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CAPTCHAs, those annoying little tests that ask you to prove you’re not a robot, have become a ubiquitous part of the internet landscape. After all, no website owner wants to have to wade through hundreds of spam comments or try to spot genuine form submissions among a sea of spam, so they turn to a CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) to try and stop the robots.

But is asking your visitors to prove they’re not a robot really the best way to prevent spam on your WordPress website? Read on to find all you need about adding CAPTCHAs to your WordPress site and discover a better way to protect your site from spam. 

What to know before using CAPTCHA

While CAPTCHAs can help protect your site from spam comments and form submissions, they do come with many downsides which are impossible to ignore, including:

1. CAPTCHAs lead to form abandonment

Researchers from Stanford University found that CAPTCHAs can actually drive users away from your site. They found that, rather than trying to solve the challenge, 29% of users choose to leave a page when confronted with a CAPTCHA. Such a significant drop-off in user engagement could have serious implications for many WordPress websites, particularly if yours relies upon user engagement, for example, in your comment section.

2. CAPTCHAs lower your conversion rate and cost you revenue 

If your site relies on visitors converting in any way — for example, by signing up for a newsletter, registering for an account, or making a purchase — it’s also important to know that CAPTCHAs negatively impact your conversion rate. 

Research has found that sites using CAPTCHAs experience an average of a 3.2% reduction in their conversion rates compared to those that do not, which could significantly impact the revenue you generate from your site.

3. CAPTCHAs aren’t very accessible 

CAPTCHAs can also have a significant impact on the accessibility of your site. Individuals with vision or hearing impairments often find CAPTCHAs nearly impossible to navigate, and they present a substantial barrier for visitors who use assistive technology to navigate your site. For example, visitors using screen readers are often presented with an audio CAPTCHA, which researchers have found are only solved on the first attempt half the time. 

Google’s reCAPTCHA is the most commonly-used CAPTCHA solution, but even Google acknowledges that CAPTCHAs can lead to poor user experiences, increase friction, and impact conversion rates. Bots can also circumvent CAPTCHAs, including Google’s reCAPTCHA v3, meaning they may not be able to completely protect your WordPress website against spam. 

Is there a better alternative to CAPTCHA? 

With all the downsides of using CAPTCHAs, you may be left wondering what you can do to protect your site from spam without impacting your user experience, conversions, and revenue. 

The great news is that frictionless spam protection is available through Akismet, which guards over 100 million websites and is used by many large brands such as Microsoft and ConvertKit.

Meet Akismet: the non-intrusive WordPress spam blocker

Akismet is a non-intrusive, intelligent spam blocker that integrates seamlessly with WordPress. Unlike CAPTCHAs, Akismet works silently in the background, allowing you to offer world-class spam protection without adding friction to your visitor experience.  

Akismet is called a ‘non-intrusive’ spam blocker as it protects your website from spam without requiring any sort of manual user input. Instead, it leverages one of the world’s largest anti-spam databases to protect your site. The service is trusted by over 100 million sites, and has blocked more than a staggering 500 billion pieces of spam to date.

Boasting an impressive 99.9% accuracy rate, Akismet is the most accurate anti-spam solution available. The service uses state-of-the-art machine learning and artificial intelligence technology to analyze all user-submitted text in real-time to see if it’s spam. 

For example, Akismet will check if comments match known spam, have been submitted from known malicious IP addresses, or if they follow common spam patterns, like containing links to unrelated third-party sites.

Akismet is easy to use and provides a simple dashboard that allows you to monitor what the tool is blocking as spam and what it’s allowing through. You can then intervene if any submission or comment is incorrectly classified as spam, and Akismet will learn from your feedback, further improving its accuracy.

Most importantly, your visitors never see a CAPTCHA when you’re using Akismet. Your site remains protected and the user experience uncluttered.

Automattic, the team behind WordPress.com and WooCommerce, is also behind Akismet, meaning it integrates seamlessly into your WordPress site. In addition to protecting your WordPress comment section from spam, Akismet offers seamless integrations with popular tools like Jetpack Comments, as well as many form builders, including Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, and Formidable Forms. 

So, wherever your WordPress website captures user-submitted text, there’s a high chance that Akismet will be able to protect it.

Akismet offers an affordable spam protection solution for websites of all sizes through Jetpack for just $4.95 a month for the first year. You can also get Akismet Anti-spam as part of both the Jetpack Security or Complete plans, which offer additional Jetpack features, including backups and malware protection.

Still want to use a CAPTCHA? Here are the best plugins for WordPress

Whatever the reason, some sites still choose to use CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA for spam protection. If that’s what you prefer, check out the top solutions for adding them to your site below.

1. Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 

Advanced Google reCAPTCHA is a WordPress plugin that enables you to integrate Google reCAPTCHA into your WordPress site. This free plugin was created by WPConcern, a team that produces a number of WordPress and WooCommerce plugins. You can use it to easily add reCAPTCHA v2 or v3 to WordPress comment forms, login, and registration forms. The plugin is compatible with various additional tools, including WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and BuddyPress.

Key features of Advanced Google reCAPTCHA:

• Support for Google reCAPTCHA v2 or v3
• The ability to add CAPTCHAs to WordPress login, registration, and comment forms.
• Integrations with a limited number of additional plugins, including WooCommerce, BuddyPress, and Easy Digital Downloads. 

Pros of Advanced Google reCAPTCHA:

• The plugin offers a simple way to add Google reCAPTCHA V2 or V3 to your WordPress comment, login, and registration forms. 

Cons of Advanced Google reCAPTCHA:

• The plugin relies on Google reCAPTCHA to protect your site from spam. As we’ve discussed above, this can add additional friction to your user journey.
• A Google reCAPTCHA API key is required. 
• The plugin only supports a small number of additional tools, meaning it may not be able to protect all of your site from spam.

Ease of use:

The plugin is easy to install and has a simple interface. Some users may find registering for their site for a Google reCAPTCHA API key confusing, and only limited guidance is provided by the plugin authors for how to do this.

Pricing:

Advanced Google reCAPTCHA is available free of charge from the WordPress plugin directory. 

2. ReCaptcha Integration for WordPress

ReCaptcha Integration for WordPress allows you to protect your comment, log in, and registration forms from spam and bots using Google reCAPTCHA. The plugin is free to use and was created by weDevs, a company that also produces a number of WordPress plugins.

Key features of ReCaptcha Integration for WordPress:

• The ability to secure your WordPress signup, registration, and comment forms with reCAPTCHA
• Support for reCAPTCHA V2 and V3
• Support for third-party plugins, including bbPress, Contact Form 7, and Ninja Forms
• Limited WooCommerce support

Pros of ReCaptcha Integration for WordPress:

• The plugin supports WordPress multisite, which allows you to activate the plugin on all sites in your network with just one Google reCAPTCHA API key.
• The plugin provides guidance for developers to integrate the tool into custom forms or third-party plugins. 

Cons of ReCaptcha Integration for WordPress:

• The plugin relies on Google reCAPTCHA to protect your site from spam, which can negatively impact your visitor experience. 
• There is only limited support for WooCommerce, as the plugin is not able to protect your password reset form.

Ease of use:

The plugin is simple to install and has a single settings page where you can control which elements of your site are protected by reCAPTCHA and add your Google reCAPTCHA API keys. Support is offered via the plugin’s support forum.

Pricing:

ReCaptcha Integration for WordPress is available for free from the WordPress plugin directory. 

3. reCaptcha by BestWebSoft

reCaptcha by BestWebSoft is a WordPress CAPTCHA plugin that can help protect your WordPress site from spam. The plugin offers support for all current versions of Google reCAPTCHA. It was created by BestWebSoft, a company that also produces several popular WordPress plugins that integrate natively with this tool.  

