Testing different themes & plugins is a tedious task, where you will have to keep testing different available options, till you finalize on the ones that best suit you WP site. After you make the final decision, you will need to wipe out the cluttered and overloaded WordPress site.
You can do the reset easily with the WP Reset plugin. After the reset, you can start again, all refreshed. Reset allows you to go back to the default settings, without deleting or re-installing the WordPress.
How do WordPress sites function?
Before getting into site resetting, let’s take a look at the basic theory on how WordPress functions. WP is an array of files residing on your server. They work in sync with the MySQL database to store and retrieve the data.
WordPress, by default, unites each installation with a single database, residing on your server. It includes usernames, passwords, comments, blog posts, links to files, pages, etc. everything is stored under distinct tables within the database. If the tables are reset to their default value, your site will look like how it did after the first WP installation.
This process will not delete uploaded or downloaded files like themes, plugins, media, etc. You can use an advanced WP reset plugin like WP Reset, as it comes with more options like deleting all, or selectively.
How to reset the WP site using a plugin?
- Visit your WP dashboard> Plugins> Add New, then search for WP Reset plugin
- After installing & activating click on Tools > WP Reset plugin to open its dashboard
- Read the warning notification saying that resetting will delete pages, posts, comments, users, media entries and WP database default tables and custom database tables. Remember media files will be unseen in the media library, after reset but they will be there on the server. You can delete them later.
- Scroll down, and you will see a box indicating to type ‘reset’. There will be a ‘Reset WordPress’ button beside it, which you will need to hit. Before hitting there will be a Post-reset action, where you can instruct the default modes of WP Reset plugin including reactivate current theme [off], reactivate WP Reset plugin [on], and reactivate all current active plugins [off]. Many developers recommend choosing the default options, which allows using the same theme & plugin later.
- Other Content can be reset but make sure to have a backup of your website because hitting the reset button wipes out everything, which cannot be undone.
- WP Reset plugin has extra tools in a different tab, which allows for a total cleanup. You can delete transients, uploads folder, themes, plugins, .htaccess file, and custom tables.
Bear in mind, WP Reset plugin is not a backup plugin, so proceed carefully if you are not taking backups.
Advanced WP Reset using WP-CLI
The WP Reset interface includes tools with WP-CLI. Click ‘wp help reset’ and retrieve a command list. By default, every command line for WP-CLI is available. If you desire to skip commands confirmation, use the ‘yes’ option. Bear in mind, there is no Undo option, so move cautiously!
Debugging WP is time-consuming, challenging as well as frustrating. Finding small bug takes hours. Therefore resetting WP installation in few clicks makes it easy to test and debug different themes & plugins instantly and efficiently.
The developers of WP Reset also have another great plugin for WP page redirecting. It is also rated as the best WordPress redirect plugin.
