How to find the WordPress Theme a Website is Using
On an average day, an avid internet browser might visit up to even 100 websites. People develop their sites in different ways, and the theme layout largely determines if the website serves its purpose.
You might have seen a website whose WordPress theme impressed you and would want to copy it from your website. The problem is, you don’t know the name of that theme.
You might also search on that site to see if you will come across the name, but chances are you will fail.
Finding the name of a WordPress theme can sound daunting, but not if you have the right skills. Hopefully, the information you will get in this tutorial will help you figure out the name of that theme you fell in love with.
Steps to Determining WordPress Themes
Check Page Footer
Many websites have the name of the theme and the developer at the bottom of the page and should be the first place you look for a WordPress theme name. You might also be lucky to find the developer’s address, and easily contact them for more information.
Using IsItWP Site
The internet enables you to search for anything, and searching WordPress themes should be no different. You could use traditional Google, or you could specific websites developed to find the themes other websites use. One such site is IsItWP.com.
Besides searching themes, you can also discover the plugins the same site uses.
When you first visit IsItWP, enter the URL of the website you have in mind in the search box and search. IsItWP will first of all check if that site uses WordPress, followed by the theme name, and any WordPress plugins available. And not only does it list them, but it also gives detailed information about the search results.
However, in case the discovered WordPress theme is a custom version, IsItWP may not be able to find detailed information. It will only display the name, and it is up to you to research it further.
Detecting WordPress Theme Through Coding
As mentioned earlier, some websites use customized themes, and sometimes the owners go as far as even changing the entire name. When they do this, chances are an internet-based search won’t give you detailed information, or the search may not bear any fruitful at all. At this point, many would give up, but if the theme really interests you, you have to result in more sophisticated ways of using code.
Every WordPress theme contains a file called style.css, which has information regarding the theme’s **header, name, creator, version, **and other information.
But first, you have to locate the file on that website. On the site whose WordPress theme name you want, right click and on the pop-up menu select the View Page Source, as in the example below.
Doing this action will open a new window with the source code of that website.
On that page, you need to look for the line that has the style.css file and click on the URL to access it. The picture below shows the open style.css file.
The style.css file contains accurate information of the WordPress theme used on that website. In case the site uses a child theme, scrutinize the page to find the parent theme name, and follow the website links if provided.
Conclusion
Sometimes you may pull all trick to find the name of a theme but still miss it. In such cases, it is best that you search for other similar looking themes. You might even be surprised to find better ones.
Posted on Utopian.io - Rewarding Open Source Contributors