A database is a structured set of data that stores various types of information. A prerequisite for installing WordPress is creating a database. WordPress by default requires tables in a said database in order to store feasible parts of any posts you wish to create, as well as comments, users, etc.
Do you need a WordPress database plugin?
Yes, you do.
As you continue to upgrade your website with the new themes and plugins, your WP database will grow and become clunky.
Once you use one of these WordPress plugins, your site will be much better.
But why is cleanup and optimization of the database important?
Let’s take a look.
Why Your WP Database Is So Important
Since you use WordPress, you are probably aware of the fact that your website’s content can be divided into three categories:
- The WordPress core files
- Your theme files
- Your MySQL database
All of these items are essential, but the first two items are easily replaceable and can be repaired or reinstalled without any problems. On the other hand, your database is irreplaceable. This is because it’s unique to each website and its value increases as more information is added to it.
All of your website’s content can be found in your database. This includes, but is not limited to people database, participants database, posts, pages, etc.
Here’s how important your database is – if every single post and page disappeared from your website in a second, you’d be crushed, right?
One of the most effective ways to ensure that everything runs at optimal speed and is organized is to make sure your database contains as few revisions as possible.
In addition to this, your database will compile something that is called overhead. Too much overhead can cause your website to lag and run at a slow speed.
This is why you need to clean the WP database (which is basically like emptying your trash bin or defragmenting your computer’s hard drive).
While this article focuses on the importance of using a WordPress database plugin, it goes without saying that you should be also doing regular database backups. If you don’t ensure a fast car and you end up crashing it, it’s not going to be of much use, is it? Thus, using a database backup plugin is a must.
Also in many companies, the phenomenon of database loss is common. But it is worth remembering that data recovery software easily copes with this and your information will return with confidence.
Best WordPress Database Plugins To Use
Although a WP database can be quickly defragmented through phpMyAdmin, there are plenty of fantastic WordPress database plugins that can do a much better job.
It’s also safer for non-techy users that might end up with a WP database reset instead of a spring cleaning.
There are two reasons why these WordPress optimization plugins are better. Firstly, no manual search for the database and/or the tables is required. Furthermore, these WordPress optimization plugins provide extra options to ensure a far more in-depth cleanup.
So let’s take a look at some of the best WordPress searchable database plugins.
- WP-Optimize
- Advanced Database Cleaner
- WP-DBManager
- WP Cleaner Pro
- WP-Sweep
- Clean Up Optimizer
- WP-DB-Backup
- Optimize Database After Deleting Revisions
- BackUpWordPress
Now let’s look at them in detail.
WP-Optimize
If you want to optimize your WordPress database tables, you need a good WordPress database plugin to get rid of unnecessary data.
One of the first ones we would recommend is WP-Optimize. WP Optimize is used by over half a million satisfied users, which makes it one of the most popular free customer database plugins.
Is it also the best WordPress database plugin? Very likely.
It will help you clean up the WordPress database including unnecessary comments, trackback, pingbacks, and expired transient options. In addition to that, this WP database plugin will also defragment the tables and let you have total control of the optimization process.
One of the useful options we find worth recommending is the possibility to schedule clean-ups. This way, you can stop thinking about WordPress database optimization and let the plugin do the job for you at the scheduled time.
Since this WordPress database plugin is completely free, we recommend that you give it a shot.
Advanced Database Cleaner
Advanced Database Cleaner is another WP optimize plugin that will help you have a WordPress clean database.
It will remove all unnecessary data from the table with ease, such as drafts, unnecessary comments, etc. This plugin gives you complete control over which data you want to delete. After cleaning the database, Advanced Database Cleaner will optimize it as well.
Not only does this plugin clean the database, but it also optimizes it. It also allows you to automatically schedule cleanups and optimizations. In addition to that, it offers a feature popular among network admins, and that feature is multisite installations.
WP-DBManager
How to access the WordPress database to clean it? Easily. You let WP-DBManager do it for you.
WP-DBManager is a great option for assistance with WordPress databases, which you might’ve gathered from its name. It is a popular plugin as it has over 100,000 active installations. Here’s why it’s popular.
WP DBManager offers practically everything that can be done with a database; it cleans up and optimizes tables, posts, comments, etc. It also offers database repair, restoration, and backup.
But that’s not all, as it also allows you to delete backups, empty and drop tables, as well as run selected queries directly from the plugin. Naturally, all of these processes can be scheduled.
WP Cleaner Pro
WP Cleaner Pro is the most user-friendly and efficient plugin that will clean and optimize your WordPress website, making it run faster.
You can optimize your database by cleaning up to 25 types of data. This can all be done at once or you can simply schedule an event. The UI interface can also be cleaned and optimized for speed.
WP-Sweep
This WordPress plugin aims to rid your WordPress site of useless data such as deleted and unapproved comments, auto drafts, deleting revisions, orphaned user and post meta, duplicated post, user, term and comment meta, spam comments, transient options, database tables optimization, etc.
