Handling a bug infested WordPress [WP] website is always a huge challenge. Even though WP is a robust CMS, things could go wrong sometime. It makes sense to start from the scratch, rather than having to putt up with a troublesome website.
The struggle scenarios with a WP site are –
- You cannot access your site and have a backup done. You got locked out from your WP site like a code failure after an update, or a security breach, and so you need to start all over again.
- You need to clean the test installations of specific themes, content, plug-ins or other website layouts.
- You plan to rebuild or repurpose your site and want to use the domain for other purposes, or you don’t like the direction that your website has taken.
Fortunately, you can reset WordPress website in such scenarios. It means that your files and databases can be brought back to their original state, post the reset.
WP sites can be reset –
- Manually
- Using command line
- Using a plug-in
How to reset the WP site manually?
The manual reset of your WP site is a tedious task, but not that difficult. It can be set to the factory settings using the following steps.
- Locate the WP database & delete it – Through the cPanel account, access your WP database. Under the database section, find the MySQL option and find the corresponding database. If you are unsure, which database matches your website, then go to the File manager’s root-folder. You will see your username, password and database name. Now, head to the MySQL database and delete your site’s database.
- Click on create a new database, use the deleted database name here. As you did not delete your user, it will be on the list. Choose the original user and just-created database. Now click on ‘Add’.
- From FTP in cPanel access WP site files. Delete the unused plug-ins, uploads, and themes. In the wp-content directory, click on every folder, and delete except the themes folder. You need to have one theme left.
- With built-in script, install WP fresh version quickly through your browser.
How to reset the WP website using the command line?
Web developers know about the command-line tool WP-CLI, which allows the SSH [Secure Shell] access needed to work together with the platform. Simple commands can be applied to complete complex tasks.
WordPress site can be reset with WP-CPI without going through the lengthy manual process. You need to enter a line – wp db reset your WordPress blog. Then, it will prompt you to reset. This tool is a great time saver to clean your plugins and themes.
How to reset the WP website using a plug-in?
The plugin like WP Reset you can quickly reset the site in a few seconds, and get a fresh WordPress website. The plugin is WP-CLI compatible and reconfigures the environment as you need, without a need for setting them manually.
You can even use the database snapshot option, which allows to rapidly test the latest database version with an old one. You can get an idea of the precise changes a theme or plugin did to your website. The WP Reset plugin gets regularly updated and is safe to use.
