Services
WordPress Database Cleanup and Optimization
If your WordPress website is slow, a common cause may be a bloated database with unnecessary data such as post revisions, unapproved/deleted comments, unused terms, transient options or postmeta, or data from previous plugins.
This "garbage" data makes it harder for the website to find the "good" data needed for each page load, resulting in slower speeds.
To fix this, SQL can be used to identify and remove the unnecessary data. It should be done with caution to avoid deleting essential information for the website to function correctly.
See WordPress Database Cleanup and Optimization Services.
WordPress Link Audit and Bulk Editing
Link integrity is crucial for user experience and SEO. We can perform a link audit with SQL and Python to identify broken links (internal and external), check link attributes such as follow/nofollow, and identify orphan pages.
Python and SQL can then be used to automatically fix these issues – remove or replace broken links, update href and rel attributes, and add more internal links to relevant pages.
See WordPress Link Audit and Bulk Editing.
Tutorials and Reference
WordPress Database Tables and Structure
The WordPress database consists of several tables which store data related to a WordPress site, such as posts, categories, tags, comments, users, and settings. The tables are organized in a relational structure with unique keys and relationships between them.
The structure includes several primary tables, such as wp_posts and wp_users, plus supporting tables for taxonomy, metadata, and relationships between different posts, categories, tags.
The database is designed to be extensible, allowing developers to add custom tables and fields as needed (as some plugins do).
For more details about the database structure and individual tables and columns see WordPress Database Tables and Structure.
SQL for WordPress
This section provides SQL queries to change settings and content directly in WordPress database.
For example, changing the user ID requires updating not only the ID column in the users table, but also related tables such as posts and comments made by that user.
To change user email, the user_email column in the wp_users table needs to be updated. The username or login can be changed by updating the user_login column in the wp_users table. User password can be changed by updating the user_pass column. User level can be changed through the user_level column in the wp_users table. [more ...]
wp-config.php
The main configuration file of WordPress is wp-config.php, located in WordPress root directory. This section explains the contents and syntax of this file and provides guidelines for editing it.
Main things to set in wp-config.php are database specifications – the database name, username, password, and host where the WordPress database is located. Additionally, Authentication Unique Keys and Salts should be changed regularly to keep the website secure.
Other wp-config.php settings can be used to modify default WordPress behavior. Last but not least, access to the wp-config.php file should be limited using .htaccess. [more ...]
How to Back Up WordPress Database and Files
This guide provides instructions on how to back up WordPress database and files to ensure their restoration if needed.
Backing up the database involves logging into cPanel and selecting the "Databases" section, then exporting the entire database in SQL format with all tables selected. The exported file can then be saved with a customized name.
For file backup, it is enough to only back up theme files, uploads, and non-WordPress content. Some settings are stored in files, including wp-config.php and .htaccess, which should also be backed up as they contain critical information. [more ...]
About WPDir
I am Petr. I have worked with WordPress since 2009.
Created themes and own tools – traffic logging, signup forms, SEO, ecommerce integrations...
I have seen the common errors and experienced many joyful moments when I finally got some little thing working at 2:30am.
One of my websites got hacked (and I have recovered and learned).
At one point I built my own PHP based CMS inspired by WordPress, with the objective to make it cleaner and faster, both in terms of pageload speed and content creation process. Like a lighter version of WordPress without the features I don't need, with a truly minimalist editor and improved wpautop().
I know the WordPress database inside out and often use SQL and Python to bulk edit posts, restructure sites, or detect and fix broken links or images.
WP + SQL + Python = time saved