How to Wipe Wordpress Install and Start Again
It'due south not e'er ideal, but occasionally you'll demand to completely reset WordPress to its original state. Before blindly jumping to utilize a plugin, it's important that yous understand exactly what it means to reset WordPress.
Understanding the ins and outs of a WordPress installation (and what needs to be reset!) will assistance ensure that you lot're making smart decisions in your evolution procedure. Sometimes your chosen reset plugin doesn't work as expected and you'll need to make clean up manually, for example. Being able to exercise this ensures that y'all'll exist able to apace rectify the situation. If you utilize Managed WordPress Hosting don't forget to speak to your host first.
In this article, you'll learn about when and why you might want to reset WordPress. And then, we'll walk you through the necessary steps for manually resetting a WordPress website. Allow'southward get started!
Why Y'all May Demand to Reset WordPress
To reset WordPress ways to put all its files and databases back to the original installation state. It is finer taking an existing WordPress website and installing it from scratch using what's already at that place.
In that location are a few reasons you may need to fully or partially reset your WordPress website, such every bit:
- Rebuilding or repurpose the website.
- Restoring the site from a fill-in.
- Cleaning out a examination installation.
Resetting a WordPress website is essentially uninstalling existing settings and reinstalling the original defaults. This is possible to do by deleting everything and starting over. However, y'all may notice yourself in a situation where yous need to do a fractional reset, so it's handy to understand the breakup of steps then you can selection and cull what you need. For example, you may want to reset the database just keep all your downloaded plugins intact.
Similarly, you tin can accomplish a lot of manual tasks using plugins like Reset WP or even WP-CLI. Nosotros discover it'south ever a expert idea to understand the fundamentals even when using these tools. It'due south similar to learning how long division works earlier using the reckoner — you'll ameliorate empathise what you're doing even if you eventually automate the procedure. Knowing how to check your work tin save a lot of time and hassle if something goes wrong.
Now, you'll larn what it takes to reset your WordPress website without a plugin.
How to Reset Your WordPress Website Without a Plugin
Resetting your WordPress website volition involve having straight admission to your files and database. This means yous'll need a few tools and logins to go started:
- Your File Transfer Protocol (FTP) username and password.
- FTP software, such as FileZilla.
- Database admission, such as through phpMyAdmin or within cPanel.
If y'all're not completely sure you lot desire to lose all of your content and settings forever, you lot may also want to have a consummate backup of your website, using a plugin such as UpdraftPlus. Be sure to save the backup somewhere off of the server, because you'll exist deleting everything. Now, all you need to do is follow these steps. Permit's get started!
Step i: Delete the Database
The first step is to delete your database. This is important because it'south where all of your settings and content lives. Without this pace, you'll be stuck with everything y'all already take, which isn't conducive to starting afresh.
Deleting the database will completely remove your content and settings from WordPress. Nosotros cannot stress plenty that you need to be absolutely certain yous are ready to lose all of your data earlier moving forward.
First, log into cPanel. From hither, you should be able to observe your list of MySQL databases under the Databases > MySQL Databases section:
On this page, you should detect a list of your existing databases. Some hosts name their databases differently simply typically include the prefix wp somewhere within the database name.
Identify your WordPress database, and copy and paste the proper noun into a text file somewhere rubber. Then, yous can delete it by clicking the Delete button from the Actions column. This will completely wipe out your sometime WordPress database.
Stride ii: Create a New Database
While you've just deleted the old database, information technology's vital to gear up a new 1. Without a database, your WordPress website volition non be able to load and you will non be able to admission the dashboard to create any new content.
Once your quondam database is gone, it's fourth dimension to create a new one and set it up for WordPress. You should yet be inside the cPanel database page, and so find the Create a New Database section. Hither, you lot'll complete the database name then it matches the onetime one:
Afterward clicking Create Database, the folio should refresh and you'll encounter the name pop up again under the Current Databases area. Next, discover the Add together a User to a Database section. You'll need to add the old user with its permissions to the newly created database. Select the matching database and username in the drop-downward menus and click Add User.
If you tin't find the old user, you may need to create it manually. This is easily possible under the Add a New User section. If possible, utilize the same username and password every bit the sometime database user. Y'all tin usually discover these in your website's wp-config.php file.
In your FTP program, navigate to your website'south public_html folder. From hither yous should see the WordPress root files. Right click on wp-config.php and choose View/Edit within your FTP program:
You don't need to edit anything in one case you're looking at the file. Instead, find the credentials for your one-time database user under MySQL Settings in the file.
Once y'all have these credentials, you lot can use them to recreate the correct user in MySQL. Don't forget to follow the prior directions and add the user to the database once you've created it!
Pace 3: Remove Unnecessary Files
With a clean database, you are at present left with all the plugins, themes, and uploads y'all added to the onetime website. It's of import that you remove these, or y'all'll have tons of unnecessary bloat on your new website. This isn't preferable on a fresh site.
Now that your database is cleared up, you'll want to turn your attention to your WordPress files. Nigh WordPress files remain the same between installations. What y'all'll want to address are unique additions, such as plugins, themes, and media. These all be within the wp-content binder.
You can delete these via FTP. Log in using your favorite FTP application, and navigate to your WordPress' root directory under public_html. Find the wp-content folder and navigate within.
At this point, y'all should run across plugins, themes, and uploads folders. You may also see a few others. Select every folder except for themes and delete them all.
Next, navigate within the themes binder. Choose the theme you'd like to go on, such as WordPress' Xx Seventeen. Select every theme folder except for your chosen theme, and remove them from the server.
At this point, you have at present wiped out all unique elements related to your WordPress website. The database is completely empty, and all unique files have been removed. All that's left is to reinstall WordPress from scratch!
Step 4: Run the WordPress Installation Script
At this point, everything in your WordPress site is sanitized and cleaned out. Unfortunately, if you leave it at this phase, you'll non have a functional website — y'all need to rerun the WordPress installation script.
Finally, you're ready to revert WordPress dorsum to its default settings. Y'all can load upward the installation script by adding /wp-admin/install.php to the stop of your domain name. You'll need to pick out a few settings, such as language and your new login information:
Without this process, your database is completely blank. If you lot don't run this script, WordPress will be unable to office. Once you've filled in the unabridged course, you can click Install WordPress. You'll be greeted with a welcome message:
Merely click Log In and you'll be on your way with a new WordPress website! This will regain your access to the site, and you'll be working with a completely clean slate.
Resetting WordPress
Resetting your WordPress website may non be the most thrilling task, but information technology is a expert skill to take in your repertoire for fixing broken websites and cleaning up unnecessary files. Even if you employ a plugin, information technology gives you the power to understand what is going on underneath the hood when resetting everything from scratch.
In this article, y'all learned how to do this manually in four steps:
- Delete the WordPress database.
- Create a new database.
- Remove unnecessary files.
- Run the WordPress installation script.
What questions do you take near resetting WordPress? Let us know in the comments department below!
Source: https://pagely.com/blog/reset-wordpress-website-without-plugin/
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