Key features of reCaptcha by BestWebSoft:

• The ability to add Google reCAPTCHA V2 and V3 to your WordPress comment forms, as well as login, registration, and password reset forms
• Support for invisible reCAPTCHA
• Integration with a number of other BestWebSoft plugins
• Has light and dark reCAPTCHA themes
• Includes RTL language support
• Integration with a wide range of plugins, including WooCommerce and popular contact form plugins (pro version only)
• WordPress multisite support (pro version only)

Pros of reCaptcha by BestWebSoft:

• The plugin is easy to use and set up, and can protect the standard WordPress comment form with little additional configuration. 
• It allows you to choose between dark and light reCAPTCHA themes.

Cons of reCaptcha by BestWebSoft:

• The plugin uses Google reCAPTCHA, which, as we have discussed in the ‘What to know before using CAPTCHA’ section, can add friction to your visitor experience.
• Integrations with a range of popular plugins, including WooCommerce, are only available with the pro plan. 

Ease of use:

Once you have a Google reCAPTCHA API key, reCaptcha by BestWebSoft is simple to set up. The plugin will automatically validate your API key to help prevent any issues. Detailed documentation is available, along with email support for pro users.

Pricing

There’s a limited free version available in the WordPress plugin directory. The Pro version costs $24 a year per domain and offers additional features, including support for a wide range of third-party plugins.

4. ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7

ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7 is a WordPress CAPTCHA plugin that’s specifically designed to protect your Contact Form 7 forms from spam submissions using Google reCAPTCHA. 

Key features of ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7:

• Adds support for Google reCAPTCHA v2 to Contact Form 7

Pros of ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7:

• The plugin is a simple way to add reCAPTCHA v2 support if you use this specific type of contact form.

Cons of ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7:

• The plugin only supports Contact Form 7 and will not protect the rest of your WordPress website from spam. 
• The plugin relies on reCAPTCHA v2, which means your visitors will see a ‘I’m not a robot’ checkbox on all of your forms. This can negatively impact completion rates. 

Ease of use:

The plugin has a simple settings screen and is easy to integrate into your Contact Form 7 forms using the [reCAPTCHA] tag.

Pricing

The plugin is available for free from the WordPress plugin directory.

5. Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA

Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA is a simple WordPress CAPTCHA plugin that adds the feature to your login, registration, and password reset forms.

Key features of Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA:

• Support for adding Google reCAPTCHA v2 to your WordPress login, registration, and “forgot password” forms
• WooCommerce support

Pros of Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA:

• The plugin is a simple way to help protect your sites from bots and brute force login attempts by adding CAPTCHA to your login, registration, and password reset forms. 

Cons of Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA:

• The plugin only uses reCAPTCHA to protect your login and registration forms from brute force attacks. It doesn’t offer protection for WordPress comment or other forms on your site.
• It only supports Google reCAPTCHA ‘No Captcha’ (v2), which still adds friction to your visitor experience by presenting them with a ‘I’m not a robot’ checkbox.

Ease of use:

No user documentation is provided. However, once you have a Google reCAPTCHA v2 API key, the plugin is simple to set up and will automatically add CAPTCHA forms to your login, registration, and password reset forms.  

Pricing

The plugin is available free of charge from the WordPress plugin directory. 

 

6. Really Simple Captcha

Really Simple Captcha is a WordPress CAPTCHA plugin that allows you to add simple text-based CAPTCHAs to forms, including those created using Contact Form 7. Unlike the other plugins in this list, which rely on a third-party provider such as Google reCAPTCHA, Really Simple Captcha generates its own CAPTCHAs for your visitors to solve.

Key features of Really Simple Captcha:

• Adds simple text-based CAPTCHA to Contact Form 7 forms
• Classes and hooks that enable developers to add CAPTCHAs to custom forms and third-party plugins

Pros of Really Simple Captcha:

• The plugin provides a simple way to add basic CAPTCHAs to Contact Form 7 forms.

Cons of Really Simple Captcha:

• The plugin offers a simple text-based CAPTCHA, which does not offer the same level of protection as more advanced CAPTCHAs or Akismet. 
• Text-based CAPTCHAs, such as those used by this plugin, can significantly impact conversion and form completion rates.
• The plugin only has support for Contact Form 7. Adding CAPTCHA protection to other forms requires custom development. 

Ease of use:

It’s simple to add to Contact Form 7 forms, but the coding required to add support for other forms means using this plugin for anything other than Contact Form 7 is more challenging.

Pricing:

The plugin is available for free from the WordPress plugin directory.

7. hCaptcha for WordPress

hCaptcha for WordPress is a CAPTCHA plugin that helps protect your site against spam. The plugin integrates the hCaptcha service into your WordPress site, which is an alternative service to Google reCAPTCHA. It protects many different elements of your site, including your comment and login forms, as well as forms generated by other third-party plugins. 

Key features of hCaptcha for WordPress:

• Integrated CAPTCHA for your WordPress site
• Support for a large number of third-party plugins, including WooCommerce
• The ability to add CAPTCHAs via shortcode

Pros of hCaptcha for WordPress:

• It helps to protect both your comment forms from spam and your login forms from automated bots.
• It supports many popular plugins, including WooCommerce, BuddyPress, and popular form plugins. 

Cons of hCaptcha for WordPress:

• Passive CAPTCHAs are only available with hCaptcha paid plans, meaning that the free hCaptcha service will present a challenge on every form submission, which can negatively impact your site’s usability and visitor experience. 

Ease of use:

Once an account has been created with hCaptcha, the plugin is easy to use and integrates automatically into your comment and login forms. 

Pricing

The plugin is free to download from the WordPress plugin directory. An account is required to use the plugin. Free accounts have limited features and don’t support passive CAPTCHAS. Pro accounts start at $99 per month.

Comparison of the top anti-spam plugins

	Akismet	Advanced Google reCAPTCHA	ReCaptcha Integration for WordPress	reCaptcha by BestWebSoft	ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7	Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA	Really Simple Captcha	hCaptcha for WordPress
Non-intrusive	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
99.9% spam detection accuracy?	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Has the potential to negatively impact your visitors’  experience	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Protects your WordPress comment form from Spam	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Works with a wide range of form plugins	Yes	Limited	Limited	Pro only	No	No	No	Yes
Cost	$4.99 per month	Free	Free	Limited free version. Pro version is $24 a year.	Free	Free	Free	Basic plan is free. “Passive” CAPTCHA available in the Pro plan, which starts at $99 / month.

Factors to consider when choosing an anti-spam plugin

What types of forms does it work on?

It’s important to make sure the WordPress anti-spam plugin you choose can protect all the forms on your site. Some plugins offer support for only a single type of form — for example, contact forms created using a specific plugin.

Other plugins, such as Akismet, offer support for a wide range of forms, including your WordPress comment forms, contact forms created with many popular form plugins, and WooCommerce checkout. Akismet also works perfectly alongside Jetpack’s free brute force attack protection to help protect your login and registration forms from automated bots.

What type of CAPTCHA does it use? 

There is a range of different CAPTCHA types, including basic text CAPTCHAs. Most WordPress CAPTCHA plugins offer a way for you to integrate Google reCAPTCHA into your WordPress website. Depending on the version of reCAPTCHA you use, this can mean that your visitors are presented with ‘I’m not a robot’ boxes to tick or may even be completely blocked from your site.

Other WordPress anti-spam plugins protect your site without using CAPTCHAs. For example, Akismet blocks an impressive 99.9% of spam and works behind the scenes of your site, so it’ll never get in the way of your visitor’s experience.

