How To Know A Website Platform (3 Quick & Easy Steps)
If you are spying on your competitors’ websites or you came across a wonderful website that looks great with a lot of functionality, then you must want to know what platform it is built on.
If you want to know how to know a website platform then this article is going to be helpful for you because there are a few tricks and ways that you can use and we are going to cover them all here in a single article.
So, let’s get started.
What is the technology stack?
Before we start talking about the website platform it is important to understand what the technology stack is.
Technology stack is a term that refers to the tools and technologies used to build a website including the features and functionality of the website to make it smooth working.
The platform on which the website is built such as the front-tech elements, back-tech elements, programming language, software, and frameworks together forms the stack.
how to tell what platform a website is built on?
Now, after knowing about the technology stack it will be easier for you to understand how you can tell what platform a website is built on.
Here are the steps that you should follow:
#1. Using Online Tool
There are so many websites available on the internet which will tell you the technology stack of the website. All you need to do is to enter the URL or the address of the website and they will break down the technology stack.
For example, builtwith.com is the most popular website which can let you know the platform of the website.
- You should go to builtwith.com, and then enter the address of the website.
- Click on the Lookup option.
It will process the data and as the output, you will get the details like the webserver, SSL certificate, Content management system (CMS), or the platform of the website along with the email services.
Some other popular tools available online are:
- NetCraft
- W3Techs
- StackShare
- DomainTools
#2. Use Browser Extensions
The browser extension is another famous way by which you can tell the platform of the website.
SimilarTech is a well-known chrome browser extension that you can install in the browser and whenever you want to know the platform of any website then just click on it. It will tell you all the necessary details related to it.
Some other browser extensions are given below:
- Wappalyzer (Chrome Extension)
- WhatRuns (Chrome Extension)
- Domain Details (Firefox Extension)
- Library Detector (Firefox Extension)
#3. Check the Source Code Of The Website
The source code for most of their websites is openly available and you can use this to find out what platform a website is using. In chrome, you should for the Developer Tools, and in Firefox check for the Web Developer in your menu.
Different website platforms have different codes, wording, and different functions used to build the website and when you are using the source code of the website then you can easily find out these words and codes.
For example, for the WordPress-based website, you will be able to find the wp-content or wp-author option which is a clear indication that the platform the website is using is WordPress.
If you want to know more ways by which you can tell if a website is WordPress or not then you should read this linked article.
On the other hand, the Hubspot-based website contains words like HubSpot template builder in their source code.
How to Use the Source code Using The Developer Mode?
To use the source code in any Firefox or Chrome browser you need to follow the given steps:
- Right-click on the website.
- Click on the Inspect element option from the dialogue box.
- Click on the element tab.
- Press CTRL+F from the keyboard to find the words like HubSpot or WordPress.
If you are not sure then you should look at the source code line by line to look for the platform. There are many platforms that you can use to build the website like Shopify, Wix, BlogSpot, WordPress, Hubspot, Big-commerce, etc. and this is why we can’t write about all of them in a single article. You will have to read the source code and figure out the most common words or platform that comes into it.
How to Know What Font A Website Uses?
So far we have discussed how you can tell the platform of the website and now it’s time to know how you can tell the font of the website.
So, here are the steps that you need to follow.
- Go to the website and right-click on it.
- Click on the inspect element or press F12 on windows.
- Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+Shift+I(Windows) and on Mac press (Cmd+Shift+I).
- Press Ctrl+Shift+C and hover the mouse to the element which font you want to check.
- It will show you information related to the information in a pop-up box.
- Navigate To the Styles tab in the inspector and scroll to the font-family attribute.
- You can check the font used in that section.
Conclusion
We have discussed how you can tell what platform a website is built on and how you can tell the font family or font in the website. The only thing that you need to check is the inspect element because it contains most of the information about the website that you need.
