This weekend will be the official start of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Part of the start of Spring is spring cleaning – the time to clear out the Winter cobwebs, wash the windows, and get the house in order. But don’t worry, I’m not going to deviate from my standard topics and discuss cleaning. I am, however, going to show you how you can use the start of Spring as a time to do some WordPress spring cleaning.
Because, really, what’s more fun than backups and cleaning out your files?
- Backup Your WordPress Database – you can use the WP DB-Backup plugin, back it up via cpanel, or ask your webhost about the best way to back up your data. If you lose your WordPress database, you’ve lost your site.
- Remove Plugins – remove any plugins that you are no longer using. Don’t just deactivate them but also completely delete them. You can do this via ftp or your cpanel file manager. Any plugin, even if it isn’t being used, can be a security risk, if it is poorly coded, and can slow down your site.
- Backup Your WordPress Files – backup your WordPress files, config file, themes, plugins, etc. This is separate from the database. These files are not *as* important as the database but if you’ve customized your theme it would be distressing to lost all of that work. You can backup via ftp or the cpanel file manager. You can also backup themes, plugins and uploads with the WordPress backup plugin but this does not backup the core files.
- Upgrade WordPress – upgrade WordPress to the current version. 2.7 is awesome and you’ll be avoiding potential security risks. I’m not a fan of any auto-upgrades, so here are my instructions for upgrading WordPress manually.
- Remove Post Revisions – you can old ones manually with Stratos’ instructions, or remove old ones with the Delete Revisions plugin found by David Bradley. Let’s keep our WordPress database as light as we can.
- Examine Your Sidebar – take a hard look at your sidebar. Do you really need all that bling? If you have a lot of images, ads, and flashy things on your sidebar it is slowing your site down.
- Examine Old Posts – go through your older posts and see if you can add links to newer ones. I have to admit that I am not good about this. I usually remember to link to my older posts but rarely go back the other way. This adds value to your visitors and has got to be useful from a SEO perspective.
- Validate Your Code – this is for the especially industrious. The W3C has a tool where you can test your code for errors. It lists all of them and then you can have the pleasure of tracking them down and fixing them. I am lax on this one and have it on my current spring cleaning list because I know I currently have 27 errors.
- Your Turn – Do you have anything to add to the WordPress spring cleaning list? If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
As an aside, this is my 200th post!!
photo credit: Steve took it
Happy 200th post anniversary!
These are great tips. I can’t think of anything else in regards to WordPress, but I know that I need to have a little image spring cleaning on my server. There’s a lot of icons that I am no longer using, and there’s no sense in those hogging up my space.
~ Kristi
Kikolani´s last blog post – How to Keep Your RSS Subscribers
Hi Kristi – Thanks! Image cleaning is a great idea – clean out the files
in our hosting space that we aren’t using anymore.
Nice post. Well i am the 1st one to admit that i don’t check my old posts at all. they are just there. I have to update them and link them back.
Thanks for the remainder
Nihar´s last blog post – Muziic – New Music Player for YouTube
Hi Nihar – I guess it would be good to check a certain number
of them on a regular schedule.
Number 7 especially!!
I’d also add, take a look over your past years worth of blogging and see what trends developed. How did your mood affect what you wrote? Can you take away any particular patterns? etc.etc.etc.
ENjoy, Barbara
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s last blog post – Anti-Aging Fountain of Youth For Other People Via Your Money!
Hi Barbara – Looking at trends is a great idea. Take time to really
analyze your stats to see what’s working for you.
Thanks, nicely done
Don-16ar´s last blog post – Partagez vos articles sur Twitter
Hi Don – Thank you.
Hi Kim – After I almost lost my blog in January – I definitely need to do the backing up thing. And I have so many plugins that I no longer use.
Another thing I try to do when I get time is to rewrite some of my really old posts – or if they totally suck, I delete them completely. The latter is probably not the best way to go but rewriting can be so time consuming.
Cath Lawson´s last blog post – What Your Customers Really Want
Hi Cath – The database backup plugin is really useful. I have it email
me a backup everyday and then filter it to the trash in gmail. I never empty the trash so I always have 30 days of backups.
Kim – you are the Martha Stewart of WordPress! Now I need to get to work on my spring cleaning!