Price

It’s also important to consider the price of your WordPress anti-spam solution and balance this with the features offered. Some anti-spam plugins are free but require a third-party API key, for example, from Google reCAPTCHA. Akismet offers industry-leading spam protection without adding any friction to your visitors’ experience and is available through paid Jetpack plans or from a dedicated plan. 

Accessibility 

Traditional text-based CAPTCHAs can impact the accessibility of your site and make it impossible for users who rely on screen readers. While Google reCAPTCHA works with screen readers, it can require users to complete an audio challenge which research has found has a first-time success rate of just 50%. As Akismet will never present a CAPTCHA to your visitors, it offers a completely accessible way to protect your site from spam.

Ease of use/setup

As well as making sure your anti-spam solution doesn’t impact your visitor’s experience, it’s also important to make sure it is simple to set up and use for your site administrators. For example, Akismet can be set up in just a few clicks and automatically protects many of your site’s forms from spam. In addition, your site administrators can monitor its performance through a handy dashboard, and you can easily provide feedback to the plugin if it has incorrectly identified any entry as spam.

What’s the best plugin for blocking spam on WordPress?

Akismet is undeniably the best solution for protecting your WordPress site from spam. It uses advanced algorithms and AI technology to protect your site from spam with an unbeatable 99.9% accuracy rate. 

Akismet protects your site from spam without ever impacting your visitor’s experience or presenting them with annoying CAPTCHAs to solve. Akismet is made by Automattic, the team behind WordPress.com and WooCommerce, so it integrates seamlessly into your WordPress site with minimal setup. Akismet is also supported by many popular form plugins, so you can protect your entire site, including contact forms, from spam submissions. 

Frequently asked questions about WordPress CAPTCHA plugins

Can CAPTCHA affect user experience and conversion rates?

Yes, CAPTCHAs can have a significant impact on your website’s visitor experience and conversion rates. Most types of CAPTCHAs introduce an additional step in a user’s journey on a website, which adds friction to your visitor experience and can lead to frustration or confusion. 

They can also have a disproportionate impact on the experience of visitors who use assistive technology, as some CAPTCHA types are not solvable by screen readers. Others force visitors who use a screen reader to solve a tricky audio CAPTCHA.

Stanford University found that 29% of users choose to leave a page when confronted with a CAPTCHA rather than solve the challenge, meaning they could have a major impact on how many visitors interact with your site. 

Research has also shown that sites using CAPTCHA experience an average of a 3.2% reduction in their conversion rates. This shows that CAPTCHAs could reduce the revenue you’re able to earn from your site.

Akismet vs CAPTCHA: which should I install?

If you want to protect your WordPress site with cutting-edge spam protection that offers an astonishing 99.9% accuracy without impacting your visitor experience, then Akismet is the clear choice. Akismet is completely invisible to your website visitors and offers a simple way to protect your WordPress or WooCommerce website from spam.

Is Akismet a reliable alternative to CAPTCHA?

Yes, Akismet is a reliable alternative to CAPTCHA that will never get in the way of your visitors’ experience or impact your conversion rate. Akismet has caught an impressive 500 billion pieces of spam and integrates seamlessly into your WordPress site.

Over 100 million websites around the world use Akismet’s 99.9% detection rate to protect their site from spam. So if you want to guard your site while keeping visitors happy, add Akismet’s state-of-the-art spam protection to your site today.

Everything in life requires maintenance. From the structures we use for work or housing to the toys and electronics we use for entertainment. For things to last and continue to provide value, they need to be cared for on a regular basis. 

Your WordPress site is no different. Technology continues to evolve (at a faster clip all the time) and competitors advance, too. 

While it may not require your full-time attention, you need to be sure to periodically dedicate time to review your site for performance and security issues. You also need to update it to remain effective as a tool for whatever purpose it may serve. 

In this post, we’ll discuss WordPress maintenance — what it is, when to do it, and tools that can make it more efficient. 

What is WordPress maintenance?

Car owners know the value of preventative maintenance, taking care of their vehicles through regular check-ups and adjustments to avoid performance issues and breakdowns. 

For a WordPress site, this maintenance will look a little different, though it’s equally important when it comes to long-term success and effectiveness. WordPress maintenance includes things like monitoring your site for security vulnerabilities, checking its performance, and updating its software.

Why is it important to maintain your WordPress site?

Website issues — like car problems — are easier, quicker, and more cost-effective to prevent than they are to resolve. Failure to maintain your site can lead to problems. And even a few hours of downtime can lead to significant financial losses.

The saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, is especially true for security issues. Vulnerabilities created by unmaintained sites are the main opening point for hackers. And while it is possible to recover from a hack, nobody wants to go through that pain. 

Regular WordPress website maintenance is essential and doesn’t require much extra time if you automate tasks and leverage available tools. Below, we’ll cover the maintenance tasks you should perform regularly, plus discuss best practices and tools that can simplify the process.

How often should you perform WordPress maintenance tasks?

The WordPress maintenance items below aren’t a once per year, spring cleaning kind of thing. Nor are they all intended to be done at the same intervals. 

For example, one major goal is to keep all of your site’s components up to date — WordPress core, your site’s theme, and plugins. Most sites will leverage multiple plugins, which means that on any given day, there may be an update for one or more elements. 

Other goals include maintaining a strong user experience. And a monthly review and optimization of site performance — like load times and Core Web Vitals scores — can take care of this.

WordPress maintenance routine tasks

Here are the tasks you should do regularly along with some tips to make the process easier.

1. Fully back up your WordPress site 

There are a number of events that can cause you to lose WordPress files and data, from a coding error to a hack. But no matter the cause, when this happens, you can lose countless hours of hard work. Ecommerce sites can lose customer and transaction records, messing with their accounting and ability to fulfill orders.

Periodic backups can be sufficient for sites that rarely update content. But for most sites — and especially for ecommerce sites storing customer and order data — even daily backups are not enough protection. You need real-time backups that are made every time a new comment is posted, a blog post is updated, a product is changed, or a new order is placed. 

Jetpack VaultPress Backup is a WordPress plugin that saves every change you make and helps get you back online quickly and easily. With a click, you can restore your site to any past state while keeping product and customer order information current. 

It also comes with an activity log that lets you see what changes preceded a problem. And off-site cloud backups keep everything safe if the issue stems from your hosting provider. If you’re on the go, the mobile app lets you restore from almost anywhere.

Learn more about how to back up a WordPress site.

2. Check your site dashboard  

Like a car’s dashboard, the WordPress dashboard serves as a central place to get a snapshot of your site’s health and navigate to important areas for more detailed work. 

The WordPress dashboard notifies you when one or more of its parts needs attention, displaying a red circle. For example, the Updates area in the navigation bar shows the total number of updates available between WordPress, your site themes, and installed plugins.

If you’re running an online store or active site, you’ll log in every day. But even if you don’t regularly modify your site, it’s a good idea to at least occasionally log in and browse the dashboard. You may have new comments awaiting approval, notices from specific plugins, or other things you should take care of. 

Learn more about the WordPress dashboard.

3. Check the Site Health screen

WordPress versions 5.2 and later include the Site Health diagnostic tool, which gives you performance and security-related information. Check your site status via Tools → Site Health. 

The Site Health screen has an overall health indicator — a green, yellow, or red circle —  followed by links to switch between the Status and Info tabs.

The Site Health Status tab displays one or more sections based on your site’s current status: 

1. Critical issues. Parts of your WordPress website that are potential security vulnerabilities or significant performance issues.
2. Recommended improvements. Non-critical items that can be modified to improve performance, the user experience, and more.
3. Passed tests. All other items tested by the Site Health tool with no issues detected.

Every item displays a category label, like Performance or Security, and an arrow that lets you expand the row for more information.

