How can you detect if a website uses Drupal?
Detecting whether a website is built on Drupal involves looking for specific markers and patterns unique to Drupal. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it:
- Open the Page Source: Right-click on the webpage and select “View Page Source” or press
Ctrl+U
(Windows) orCmd+Option+U
(Mac) to open the page source code. - Look for Drupal-specific JavaScript Settings: Search for
Drupal.settings
in the source code. This is a common JavaScript variable that indicates the presence of Drupal. You can useCtrl+F
(Windows) orCmd+F
(Mac) to find it. - Check the HTML Tags: Look for the presence of certain HTML classes in the source code, such as
page
,node
, andviews-row
. These are often indicative of Drupal’s structure. - Check for Drupal-specific Meta Tags: Drupal may include specific meta tags. Look for tags that mention
Drupal-Version
or anyname
attributes that reference Drupal-related functionalities. - Look for .module or .theme References: Sometimes you can find references to PHP files with extensions
.module
or.theme
, which are specific to Drupal modules and themes. - Review the URLs: Examine the URL structure for paths that might include
node
,taxonomy
, oruser
, which are commonly used in Drupal sites. For example:www.example.com/node/123
. - Check for Drupal’s Administrative Paths: If you can access administrative URLs, they usually follow a specific pattern like
/user
or/admin
. Try adding/admin
to the base URL of the site. - Look for CSS and JS Files: Search for links to CSS and JavaScript files that contain
drupal
in their filename, such asdrupal.js
ordrupal.settings.js
. - Identify Common Modules: Some websites using Drupal often include references to popular modules in the source code. Look for modules like
views
,pathauto
, orwebform
in the JavaScript or CSS links.