There are 3 scenarios here:
- First one: WordPress is yours. You have full control and you are hosting it.
- Second: You manage WordPress. You have limited control over WordPress’s own control panel.
- Third scenario: No special access. You are a simple user and want to check the WordPress version from the public side.
Check the WordPress version when you own everything
This is our first scenario and the simplest one. If you are the owner of the WordPress installation you could just head to your Dashboard and look for this widget:
You could clearly see there the WordPress current version.
You could also look for the current WordPress version, inside the installation files. just check your /wp-includes/version.php and you can clearly see it in the first few lines:
How to check WordPress version with limited permission access
This scenario is not as bad as it sounds. Depending on your role, you can search the WordPress version on the Dashboard widget or even in the Dashboard footer. If the version is not there just keep on reading and check some public files.
Find WordPress version by checking the WordPress HTML source code
You can see access the WordPress readme file at http://example.com/readme.html . A standard installation would have this file accessible from the outside, so you can check the version by directly accessing the URL.
Another way of checking it would be by checking the page source code (CTRL+u) and looking for:
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1 |
<meta <span class="atn">name</span><span class="pun">=</span><span class="atv">"generator"</span> <span class="atn">content</span><span class="pun">=</span><span class="atv">"WordPress 3.5.2"</span> <span class="tag">/></span> |
You cal also look for the stylesheet version on the WordPress login page located at http://example.com/wp-login.php. Just view the source code and search for “ver=”:
There are also some apps that do make the job easier. If you want to check the WordPress version for several websites, the app may be a great solution:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/wordpress%20version
WordPress Version chrome app gives you the current install version with a simple click.
NOTE: Please note that are many ways to hide this info from the general public. So some of these methods or even all of them may not work.