Great database tips for WordPress site owners

WordPress is one of the best beginner-friendly platforms considering that you don’t even have to be an experienced web designer to create an amazing website with it. This feature of WordPress has made it the most popular CMS among new individuals who joined the field. 

WordPress depends on the database, and every action performed by it is connected either directly or indirectly with the database. 

With every plugin or theme you install, there’s a chance that you’ll suffocate the database a bit.  Hence, you need to ensure the database is fully secure and running. 

A few tips to run your website database securely and faster are mentioned as follows: 

Less Clutter More Space

It is crucial to delete the unnecessary data from the database as cluttering of information can be prevented this way, and also, you can find some additional free space to organize and place your data accordingly.

Backup Your Database

One of the most prominent parts in WordPress's infrastructure would be the storage area for all the information on the website that is a database. Thus, it is suggested to always incorporate the database along with the other backups of your website. 

Always make sure that you back up your data before initializing any form of clean up or installing any tool for database maintenance as the system glitches and errors done by humans are inevitable. By taking this approach, you are reducing the risk of losing the data and preparing for any unpredictable conditions that destroy your data.

Optimize WordPress database

The database is a vital part of the system as it contains all the information on the site, such as comments, posts, etc. It is observed that if you have a database with excessive information, then the time taken for reloading the page and searching for information is longer than expected. This issue can be rectified by using the WordPress-Database manager, WordPress optimize or other WordPress database plugins, which is a great way to restore, repair, optimize, and backup your database.

Delete Unused Plugins

The amount of plugins is directly proportional to the website's load time, as every plugin consists of a unique code that has to be called by the browser during page loading. It is observed that most of the webmasters forget deleting unusable plugins, which result in bloating the website, so you need to always ensure that the unwanted plugins are cleared from time to time.

Compress images

If you are looking for a way to reduce the data present in the database, then compressing your images can be of great help. If you are wondering how to compress images, then there are certain compression apps available in the market which can assist you. Also, some plugins can assist you in compressing images as soon as you insert them into the data window. The plugins dispose of the metadata from the image format and make necessary conversions.

Use cache plugins

It is important to create a good impression on the new visitors of your page, and this can be achieved by using cache plugins such as W3 Total Cache, which create a static version of your pages. By using a cache plugin, you can store the generated page on the server, and hence when the visitor refreshes the page, it can be pre-generated without involving the database. 

Delete spam comments and unwanted codes to free up some space for important information; you must clear your spam and trash folder, which consists of unnecessary information. You should also delete any post revisions that were left as drafts.

Turn off Autosave

WordPress has a feature of saving the content or any modifications done to the content in the posts automatically every two minutes. Then all of this content concerning respective posts is saved in database under individual entries and thereby occupying a large amount of space in the database. Hence, when you are developing long posts, please ensure that you have disabled the autosave condition in your WordPress. 

Remove useless comments

If you are wondering how to clear out all the moderate comments you received as spam without spending much time on it, then a query can be utilized to remove the comments which are not moderated already. It is advisable that you thoroughly check the comments and separate the genuine comments way before executing this query.

The Transients and Cache

For storing transients as well as the sessions, you can utilize Redis Cache as it assists in the removal of these both from the WordPress options. The Redis and WordPress Transients Application Interface are known to reduce the amount of load pushed into the database and assist in enhancing the speed of your site.

Install Database Maintenance Plugins

An abundant supply of database plugins is available in the market for assisting you in the maintenance of your database, and while installation, it is recommended that you reanalyze the plugins one by one and then choose the highly recommended plugin.

WordPress plugins that can be considered for maintaining the database are mentioned as follows:

• WordPress site-Optimize

• Version Control

• Advanced database cleaner

• WordPress-Sweep

• WordPress-DataBase manage

• Post revisions made simpler

• Updraft Plus for Backup & Restoration

Delete Plugin Data

It is observed that, at times, although you delete the unnecessary plugins, they still don't get deleted permanently and occupy a great deal of space in the database. Hence, follow the guide or manual mentioned by the web design operator to resolve this issue.

It is suggested not to step into your site's production when you are not confident regarding your work as there is a possibility that it might leave you with a bloated database on a production site.

Use Adminer to Browse the Database

It is observed that when compared to PHPMyAdmin, Adminer is much lighter as well as highly secure. Adminer usually comprises a single PHP file and also produces a graphical interface for managing the database. All of our WordPress sites are delivered with Adminer installed in them so that the customers to utilize it for managing their databases efficiently and securely.

Monitor Performance

To obtain optimal performance and satisfied visitors, you need to monitor your website's performance and database. After implementing at least some of these tips we mentioned here, you should improve your website performance a lot. You’ll see that with these changes, the chance of having memory limit issues will drop significantly. 

The database is considered a prominent part of the WordPress website because it is the storage space for all the information required for running your website. Hence, WordPress users must be fully acknowledged with the functioning and monitoring of a database.

• TAGS:
• Database
• WordPress