Betsy Wuebker´s last blog post – I CAN HAZ COFFEEMAKER
Hi Betsy – LOL – I’m probably more like the Ellen than the Martha Stewart of WordPress :-)
Thanks, Kim! This is a really helpful and handy list.
And Congratulations on 200 posts! Yay! :-D
Jim´s last blog post – Awareness Test
Hi Jim – Thanks! It seems like I just started.
That reminds me. I have to get rid of old plugins, examine some old posts and validate my code. But examining all the old posts is going to give me a tough time
Madhur Kapoor´s last blog post – Record and Edit Audio with Free Audio Editor
Hi Madhur – Sometimes going through my old posts is painful – I can’t believe some of the stuff I wrote in the beginning.
Helpful tips. I will be going throught my photos too deleting some that aren’t necessary. That especially applies to the thumbnails that go with the new posts appearing on the front page on my site. After they’re replaced on the front, those images just take up room.
Gennaro´s last blog post – 9 Top Cities, 9 Top Irish Pubs
Hi Gennaro – That’s a really good idea – photos can take up a lot of space.
Excellent information. Thanks Kim. I Stumbled it too.
Rick´s last blog post – Rick Answers his email Videocast – 035
Hi Rick – Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
Hey Kim! It is nice to see that we are so close… 200th post for you too! YAY! This is a very nice post that collects many things together for a nice cleanup. I can’t think of something more now… Nice post!
stratosg´s last blog post – Feed problems when editing .htaccess on WordPress
Hi Stratos – Did you just have your 200th post? Which one was it? Or was I skim reading again and missed you mention of it ;-)
Thanks!
This one http://www.stratos.me/2009/03/200th-post/ That’s ok though i just am glad that we are somehow on the some wavelength… Though on the social sites you are a rock star ;)
stratosg´s last blog post – Feed problems when editing .htaccess on WordPress
I think it’s time for me to get rid of post revisions. Thanks. :)
Vered – MomGrind´s last blog post – The Psychology of Advertising
Hi Vered – They really pile up. On some posts I have 20+.
Superb post Kim and nice comments to follow as well.
Raju´s last blog post – Latest Version of Downadup Worm gets Deadlier than Ever
Hi Raju – Thanks! I love it when the comments are fun and useful.
Thanks for the reminders! I have a few plugins that I wont miss if I remove them.
Carla´s last blog post – Eco Fashion: Yarn
Hi Carla – I am always trying to reduce the number of plugins that I use. Plus, Stratos is watching ;-)
This goes under number 2 but I might add: sure you delete the Hello Dolly plugin. I actually do this when I setup a blog. Of course, I’m also paranoid thinking that there’s a bunch of malicious hackers waiting out there to penetrate your system through the Hello Dolly plugin. I did mention I was paranoid….
But seriously, I would add: security checkup. Have you been putting off all those hacks people say you need to implement for a more secure WP? Spring Clean says: do it now!
Yael K. Miller´s last blog post – MillerMosaicLLC: Us creative types spend a lot of time thinking. What’s really what you’re paying for: our thoughts. Designers: agree? disagree?
Hello dolly plugin does not impose a security risk for many reasons. It does an extremely simple thing, it’s coded by the founder of WordPress and it is shipped with the core. All these make me feel ok about it. BUT there is no need for that one to be there so delete it anyways ;)
stratosg´s last blog post – Feed problems when editing .htaccess on WordPress
Hello Dolly annoys me …
Glad to hear that my paranoia about Hello Dolly is baseless.
Hi Yael – Security check is a really good idea and should be added to the list. It probably is worth writing an entire post about it.
Does that mean you’re thinking about writing a post? *hint*hint*
Yael K. Miller´s last blog post – MillerMosaicLLC: @pearsonified do you know how long it will be until Thesis 1.5 beta drops the beta?
Hi Kim,
This is an awesome list of practical technical and maintenance tips. It’s also a good idea to take a look at the plugins panel for available updates (and if updates are available read the change log before automatically updating).
Congratulations on your 200th post :P I will reach that mark in another two weeks…right now at 193!
Cheers,
Ajith
Ajith Edassery´s last blog post – Interesting facts about Internet Usage, Search and related Businesses
Hi Ajith – Reading the plugin change log is a great idea. I also like
to keep a backup of the one I am currently using in case I have issues
with the new one.
Stratos just hit his 200th post as well!
Really cool list. By the way congrats for the 200th post. We want parrrrtyyyy :D lol.