The Site Health Info screen contains multiple expandable rows, giving you information that you can use to troubleshoot issues. The Copy site info to clipboard button makes it easy for you to collect system info for emailing to a developer or posting to a ticket or support thread.

One helpful piece of information — your site’s PHP version — is listed under the Server tab. Keeping it up to date is critical for both site functionality and security. Learn more about how to check and update your PHP Version in WordPress.

Learn more about the Site Health Screen.

4. Install the latest version of WordPress

Keeping your WordPress version up to date is a crucial part of WordPress maintenance. Here’s how you can perform manual updates to WordPress core, along with how to automate the process:

Update your WordPress version automatically

Automatic updates for major and minor releases have been enabled by default since version 5.6. WordPress updates itself when a new version becomes available and then notifies the site owner via email. 

To confirm that your site is set for automatic updates, go to Dashboard → Updates and look for the message, “This site is automatically kept up to date with each new version of WordPress.” 

If your WordPress installation is set to only perform minor version updates automatically, you can click a link to Enable automatic updates for all new versions of WordPress. 

If you don’t see the link, a host or plugin setting may be hiding the option. You can update your WordPress version manually if you’re unable to turn on automatic updates.

Update your WordPress version manually

You can update WordPress manually via Dashboard → Updates. You’ll see a blue update button with the new version number if an update is available. Make sure to back up your full site, then click the button to update to the latest version of WordPress. You’ll see a confirmation message once the update is complete. 

5. Update your WordPress themes and plugins

Outdated themes and plugins are common targets for hackers. Like WordPress core, you can automate the update process.

You can look at Plugins or Appearance → Themes to see the number of items that need updates.

Update WordPress themes automatically

Go to Appearance → Themes. Mouse over your theme and click Theme Details.

Click the link to Enable auto-updates. Do this for every theme installed on your site.

If the link to enable auto-updates is not available for a theme, you can update it manually.

Update your WordPress themes manually

Go to Appearance → Themes. Click Select All and then Update Themes. You’ll see a confirmation message when the updates are complete.

Update your WordPress plugins automatically

Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins. The Automatic Updates column lets you click a link to Enable auto-updates for each plugin. 

Once you’ve enabled auto-updates for a plugin, its link changes to Disable auto-updates.

Update your WordPress plugins manually

Go to Dashboard → Updates. Click Select All and then Update Plugins. You will see a confirmation message when the updates are complete.

6. Delete unused WordPress themes and plugins

It’s common for site owners to install a theme or plugin to “test it out” and then forget to remove it. Or sometimes you need a plugin for a while, but your needs change. 

Whatever the reason, it’s best to regularly audit the tools you have installed and remove any that are unnecessary. 

How to delete unused WordPress themes

Go to Appearance → Themes. Then, hover over it and click Theme Details.

Click the Delete link in the bottom right of the modal window.

How to delete unused WordPress plugins

Extra plugins can slow down your site, increase the chance of code conflicts between plugins, and create a security vulnerability. To delete WordPress plugins that you’re not using, go to Plugins → Installed Plugins.

Click the Delete link in the bottom right of the modal window. 

Click the Delete link for the deactivated plugin to remove it.

7. Run a security check for vulnerability issues and malware

Hackers never rest, and neither should you. Stay ahead of security threats by adding a solution like Jetpack Scan to your WordPress maintenance lineup. 

This tool runs automated daily audits of your site and notifies you immediately when an issue or suspicious behavior is detected. It also includes a website firewall to keep intruders out, with priority support from the Jetpack team. 

An easy-to-read interface shows you any potential issues and can help you resolve many threats with just one click. 

Learn more about Jetpack Scan.

8. Clean up and optimize your WordPress database

The WordPress database stores all your site’s data, including posts, comments, revisions, user info, passwords, plugin-related information, and more. 

Over time, the database can become bloated with records you don’t need, including spam comments, years of page revisions, and data added by old plugins that weren’t cleaned up properly when the tool was removed. Without periodic maintenance and cleanup, the database can become sluggish and slow down the site.

Plugins like Advanced Database Cleaner give you tools to review and optimize the contents of your WordPress database. You can even automate your optimization and cleanup with scheduled tasks. 

9. Delete spam comments 

Spam comments are more than just a nuisance — they can make your WordPress website look unprofessional, negatively affect your search engine rankings, and even harm your visitors, since they often include links to malware-infected sites. So, it’s important that you make managing and handling spam comments a regular part of your site maintenance.

Thankfully, there are some ways to simplify managing spam comments in WordPress. First, go to Settings → Discussion in your dashboard. Here, you’ll find a variety of settings that apply to comments in WordPress.

A great first measure is to check the box next to “Comment author must have a previously approved comment”. This ensures the comments aren’t published unless you’ve already approved a message from that author.

Then, you can use the Comment Moderation and Disallowed Comment Keys sections to automatically hold comments or send them to the trash when they meet certain characteristics. For example, you might flag messages that include certain phrases, or ones from a specific email or IP address.

But even with these measures in place, you’ll want to manually review comments to approve them for publishing. Or, you can use a WordPress spam plugin like Akismet.

Built by the team behind WordPress.com, Akismet uses powerful spam-fighting algorithms to automatically take care of suspicious comments and contact form submissions. You can simply set it and forget it, saving time while maintaining your reputation and security. 

10. Find and fix broken links 

Broken links can occur when you delete a page or update its URL without redirecting it to the new version. Or, if you’re linking out to a third-party site, they may have made a change without your knowledge.

Either way, broken links are never good. They can be confusing for site visitors, who will just see a 404 error when they try to navigate to your page. And they can hurt your search engine rankings by providing a bad user experience or even confusing the search engine bots.

While you can manually go through your site and click every single link, that’s both time-consuming and error-prone. Instead, it’s best to automate this process by using a plugin like Broken Link Checker. 

This will search all of your content, notify you if it finds any broken links, then make it easy for you to update the URLs.

11. Test your WordPress forms

It’s a good idea to occasionally test your contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, and any other forms you have on your site. You want to ensure that any site visitors won’t have problems submitting them, and that the right person on your team receives all the submissions.

12. Test any ecommerce functionality  

If you run an ecommerce store, you’ll want to regularly check all store functionality from time to time. Run through your archive pages, test that variations and customization options work, check on search tools and filters, etc. 

Most importantly, proceed through the checkout process yourself. Make sure that shipping calculations, coupon codes, and payment gateways are all working properly. Actually place an order, even if it’s with a coupon code that reduces the price to $1.00, to ensure that confirmation emails are working, and the payment actually goes through. The last thing you want is to miss out on sales because of a problem you didn’t even know about.

13. Keep an eye on your site load times 

A slow-loading site negatively affects your site visitors and your search engine rankings. It’s important to keep an eye on things and identify any areas that need improvement.

Jetpack Boost is an excellent tool that speeds up your site and shows you exactly how it’s performing on desktop and mobile devices. After the plugin is installed and set up, all you have to do is navigate to Jetpack → Boost to get your current score.

You can also test your site’s performance and get improvement recommendations using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool.

Tips to make WordPress maintenance as easy as possible

WordPress maintenance doesn’t need to take up a ton of time or become a stressful part of your website. Here are some tips to simplify the process:

1. Automate as much as possible  

We’ve covered several different ways you can automate parts of the WordPress maintenance process. Here are some key tools you can use to do so:

• Jetpack VaultPress Backup, for automated, real-time backups that you can restore even if your website is completely down
• Akismet, to protect your comment and contact forms from dangerous and annoying spam
• Jetpack Scan, for malware scans and one-click fixes
• Advanced Database Cleaner, to automate database optimization and improve site speed
• Broken link checker, to check all of your site content for broken links and 404 errors
• Jetpack Boost, to monitor website performance and make quick improvements

Jetpack Security combines automated backups, daily security scans, spam protection, and more, addressing multiple items from your task list in one solution.