Clean Up Optimizer
Much as the name indicates, this plugin is here to clean up and optimize your WordPress database so that your page will load faster.
Features:
- Optimize Database and WordPress data
- Clean transient feed
- Remove spam comments
- Remove trackbacks and pingbacks
- Clean orphan posts meta
- WordPress image optimizer
WP-DB-Backup
WordPress Database Backup is the ideal tool for completely backing up a website. Not only is it free, but it offers plenty of features that will help your website to run smoothly.
So what database does WordPress use and how do you clean it? Well, you don’t even have to know that because this WordPress database plugin will do all the work for you.
In addition to that, it also allows you to schedule and restore backups with ease. Manual options are also available.
Optimize Database After Deleting Revisions
This is a one-click database optimizer plugin that helps you clean all the undesirable revisions, spam comments, etc.
Not only is this plugin very easy to use but it is also highly customizable.
You can set it to optimize your WordPress form database, WordPress participants database, WordPress plugins database, or basically any other kind of WordPress database that you need to be optimized.
You’ll see that your database after deleting revisions will run better.
BackUpWordPress
BackUpWordPress is, as the name suggests, a great plugin to use for a WordPress backup. The plugin’s automatic scheduling support allows you to create various schedules for your WordPress database and the files in it. Both free and premium versions are available. The premium version enables the use of cloud storage systems as backup destinations.
Looking to create data tables in WordPress?
wpDataTables can do that for you. There’s a good reason why it’s the #1 WordPress plugin for creating responsive tables and charts.
And it’s really easy to do something like this:
- You provide the table data
- Configure and customize it
- Publish it in a post or page
And it’s not just pretty, but also practical. You can make large tables with up to millions of rows, or you can use advanced filters and search, or you can go wild and make it editable.
“Yeah, but I just like Excel too much and there’s nothing like that on websites”. Yeah, there is. You can use conditional formatting like in Excel or Google Sheets.
Did I tell you you can create charts too with your data? And that’s only a small part. There are lots of other features for you.
FAQs about WordPress database plugins
1. What is a WordPress database plugin and why do I need one?
A WordPress database plugin is a tool that aids in database management for your website. It can help with backups and restores, website speed and performance, database optimization, and security measures to safeguard your data. You require one to make sure your website functions properly and to safeguard your important data from loss or damage.
2. How do I choose the right WordPress database plugin for my website?
Depending on the requirements of your website, you should choose the appropriate WordPress database plugin. Think about things like the speed of the website, backup and restore capabilities, security features, and compatibility with other plugins. You can pick the best plugin for your website by reading reviews and checking out different ones.
3. Can a WordPress database plugin help improve website speed and performance?
Indeed, a WordPress database plugin can aid in enhancing the speed and functionality of websites. By optimizing your database, you may get rid of extra information, minimize bloat, and speed up the loading of your website. Higher search engine rankings and improved user experience may result from this.
4. How do I install and set up a WordPress database plugin on my website?
A WordPress database plugin can be manually uploaded to the server of your website or found and installed via the WordPress plugin directory. Once installed, adhere to the plugin’s setup and configuration instructions to customize it for your website.
5. What are the best practices for optimizing a WordPress database using a plugin?
The best practices for using a plugin to optimize a WordPress database include routine database cleaning, database table optimization, removing spam comments, and restricting post revisions. Moreover, you can utilize a cache plugin to shorten load times and ease database load on your website.
6. Can a WordPress database plugin help me back up and restore my website?
Absolutely, a lot of WordPress database plugins include options for backup and restoration. In the event of data loss or corruption, these plugins enable you to restore your website to a prior state by making backups of either the full site or just selected pages.
7. What security measures do WordPress database plugins offer to protect my data?
WordPress database plugins can provide security features like firewall protection, two-factor authentication, and encryption to safeguard your data from risks like malware and hacker attempts. They can also keep an eye on your database for any suspicious activity and stop any queries that might be detrimental.
8. Are there any free WordPress database plugins that are just as good as paid ones?
It’s true that free WordPress database plugins provide comparable features and performance to those found in expensive ones. Paid plugins, however, could provide more sophisticated choices, greater support, and more frequent updates. Prior to selecting a plugin, it’s crucial to consider the budget and unique requirements of your website.
Ending thoughts on choosing the best WordPress database plugins
Back-up and maintenance of your WordPress database are of high importance.
If you want your WordPress site to function flawlessly as well as protecting it from outside forces, you need to ensure that your database is well-organized.
This task can actually be quite easy if you have the right plugins. By choosing any of the plugins from this list you’ll give your database much-needed room to breathe.
If you enjoyed reading this article on WordPress database plugins, you should check out this one about how to leverage browser caching in WordPress.
We also wrote about a few related subjects like how to speed up WordPress, WordPress lazy load plugin, WordPress cache plugin options, and CDN services.