Kurt Avish´s last blog post – Nickelback The Rockstar – Too Bad If You Don’t Know Them!
Hi Kurt – Thanks! I don’t know if 200 posts warrants an actual party
but if you want to celebrate feel free ;-)
Kim, you know I thought I took my site down last week! I was not sure I had a backup but it turned out to be a small error I caused in my hosting account…lol scaary…
I was playing with A Joomla install (for another site) and almost overwrote doozieUp. All of my content could have been lost. Close call, but great info about the backing up stuff
Michael Anderson | emdoozie´s last blog post – Turn off the News and Live your Life
Hi Michael – Thank goodness that worked out for the best. Always have a backup before doing anything as big as a Joomla install.
Did you like Joomla?
“Validate Your Code” – I believe this is important but it is quite hard to follow the error reports, I tried quite hard to make it valid but failed, I hope some one can guide me to a website which gives more detailed error reports for code validation.
Hi – I’ll see what’s out there. Some of the errors can be very difficult to track down and are frequently a result of special characters like &
Re tip #7 about adding newer site links to older posts, that’s partly taken care of by any related posts plugin, but going back to old posts and fixing outdated information is definitely worth looking at. Pick five very old posts, give them a spring clean and then link to them from a new post explaining you upgraded some older material, repeat weekly (or monthly, or whatever).
Hi David – I didn’t even think about related posts doing that. And that’s a great schedule for reviewing older posts.
This is precisely why I subscribe to your blog, Kim – so many excellent tips that you’d think should be common sense, yet I fail to do miserably at times. :)
Cheers – off to C-panel now,
Danny Brown´s last blog post – What’s In A Name?
Hi Danny – Thanks! Well we are all so busy working and trying to
write our articles that it’s hard to make time for basic maintenance – plus it’s kind of boring. Have fun in cpanel.
Sidebar cleanup is the number one thing for me. I still struggle with how much “bling” is appropriate.
I actually change it about every six weeks – I add, I delete, I re-arrange.
Great stuff here, Kim. I enjoy all of the WP tips and such you’ve been putting here.
Cheers
George
Tumblemoose´s last blog post – Ebooks: charge or give away
Hi George – I want to work on my sidebar but can never decide what to do – I’ve actually been designing a whole new theme – in my head LOL
Very good list, Kim! I want to try the WP Database Backup plugin again… when I tried it once, the backup file didn’t work. With my new configuration, it may work this time. I love your idea of having it emailed automatically every day, it makes the backup process so much easier.
I do have several unused plugins, carefully selected as the ones I intend to use “in the near future”, keeping them there as a reminder for what’s next. Now, I will take a look at them again.
I also like your advice #7, about creating internal links in older posts, I hadn’t thought of that!
Palma | Buddha Trance´s last blog post – Artificial intelligence and consciousness
Hi Palma – The backup plugin might work now … I’ve worked on a couple of sites where it didn’t work but no scheduled events did.
#7 is not an original idea but I can’t remember where I read it to give the proper credit – it might have been Ajith and I should go search his site to see if I can find the info.
Hi Kim! Not sure how I completely missed this post. It’s one of those things I’ve been meaning to do for some weeks now – thanks for giving me the nudge to actually do it!
Tracy´s last blog post – Shangri-La Diet Week 2.5
Hi Tracy – You missed it because your wanabee jedis have been home for spring break ;-)
I remember doing that little edit of the config.php file from one of your old post that was supposed to stop all those revision files but I must have done something wrong, again, as I’ve just noticed that they they’re still occurring. Reckon I may have to revisit that post.
Sire´s last blog post – Thesis Theme Is Just Not Flexible Enough
Hi Sire – I wonder why it didn’t work… Hopefully it will this time.
Excellent tips, Kim. I also love the tip about sidebar cleanup. Congratulations on your 200th post!
Terri Holley´s last blog post – Baltimore Washington Chamber of Commerce Learns How to Leverage Social Media
Hi Terri – Thanks! I’m glad you found this article helpful. I’m still thinking about my sidebar but haven’t decided what to do with it yet.
Nice list..I usually use Wp optimize and wp database manager plugin to perform atleast 3 out of 8 task mentioned above
.-= Harsh Agrawal´s last blog ..Adsense Content Ad unit got New Look =-.
Hi Harsh – Thanks – I’ll take a look at those two plugins.