2. Create a WordPress maintenance checklist  

A written WordPress maintenance checklist is a great way to stay on top of important tasks. All you need to do is follow the list here, and you’re good to go! Or, use this as a starting point and edit/add steps as needed for your own WordPress site.

3. Set a regular time to go through your checklist

Once you’ve established your website maintenance tasks, set calendar reminders to make updates and test elements of your site.

If you establish a consistent routine for checking your list — like the beginning of each week or the first day of every month — you’re more likely to stick with it and not neglect important site maintenance tasks.

4. Set up a downtime monitor

If your site goes down, you want to be notified right away, as downtime can lead to unhappy visitors and lost revenue. And it can impact your search rankings if crawlers try to visit while it’s not working.

While it’s not really part of WordPress maintenance, keeping an eye on your website downtime is certainly an important task for any site owner. 

Jetpack has a free downtime monitor that checks your site’s availability every five minutes and notifies you by email or SMS alert if your site ever goes down. Plus, it works seamlessly with other Jetpack tools, so you can restore your site from a backup, and use the Activity Log to investigate the root cause of the problem.

Learn more about WordPress downtime monitoring.

Frequently asked questions about WordPress maintenance

Let’s answer some of the most common questions about WordPress site maintenance.

Do all WordPress websites require regular maintenance?

Yes, like all websites, WordPress sites require regular maintenance. For example, it’s important to stay on top of software updates, security vulnerabilities, and speed bottlenecks to ensure a highly-functioning, effective WordPress website.

How long should a round of WordPress maintenance take?

Typically, WordPress maintenance tasks don’t take much time to complete. To save time, try to automate as much as possible, from backups and updates to malware scanning and spam prevention.

How do I activate WordPress maintenance mode?

When WordPress updates are running, visitors to your site see a WordPress maintenance mode page with the message: “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.”

Sometimes you want to manually put the site into maintenance mode, like when you have a temporary site issue that you don’t want visitors to see, or are about to make major updates and wish to go into maintenance mode until you’re finished.

You may also want to create a custom maintenance mode page and message, which is good for the brand and user experience. It gives you greater creative control over the page style and text, so you can make it more informative and visually appealing. 

For example, if you’re adding new site features, your message might say: “We’re upgrading our site, come back soon to check out the new features!” 

For more instances where you might want to turn on maintenance mode, and multiple means of activating it: How to put Your WordPress Site into Maintenance Mode.

If you run a large or complex website, you likely have lots of pages for visitors to sort through. At times, it may be frustrating and time-consuming for them to find what they’re looking for.

A search bar is a great way to combat this problem, and adding one to WordPress is simple. If you’re a beginner, you can use the Search Block feature or install a plugin. If you’re looking for something a little more advanced, you can add a search icon to your navigation menu, or edit your theme files to include whatever customizations you’d like.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the role a search bar plays on your website. Then, we’ll show you five methods to add one in WordPress. 

Why it’s important to include a search bar on your WordPress site

If your website only has a few pages, it’s probably easy for visitors to find the content or information they’re looking for. On the other hand, for growing business sites, complex ecommerce stores, or popular blogs, it can take a long time for visitors to navigate your pages using the menu alone. 

The three-click rule is a principle used by most web designers. This rule suggests that a user should be able to find any desired information on your site using three (or fewer) clicks of the mouse. Otherwise, they can become frustrated and abandon your site.

This means that a search bar is a great way to improve the User Experience (UX).

With this feature, you can serve your audience the content they desire much faster, reducing bounce rates and increasing the amount of time they spend on your website. 

Better yet, you can monitor your site’s search data to keep track of the terms and phrases that visitors use most often. This is a great way to discover gaps between what your guests are looking for and what you’re offering to them. With this knowledge, you can confidently plan new initiatives to serve your visitors and grow your efforts.

Where to place your search bar

It’s important to make sure your search bar is easily accessible. Therefore, you’ll want it to occupy a prime position. But you also don’t want this feature to distract from your main content, like blog posts and product pages.

With that in mind, it’s usually a good idea to place a search bar in your website’s header. This way, it will be one of the first elements your visitors see.

Additionally, this enables you to place your search bar beside your navigation menu. This is effective because it allows you to keep the user’s experience consistent. When they arrive on your site, they’ll know to automatically head to the top of the page.

On the other hand, you might prefer to use your footer or sidebar to accommodate search functionality. These positions are also widely used to support navigation menus, since they don’t interfere too much with the page’s content. If you opt for this approach, it’s best to make sure the search feature is particularly prominent, so it won’t be missed.

How to add a search bar to WordPress (5 ways)

Now, let’s take a look at five ways to add a search bar in WordPress. We’ll start with the simplest approach, and work our way down to more customizable options. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with all of these approaches, so you can select the one that best fits your needs and experience.

1. Add a search bar using the Search block

The first way to add a search bar to WordPress is to use the Search block. Since any WordPress user will be familiar with blocks already, this is one of the quickest and simplest options.

There are two ways you can add a Search block to your website. First, you can add the block to a specific page or post. Second, you can add the Search block to a template part (like your header) using the Site Editor. Let’s explore how both of these techniques work.

Add a Search block to a post or page

One way to use the Search block feature is to add it to a specific post or page (like your homepage). To do this, you’ll need to open the relevant post or page for editing, or create a new one. 

Then click on the plus (+) icon to add a new block. Enter “search” and select the Search option.

This will place a search bar directly on your page. Then you can use the toolbar to change the button position, add a button icon, and adjust the alignment.

Plus, you can use the Block Settings at the left of the screen to alter the width of your search bar, change its colors, and even swap out the font selection.

Add a Search block using the Site Editor

If you’re using a block theme, you can also add the Search block to a template part like your header. This way, you can display the search bar across all pages of your site.

First, you’ll need to make sure you have a block theme activated. Otherwise, you won’t be able to access the Site Editor. 

Then, navigate to Appearance → Editor in your WordPress dashboard. Click on Template Parts → Header, and select the pencil icon to edit your current website header.

This will open your header inside the Block Editor, where you can make lots of customizations to your template part.

Choose the plus (+) icon to browse your WordPress blocks for the Search option.

Now, all you need to do is drag the Search block into your header area.

You can use the arrows in the toolbar to move your search bar to the edge of your menu. Then you can access all the same settings as when you add the Search block to a page or post. 

So, you’re able to change the button icon, adjust the position, and toggle the search label from the toolbar. Plus, in the Block Settings, you can alter the width of the block and change the colors and fonts. 

Once you’re happy with your search bar, click on Save. Then visit your website in a browser to view the search bar on the front end.

If you want to make any more changes, you can revisit the Site Editor at any time. You can also use this method to place your search bar elsewhere, such as in your footer.

2. Add a search bar using the widget panel

Another way to add a search bar to WordPress is to use the widget panel. This is a beginner-friendly option that’s best suited to those using classic WordPress themes. 

To add a search bar using the widget panel, you’ll start in your WordPress dashboard. Then head to Appearance → Widgets.

Here, expand the section where you want to add a search widget. And click the + icon at the bottom. This will open up a list of blocks for your site. Search for, “Search.” Select the search block. 

Now, you can style and customize the search block however you’d like and save to add it to that section of your site. 

If you want to change the button, position, or style of your search widget, head back to the Widgets screen and use the toolbar to customize your search bar.

