Optimize WordPress Database for Speed

If you use WordPress as CMS ( Content management system ) as most of the pro-bloggers do it (bloggingshout.com is also powered by WordPress). You might have noticed , with the time, your blog goes slow , slow and slower. With the time passing you try a lot of plugins , themes etc. Of course you delete them if you are not using them, but have you ever noticed that as you re-install the plugin / theme, WordPress automatically selects/configures it with the options you left/deleted it ? If you are wondering how this happens, this is because WordPress saves each and every customization of yours in the database as separate tables. As I told with the time being, your database becomes huge and servers gets bore, result is a slow and dull WordPress site.
When you Install a theme / Plugin you make quite a lot of changes and make it work according to your convenience. Specially while trying a theme, you do a lot of changes here and there. WordPress saves your options in tables, with time the chunk becomes large and starts slowing down your site. Deleting / Dropping / Optimizing these tables can return you the must-to-have thing for your site, i.e Speed !

Optimize your Word Press Database

Its good that you came reading this far, this shows you care for your blog / site. But how to optimize WordPress database ? Well, there are mainly two ways of doing this : First : Either take a hands on approach with WordPress core files such as wp-config.php file,  .htaccess , Style.css , Header.php file , Index.php file , Functions.php file and the database tables or second : Install a plugin and do your optimization neatly ! You can also opt for a professional to optimize your WordPress database ( Deleting some specific tables can crash your blog , Instantly ! )

How to Optimize your WordPress Database [ First Method ]

I Hope you have MySql installed on your servers, If not , then do install it. If you are not sure about it, ask your hosting provider about it. Once you have Installed and logged in to your wordpress database, follow the steps below to optimize your database :

Log in to your MySql account ( screenshot below is default MySql in my hosting ). Click on Small icon below access phpMyAdmin.

Click on databases , this would carry you to your database, it would show you the tables related to your site / blog.

Scroll down to the page , Click on “Check All” navigate to “with selected” drop down and select “Optimize tables”.

Optimize WordPress Database [ Second Method ]

There are several plugins which make your life easier. Thanks to those plugins you can easily optimize your database without crashing your blog. Below I’ve mentioned the two plugins I personally use and suggest for optimizing your WordPress database.

1. WP- Optimize  

• Download and Install WP-Optimize plugin from wordpress.org directory.
• After Installation it places its own menu in the admin menu. Click on the “WP-Optimize”.
• The page further opened would show screen like below, Click on “Process”

Feature that I love :

1. Simple to install and Operate, recommended to newbies and for all those who does not have any formal training in Database optimization.

2. Scheduling of optimization is one big point but must be used with utmost care.

Limitations of this Plugin

1. Though it helps you to do some simple Table Optimization for you but it does not allow you to Drop any existing table from the dashboard and in my opinion this is the major drawback of this plugin.

2. You can not browse the Table structure or table values.

3. It also adds its signature in the database that it automatically does not remove when plugin De-activated or removed thus leave its signature forever on your system.

2. WP Cleanfix 

• Download and Install it from the WordPress plugins directory
• Click on Cleanfix text in the admin panel, the panel next opened would show your tables which need to be optimized  , click on the refresh / optimize button to optimize your tables.

Final words : Optimization should be done on regular basis, once you keep your blog neat and clean, speed won’t decrease gradually with time. Please leave down your views and opinions via comments below and if you know any other method of optimizing database then comment it below I’ll surely add it.