About to wipe out WP and reinstall *but*…

Why not delete the “crumbs” from the database?

Too many crumbs, not all in obvious places, so no guaranteee I’ll get them all and that I won’t accidentally mistake a proper morsel for a crumb and delete the wrong thing. I need a clean slate, I think.

You should be able to at least copy the data and reenter it later.

I don’t think there is a good or easy answer.

Shoot…I was hoping someone would say “copy x, y, z” and you’re good to go for importing x, y, z later, without saving them individually (I don’t have a lot of posts, so NOW is the time to decide if I want/need a fresh install to get rid of past corruption issues).

Find the posts and pages in the db. Then check for export/inport options.

You can export all of WordPress’ posts and pages through the admin panel, without needing database access:

https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Tools_Export_SubPanel

Try this. ??

That sounds great to me. I also checked my db and I can export just post and pages from that but rachaely’s solution sounds much easier and safer.

Good luck!

Hey, I’d looked at that, but something else I read talked about backing up tags and users etc and I’m afraid that’s where part of my issue resides — the “extra” crap that some plugins created and that I don’t want.

Now I just have to read more about what happens if I install it at https://www.example.com instead of https://www.example.com/wp in terms of initial install and future upgrades.

Thanks to both of you for your help!

PW

When compared to 2-3 other content management systems I frequently test, wordpress plugins are relatively simpler to use. In your specific case, I suggest:

• First check the list of plugins that you want no more. Make sure that you “deactivate” those plugins within your Dashobard->Plugins
• If you feel safe, please remove the specific directories for each of those unwanted plugins. The directory names look like

“<your_blog_dir>/wp-includes/plugins/<plugin_name>

• Now, using your dashboard, delete all the unwanted tags and users that you feel are unimportant.

Every time I want to test a major change, I export the blog content. Then I install wordpress on a temp URL. I then edit the exported file to change the URL of the blog to temp URL and then import that content to the test blog. That way, I can test the sanity of the content first. If I am comfortable, then I use the upgrade instructions at https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Upgrading_WordPress_Extended if I want to do the upgrade after examining each change.

Hope this helps…

Thanks, that is helpful.

Some of my fear in trying to just “clean” up my existing setup is that not all the plugins I tried were very clean in their install…for example, if I changed a setting like “Left format” in a widget, tested everything, and then uninstalled the plugin, it left a breadcrumb for the left formatting in the database. I really like those plugins that let you delete and reset all the data related to that plugin before you uninstall it.

I think a clean install is the safest way to avoid a future problem, and it is probably better now that I have a fairly stable setup otherwise, after testing dozens of plugin “toys and tools” that I decided not to use.

I am strongly thinking about running a second “sandbox version” too at the TEMP URL-like option you mention, although perhaps just a second semi-permanent address that only I can access. If the new WP doesn’t access the original DB, it shouldn’t get anything confused I don’t think.

P.