WordPress database optimization is one of the essential tasks to keep your WordPress blog fast and healthy.
WordPress uses MySQL to create tables and databases to store data. Over time, you end up adding a lot of redundant tables and databases. To keep your blog running smoothly, you need to remove all of these unnecessary things in a process called “database optimization.”
In addition, WordPress features such as post revisions and automatic draft saving will also increase the burden on the entire database and need to be removed.
- 12 Best WordPress Plugins for Blogs and Business Websites
- These are the must-have WordPress plugins that support SidelinePlay
For post modifications, there are plugins that allow you to limit the number of times a post can be modified, but if you don’t run a very busy blog, you can probably just clean up your blog once a month instead of limiting post modifications.
One of the main reasons why WordPress blogs are slow is because the database is too large.
It is highly recommended that you optimize your blog’s database from time to time.
WP-DB Manager plugin, which not only optimizes your database but also helps automate database backups.
WP-Optimize is one of the simplest plugins that will help you perform the following tasks:
- Check your database size.
- Delete post revision.
- Delete all automatically saved draft posts.
- Clean up spam comments.
- Clean up unapproved comments.
- Optimize database tables.
You can choose to use all of these features, or just select a few.
Here’s a quick tutorial to help you understand how to use the WP-Optimize plugin.
Also Read: How to Optimize Your WordPress Database Using Advanced Database Cleanup Plugins
How to Use WP-Optimize: Setup and Usage Guide
Download and install the WP-Optimize WordPress plugin .
Log in to your site’s WordPress dashboard.
With HostPapa , you can log in to your HostPapa dashboard and click on My WordPress . If needed, you can refer to this article to help you: How to log in to your WordPress dashboard .
Please navigate to Plugins > Add New and search for the plugin.
To learn more about installing WordPress plugins, take the time to read this HostPapa Knowledge Base article: How to Install Plugins in WordPress .
- Once the WP-Optimize plugin is installed, click Activate .
- Navigate to WP-Optimize from the WordPress sidebar .
After activating WP-Optimize, you can access the plugin’s settings and check or select all the actions you want the plugin to perform.
Database cleanup and optimization
WP-Optimize helps maintain server resources by cleaning and improving your database. It also helps clean database tables, post revisions, auto-draft posts, deleted posts, spam, and many other items.
Page Cache
WP-Optimize improves your website's speed and performance by caching content on your server. This action allows the server to show a cached copy to visitors, which means it doesn't need to download the content again.
If you wish : You can enable caching for WP-Optimize simply by clicking on the slider.
GZIP compression
GZIP compression reduces file download time by compressing the data before sending it to the user's browser.
Modern browsers automatically decompress these files upon receiving them, ensuring that the compression does not change the appearance or functionality of the website.
You can enable GZIP compression under WP-Optimize > Cache page .
Image Compression
To increase the speed of your WordPress website, we recommend web optimization of your images.
WP-Optimize can identify and compress images according to the lossy or lossless settings you choose . Simply enter your preferences and WP-Optimize will automatically compress every new image uploaded to your WordPress site.
- A lossy setting means that data compression permanently removes some of the original data from the file to reduce its size.
- The lossless setting compresses data or audio without losing information.
WP-Optimize will maintain the integrity of any Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) image data during the compression process .
EXIF stores technical information about digital images.
WebP conversion
WP-Optimize can also automatically convert JPG and PNG images to WebP format and use this version when possible, which can significantly reduce file size.
Zoom out
Minifying CSS, JavaScript, and HTML is an advanced feature. While it generally works for most sites, your site might require specific configuration to work properly.
If you run into any issues and aren't sure what to do next, turn the feature off and ask for help on the WP-Optimize support forum. For more information, read the included documentation .
How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of WP-Optimize on Your Website
Let’s say you want to see the impact WP-Optimize has on your site’s performance? You can do this using any of the following tools:
The above tools can provide detailed information about your website’s loading time before and after using WP-Optimize.
As always, we recommend that you back up your site before applying any changes. This process ensures that we can roll back the update if you encounter any issues.
If you’ve never optimized your WordPress database before, now is a great time to do it.
Important: Always make a database backup before using any new plugins.
For more information on databases, see:
- How to Delete Custom Field Values from WordPress Database
- How to Optimize WordPress Database Size for Better Performance
- How to Fix WordPress Database Errors
Tell me, which plugin are you using to optimize your WordPress blog’s database tables? Share your suggestions in the comments below!
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