3. Add a search bar using a plugin

If you’re looking for an option that’s more flexible but still simple, you might prefer to use a plugin to add a search bar to WordPress. Using a plugin is quick and requires no special know-how, but gives you more control over your search bar than you’ll get from the default WordPress settings.

Add a search bar with Jetpack Search 

Jetpack Search, for example, lets site owners nudge visitors in the right direction by customizing results and providing easy-to-use filtering options that are intuitive to use. It’s also smart enough to understand what visitors are looking for, even if they misspell a word or type in a complex, multi-faceted search like, “Bulk jars of tangy poultry seasoning for under $50.”

Leading interior designer, Kylie. M. Interiors, uses Jetpack Search to more efficiently navigate visitors to one of more than 3,000 articles and reduce the workload for her and her team. 

Jetpack Search also supports dozens of languages and works lightning fast, providing logical results that update as visitors type. So people can find the right answers before they’re even finished submitting their search. 

It also integrates seamlessly with your WordPress site for brand consistency and provides insights to site owners about what visitors are searching for. 

Perhaps most impressively, all of this power comes with minimal performance impact to your site because it operates on the cloud. So, even if thousands of new visitors are searching for content each day, your server resources won’t suffer. 

You’ll need to start by installing Jetpack Search on your site, and you have two options here:

• Add the Jetpack Search plugin. This adds just the search functionality to your site, and has both free and premium plans available depending on your usage.
• Purchase the Jetpack Complete plan. Jetpack Search is bundled in this plan, alongside additional site features for security, growth, and more. 

In the following steps, let’s say that you choose the Jetpack Search plugin. In the WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New and search for “Jetpack Search.” Then, click Install now → Activate.

You’ll be prompted to connect to a WordPress.com account, and can purchase a premium plan if you choose to do so. Once the plugin is set up, go to Jetpack → Search in your dashboard. Here, you can enable the feature, turn on instant search, view data about the searches placed on your site, and more.

If you’d like to customize the search experience, click the Customize search results button. This will open a new screen with lots of additional options for styling, included post types, and more. For example, you might choose to highlight search terms in your brand color, show additional information for product results, and exclude media files from results.

Add your search bar to your site

Now, you can add the new Jetpack Search experience anywhere you’d like on your site, just as we did earlier in this article. You’ll simply add a Search block using the Block Editor, Site Editor, or Widget panel depending on your specific situation. Jetpack Search will automatically replace the default WordPress setup with the new, instant search experience.

4. Add a search icon to your header or menu without a block theme

A header or navigation menu is an ideal place for a search icon, since it’s instantly visible to everyone who lands on your website. 

If you’re using a block theme, you can add a search bar to your header using the steps detailed above. If you’re using a classic theme, you’ll need to install a plugin like Ivory Search.

To get started, you’ll need to install and activate Ivory Search in WordPress. Then, go to Ivory Search → Menu Search, and choose the menu where you want to display your search bar.

Click on Save to view all the available settings. For instance, you can select search form styles such as drop-down and full-width.

Further down, use the toggle to display a search form close icon. Then click on Select Color to apply a menu magnifier icon color.

You can also add a menu title to display instead of the search icon. 

Finally, select the search form that will control the menu search functionality. Use the drop-down menu to make your selection.

Then, click on Create New. This will take you to a new screen where you can give your search form a name and configure your searchable content.

Choose Save Form to generate your search form shortcode. Then you can add it to a widget area, like your header.

You can view your site on the front end to see the results:

You should see the search icon in your preferred color. When you click on that icon, a full search bar will appear.

5. Add a search bar manually using custom code

All the methods we’ve looked at so far have been suitable for beginners. However, this next option requires some technical knowledge, since you’ll need to add and edit code in your theme files. You’ll want to make all changes using a child theme, so that when you update your theme down the road, your code won’t be lost.

Before you get started, it’s important to make a backup of your WordPress site. That way, if you enter a wrong line of code, you can easily restore your site to a previous version.

To add a search bar manually, connect to your site via FTP or your hosting provider’s cPanel. Navigate to your website files (typically the public_html folder), then choose /wp-content → /themes → /your-theme. Browse through the files, and find the header.php or footer.php file (depending on where you want to add your search bar).

Once you’ve found the file you want to use, open it and add this function: 

<?php get_search_form(); ?>

This will call the search form from your searchform.php template. If you don’t have this template yet, the function will create one.

Your search bar should now be visible on the front end.

From here, you can continue to tweak your search form via custom code to look and function exactly how you prefer.

How to offer the best search experience to your visitors 

The search experience is a crucial part of your website, since it affects the way customers find and engage with your content. One of the easiest ways to take your search experience to the next level is to use a handy tool like Jetpack Search.

Jetpack Search is a superb solution for large and complex websites. Once installed, you can present instant search results with advanced filtering to help visitors find exactly what they’re looking for. 

There’s a free version that can handle 5,000 records and 500 requests per month. 

The premium version can handle larger sites and a greater search volume, plus you can display an unbranded search bar, so the experience fits in seamlessly with the rest of your site. 

To get started with Jetpack Search, all you need to do is install and activate it. Then go to Jetpack → Search and scroll down to the settings.

Here, you can use the toggle to Enable Jetpack Search. You can also toggle on the instant search experience. This will enable dynamic overlay for searching, sorting, and filtering, without forcing visitors to reload the page. Your changes will update automatically, providing visitors with an advanced search experience right away.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about WordPress search

In case you still have a few questions, let’s look at a few common reader queries regarding search functionality.

Why should I add a search bar in WordPress?

A search bar is an easy way to improve your user experience. Small websites might be able to match visitors with the content they’re looking for pretty quickly. 

However, large and complex sites like ecommerce stores can have hundreds or even thousands of pages. Therefore, visitors might get frustrated trying to find content using the navigation menu alone. 

A search bar can deliver instant results, and point visitors to where they want to be on your site. This way, you can reduce bounce rates and increase time spent on site. 

What is the difference between a search bar and a search box?

‘Search bar’ and ‘search box’ are interchangeable terms. Both describe a field that is placed on your website (usually in your menu or header). Visitors can enter search terms and keywords into this field to discover content on your site.

It’s important to note that a search bar is different from an address bar. An address bar is the field near the top of your browser where you can either type in a specific URL or enter search terms. Then a search engine (like Google) matches you with content in its index. The address bar searches the entire web, while the search bar (or box) is tied to a single website.

How can I improve the WordPress search experience for my visitors?

A search bar is a great way to provide a stellar user experience, but there are also ways to optimize the search experience.

For instance, you can place your search bar somewhere that’s easily accessible, like your header, footer, or sidebar. Additionally, you can improve the WordPress search experience by providing live search suggestions.

Spelling correction is another great tool to make the search experience more accurate. Plus, you might support filtered searches, so customers can find content by searching for specific tags, categories, dates, and more.

Jetpack Search: A powerful and customizable WordPress search plugin

One of the easiest ways to keep visitors on your site is to streamline navigation. A search bar enables you to do this because it quickly connects visitors with the content they seek. Better yet, there are lots of easy ways to add a search bar to your website.

For instance, you can add a search bar to WordPress using the Search block or use custom code and tweak it to meet your needs.

Alternatively, you might prefer to create this feature with a plugin, which can be one of the best ways to implement a powerful search function on your site. With a solution like Jetpack Search, you can implement quick results and powerful filtering to keep visitors on your site.

What’s more, you can enable an instant search experience with a dynamic overlay, to generate results even faster. Check out the plans today to get started!

The WordPress database stores all the information for your site and enables you to make changes to your content. And if you’re new to WordPress, you might not know how to access and use this database. 

Fortunately, it’s not as complicated as you might think. Once you learn the basics, you can secure your database, resolve errors, and perform vital tasks when you don’t have access to the dashboard. 

