How the theme detector works
Every WordPress theme lives in its own folder, and a normal page loads its stylesheet from there. The detector reads the home page like a browser does, finds the theme folder in the source, then opens the theme’s style.css. The first lines of that file hold the theme name, version, author and, for a child theme, the parent it builds on.
When the theme is in the WordPress.org directory, the report adds what the directory knows: the latest version, active installs, rating and the date of the last update. That is how it can tell you whether the site runs an old copy.
What the report shows
| Detail | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Theme name, version, author | The header of the theme’s style.css |
| Parent theme | The Template line of a child theme |
| Latest version, installs, rating | WordPress.org, for themes in the directory |
| Screenshot | The theme’s screenshot.png or the directory listing |
| Plugins, WordPress version, security basics | The rest of the same check, further down the report |
Child themes, premium themes and custom themes
Many sites run a child theme: a small theme that changes a few things and loads everything else from a parent such as Astra, GeneratePress or Hello Elementor. The report shows both, so you see the theme the design is really built on.
Premium themes from marketplaces and themes built for one client are not on WordPress.org. The detector still reads their name, version and author from the theme file, and marks them as premium or custom. If the author left a theme website in the file, the report links to it.
When a theme does not show up
- The site renames or hides the theme folder, or serves all files from one combined, cached file.
- The site uses WordPress only as a back end, with a front end built in another tool. The detector then says so.
- A firewall or bot check blocks automated visitors. The report tells you when that happens instead of guessing.
Want the plugins as well? The same check lists them, or start from the WordPress plugin detector to see them first.