrieve information for custom WordPress themes or child themes.
In such cases, you might encounter a result like this:
Even if this occurs, IsItWP will still display the theme’s name, allowing you to search online for its availability for download or purchase.
Method 3: Manually Identify the WordPress Theme Used by a Website (Advanced)
Some website owners may alter the name of their WordPress theme, making it harder for hackers to gather information about the site and potentially exploit vulnerabilities.
However, this can also hinder the effectiveness of theme-detection tools, including WordPress Theme Detector and IsItWP.
If these tools fail to provide details about your favorite website, you can examine the website’s code for hints about the theme being used. This can reveal information even if the theme name has been altered or if a child theme has been created.
Let’s dive in.
Each WordPress theme includes a style.css file, which contains a theme header that provides essential details such as the theme’s name, author, version number, custom fonts, and more. Additionally, it holds the CSS styles utilized by the theme.
You can locate this file using your browser’s Inspect tool. The process may differ based on the browser, but in Chrome, you can right-click anywhere on the website you wish to inspect.
Next, choose ‘View Page Source.’
This action will open the page’s source code in a new tab. Now, look for a line that resembles the following:
Typically, there will be multiple style.css files present in the page source, so search for the one that includes /wp-content/themes in the URL. In the example above, that would be http://example.com/wp-content/themes/theme-name/style.css?ver=1.1.47
To access the style.css file, copy the URL and paste it into a new browser tab. This will display all the code contained within the style.css file.
At the beginning of the file, you will find the theme header block, which provides details about the site’s theme. It typically appears as follows:
Theme Name: Theme Name Theme URI: https://example.com Author: ThemeAuthorName Author URI: https://example.com Description: My Theme is a versatile WordPress theme tailored for portfolio websites. Version: 1.1.47 License: GNU General Public License v2 or later License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html Text Domain: hestia Tags: blog, custom logo, portfolio, e-commerce, RTL language support, post formats, grid layout, one column, two columns, custom background, custom colors, custom header, custom menu, featured image header, featured images, flexible header, full width template, sticky post, theme options, threaded comments, translation ready
This block may also include the Theme’s URL or the Theme Author’s URL, which can provide you with more information about that theme.
Identifying the Parent Theme
Many users create a child theme for their WordPress site. In such cases, you can usually find details about the parent theme in the header of the child theme.
For instance:
/* Theme Name: My Child Theme Description: A simple child theme Author: Peter Smith Author URL: Enter the author's blog or website URL here Template: hestia Version: 1.0 License: GNU General Public License v2 or later License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html Text Domain: my-child-theme */
In the example above, you can observe an additional ‘Template’ line in the theme header block. This line indicates the parent theme utilized by the website.
We hope this article has helped you discover how to identify the WordPress theme a site is using. Next, you may want to explore our expert recommendations for the best tools for WordPress designers or check out our beginner’s guide on avoiding common WordPress mistakes.
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