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the WordPress database. Then, we’ll show you how to access, create, and secure it. Plus, we’ll cover some common database issues and their fixes. 

What is a WordPress database?

The WordPress database is a collection of your site’s data. This is where you’ll find all the files and tables to create and manage posts, pages, users, comments, and more.

To manage this data, you’ll need access to a special type of software. WordPress uses MySQL and relies on Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) to store and fetch data from the database. PHP is the programming language that WordPress is built on. 

Why does WordPress require a database?

Every WordPress site requires a database. Even if your site is small, there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes. 

Your website is made up of different kinds of data like pages, user information, comments, settings, plugins, theme data, categories, tags, and more. Therefore, you need a separate place to store this information, as your website wouldn’t be able to accommodate all of it. 

Thanks to the WordPress database, your website can function seamlessly and you (and others) can apply changes. Plus, if you need to switch to a different web host, you can make a copy of the database and move it to the new server, without losing your site’s valuable content. 

How does a WordPress database work?

Now that you know what the WordPress database is, it can be useful to understand how it works. When you install WordPress to create a website, you’ll need to create a database to store important information. 

This process is typically automated, especially when using a managed hosting plan. You can also configure a WordPress database manually, though this requires a fair bit of technical knowledge. 

Once you’ve created a database, it will reside on your host’s server. Therefore, every time a user requests your website, their browser sends the request to your hosting server. Then, the server sends the data required to display your site, dynamically generating HTML pages.

WordPress uses MySQL. This software enables the database to store information and provide access to it. 

Additionally, when data (like comments or posts) needs to be changed or deleted, WordPress sends a MySQL query to the database, instructing the action. It’s important to note that many of these queries work automatically. Therefore, you’ll be completely unaware of this process as you make changes to your site. 

Some advanced users might prefer to access the database and run these queries manually. This way, you can perform tasks that you can’t do through the dashboard, like changing your account’s username and password. Plus, it can be a much faster way to execute certain commands. 

What is inside a WordPress database?

The WordPress database is organized into tables that make it easy to find, view, and edit data on your website. Each table contains a specific type of data. 

You’ll find one table for posts, one for comments, and so on. These tables often start with the wp_ prefix, so your comments table will be named something like wp_comments.

Within WordPress tables, you’ll find columns and fields that contain more specific information. So, if you open the wp_comments table, you’ll see fields like comment_ID, comment_author, and comment_date.

An overview of the tables in a WordPress database

Now that you know what’s inside the WordPress database, let’s take a closer look at the tables that you can access.

1. wp_posts

The wp_posts table contains the data for all content on your site. This isn’t specific to posts. Instead, it extends to pages, products, courses, revisions, custom post types, and any other content on your site.

2. wp_postmeta

As the name suggests, the wp_postmeta table supports all the meta information about your content. You’ll find the template used to display the page, custom fields, SEO information, and more.

3. wp_options

If you open the wp_options table, you can access most of the settings for your WordPress website. You can edit your site URL and admin URL, change the number of posts per page, adjust the time format, and more. Additionally, wp_options is used by some plugins to store the plugin settings.

4. wp_users

The wp_users table is where you’ll find user information like usernames, email addresses, and passwords.

5. wp_usermeta

With wp_users, you’ll find a corresponding wp_usermeta table that contains the meta information about users registered on your site.

6. wp_termeta

If you’re a standard WordPress user, wp_termeta shouldn’t concern you too much. It’s mainly used by developers to store custom metadata for terms under custom taxonomies. For example, WooCommerce uses wp_termeta to store metadata for product attributes and categories.

7. wp_terms

In wp_terms, you’ll find the terms for each of your taxonomies. To help you understand, individual taxonomy items (like tags and categories) are called taxonomies, while each tag and category within the taxonomies are known as terms.

8. wp_term_relationships

The wp_term_relationships table is an important one since it manages the relationship between WordPress post types and terms in the wp_terms table. This helps WordPress determine which category each of your posts is in. 

9. wp_term_taxonomy

The wp_term_taxonomy table defines taxonomies for terms in the wp_terms table. Here, you’ll find all the data that says your term is associated with a taxonomy called category. This way, WordPress can differentiate between which term is a category, which is a tag, and so on.

10. wp_links

Within wp_links, you can access all the information needed to manage blogrolls that were created by earlier versions of WordPress.

11. wp_comments

The wp_comments table stores all data concerning your WordPress comments. Therefore, you can expect to find the user’s name, URL, email address, comment, and more.

12. wp_commentmeta

Lastly, the wp_commentmeta contains meta information about the comments posted on your site. This table consists of four main fields: comment_ID, meta_ID, meta_key, and meta_value. You might come to this table to check on the status of a comment to see whether it’s been approved, is pending approval, or is logged as trash.

How to access the WordPress database

It’s important to note that while you can access the WordPress database, you don’t need to access the database to manage your site. For most users, the WordPress dashboard is sufficient for carrying out the majority of tasks. 

But there are some situations when it can be useful to access your database. If you’re a beginner, you might like to understand more about your site’s structure. 

On the other hand, advanced users can access the database to perform tasks that can’t be done through the dashboard. Plus, the database enables you to troubleshoot common WordPress errors if you get locked out of your dashboard. 

In the next section, we’ll show you two ways to access the WordPress database. Note that, if you’re on a shared hosting plan, you may not have access to the database. Therefore, you might need to ask your web host to make database changes for you.

1. Using phpMyAdmin

As we mentioned earlier, your WordPress database is stored on your host’s server. Therefore, you can access it by logging into your hosting account. This method varies depending on your host, but you’ll likely be using phpMyAdmin. 

Before you get started, it’s important to make a fresh backup of your site in case anything goes wrong. The easiest way to do this is to use a backup plugin like Jetpack VaultPress Backup. If you accidentally delete an important site file, you can replace it with the one stored in your backup. If at all possible, you should use a staging website or development environment when making changes to a database.

To access phpMyAdmin, you’ll normally need to log into cPanel through your hosting account. Then, look for the Databases section and you should see an option for phpMyAdmin.

You might need to enter your database username and password to access the software. These should be different from the credentials you use to access cPanel.

The phpMyAdmin interface should look something like this:

Next, click on Databases and choose your website from the menu. Now, you should see all the tables within your WordPress database.

Here, you can click on any of the tables to add, change, or delete data. If you’re making a change to a field, you’ll need to click on Browse. Then, find the exact row that you want to edit, and use the Edit link to do so.

Once you’re done editing, click on Go to apply the changes.

2. Using a WordPress plugin

If you don’t want to use phpMyAdmin to access the WordPress database, you can use a plugin instead. For example, you might not be comfortable using the interface and would prefer to remain in the WordPress dashboard.

WP Data Access enables you to perform database tasks without leaving your website. Once you’ve installed and activated the plugin, navigate to WP Data Access in your WordPress dashboard and use the Database dropdown to select your database.

Here, you can view all the tables within your database. These are presented similarly to posts and pages in WordPress, so you won’t need to learn a complex layout like phpMyAdmin.  

When you hover over a table, you’ll see two options: Manage and Explore. If you click on Manage, you’ll be able to control all data on your site. 

You can rename, copy, or export data. Meanwhile, the ALTER link enables you to edit the table directly.

If you click on Explore, you’ll find details about the table and where it’s used on your site. Note that some tables won’t display any options when clicked.

How to create a WordPress database

Now that you know how to access the WordPress database, let’s take a look at two ways to create one for your site. 

1. Create a database with cPanel

The easiest way to create a WordPress database is to use cPanel. To get started, log into your hosting account and then the cPanel.

Now, look for the Databases section and select the MySQL Database Wizard.

In the Create Database Users area, enter the database name and click on Next Step.

Then, find Create Database Users and create the database username and password. To keep your database secure, make sure that you create a unique and strong password.

Now, click on Create User. 

In Add User to Database, check the All Privileges checkbox and proceed by selecting Next Step. Here, it’s important to take note of the hostname, username, and database name so that you remember them for future reference. 

2. Create a database with phpMyAdmin

The next way to create a WordPress database is to use phpMyAdmin. This can be slightly more complicated, but it’s a great solution for users that don’t have access to cPanel.

To get started, open phpMyAdmin from your hosting account. Then, click on the Database tab at the top of the screen.

Here, click on Create database and enter a database name. Then, choose the best configuration option for language and encoding. 

Now, select phpMyAdmin to return to the main page and navigate to Users. This is where you can create users for your database.

Click on Add User and enter a name in the User field. Then, create a strong and unique password for the user. 

You’ll want to leave the options under Global privileges as they are. When you’re ready, select Go and return to the Users screen. 

Next, you’ll need to configure the correct permissions for each user with access to your database. Click on the Edit privileges icon. In the Database-specific privileges, select the new database under the Add privileges to the Server.localhost database dropdown. Then, click on Go.

The importance of backing up your database

Now that you have created a database for your WordPress website, let’s take a look at some of the best backup practices to keep your data secure. 

1. Schedule regular backups

Making a backup of your database is great, but it’s important to remember that this isn’t a one-time thing. You must make backups at regular intervals so that you always have a recent copy of your WordPress data.

The easiest way to schedule regular backups is to use an automated plugin like Jetpack VaultPress Backup.

Once activated, the plugin will perform a backup of your site. Then, you can navigate to Jetpack → VaultPress Backup to see your backups in the cloud or view your most recent restore point.

Jetpack VaultPress Backup will automatically save your website in real-time, so every single change made on your site — updated pages, new blog posts, customer orders, etc. — will always be available if you need it. The best part? You can restore a backup even if your site is completely down.

2. Securely store your backups off-site

It’s important to store backups offsite to keep your database copies safe. If your backups are stored on the same server as your site, they can be just as susceptible to online attacks and malware infections. 

For this reason, you’ll want to choose a secure location to store your backups. You could download backups to your computer or save them to the cloud. 

VaultPress Backup is, again, an ideal solution for this as it uses the same secure, off-site servers trusted by Automattic, the people behind WordPress.com.

3. Have a disaster recovery plan in place

Having a solid disaster recovery plan can help reduce the time needed to resolve a problem. Otherwise, you might waste precious time troubleshooting the problem. 

Plus, if something goes wrong, your website might be offline and inaccessible to the public. Not only will you lose traffic and revenue, but this can also damage your reputation.

Jetpack VaultPress Backup offers one-click restores that are available even if you can’t access your dashboard. Plus, with the app, you can restore from nearly anywhere in the world.

The importance of securing your database

While backups are a must-have in case something goes wrong, you should also be mindful of preventative measures to make your database more secure. Let’s look at some of them. 

1. Use strong passwords

One of the easiest ways to secure any aspect of your website is to use strong passwords. This goes for your WordPress dashboard, your hosting account, and your database.

It’s important to use a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols in your passwords. You’ll also want to make them long, using at least eight characters. 

You can use a password generator to handle the process for you. If you’re worried about forgetting your passwords, you can store them with a password management tool.

2. Limit access to the database

Another way to secure the WordPress database is to limit the number of individuals that can use it. Only users that you trust should have access to your site’s data. 

Additionally, you’ll want to make sure that they understand how to use it. The last thing you want is for a new user to find their way into the database and accidentally delete vital WordPress tables. 

If you’re using a plugin to access your database, users with certain roles will have the ability to make database changes that could harm your site. 

For this reason, and for general security-best practices, it’s always a good idea to regularly review your user roles and permissions, making sure that the correct privileges are assigned to the right people. You can do this from your WordPress dashboard by going to Users → All Users. Then, click on Edit and scroll down to Role.

Here, use the dropdown to select the correct role for each user registered on your site. Typically, only administrators will have complete access to the database. 

The same advice goes for any accounts on your cPanel or hosting provider’s dashboard.

3. Keep software up-to-date

Updating software can increase security on your WordPress site. This includes plugins, themes, and WordPress Core. 

When you have outdated tools on your site, hackers might exploit vulnerabilities in the software to gain entry. Updates typically contain patches for these security flaws, so you’ll want to run them as soon as they’re released. 

4. Monitor database logs for suspicious activity

Another way to secure the WordPress database is to monitor logs for suspicious activity. Database logs enable you to track all user activity so that you can see all actions taken on your site, all requests made, and all errors encountered. 

Typically, you can view your logs through cPanel. Here, you’ll find a Log Viewer where you can monitor these activities:

If you use a plugin like VaultPress Backup, you’ll also get access to an activity log that lets you see everything that happens on your website. Note that it will not, however, log changes made directly in the database, but can be an excellent indication of suspicious activity and a handy tool when troubleshooting common WordPress errors. 

5. Consider an enterprise security plugin like Jetpack Security

One of the best solutions for protecting your WordPress database is to use an enterprise security plugin like Jetpack Security. With this tool, you’ll get a suite of advanced features in one installation.

This includes Jetpack’s Web Application Firewall (WAF), which blocks malicious traffic from reaching your website. Plus, the plugin provides complete comment and spam protection, and conducts automatic malware scans.

With Jetpack Security, you’ll also get an activity log for your site. This way, you can view every action and find the cause of any issue that arises. 

The plugin also comes with VaultPress Backup, enabling you to make real-time backups of your website, database tables, WooCommerce data, and more. Better yet, with the mobile app, you can restore your site from any location. 

How to optimize your database

Over time, your database performance starts to slow down. This typically happens because the database has grown in size since you first launched your site. Therefore, the query execution time will get slower as your memory overheads increase.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to optimize your WordPress database. One of the quickest methods is to run a MySQL command.

To get started, open phpMyAdmin and click on your database to see the list of WordPress tables. Then, select the Check All option below the tables and use the With Selected dropdown menu to choose Optimize table.

This will defragment the selected tables, making queries run a bit faster. Plus, it will slightly reduce the size of the database.

How to migrate your database to a new server or hosting provider

You might find yourself in a situation where you need to migrate your database. For instance, you might want to move your site to a new server or hosting provider.

First, you’ll need to navigate to phpMyAdmin in your current hosting account and select your database in the list on the left-hand side. Then, click the Export tab. 

You can either choose a Quick export, which is plenty for most websites, or a Custom export, which allows you to configure settings for the database export. Then, click Go, and the file will download to your computer.

Now, navigate to your new hosting provider, where you’ll need to create a new database user. This will vary depending on your host, but if you’re using cPanel, you’ll take the following steps:

Under Databases, select MySQL Databases. Create a database name and click Create Database.

Scroll down and find the Add New User section. Create a new user here, keeping in mind security best practices for the password you generate. Click Create User.

Scroll to the Add User to Database section. In the User dropdown, choose your new user. In the Database dropdown, choose your new database. Click Add. A new screen will appear, allowing you to set permissions for the new user. Check the box next to All Privileges, then click Make Changes.

Now, navigate to phpMyAdmin in cPanel and select the new database you created in the left-hand list. Click the Import tab at the top. Upload the database file you saved earlier, then click Go.

And your database is migrated! Your final step will be to tell your site on the new host that it should use the new database. Note that this step assumes that you’ve already migrated your website files to your new hosting provider.

Navigate to your File Manager, find your website’s folder (typically public_html) and open the wp-config.php file. Find the following block of code:

/** MySQL database username */

define('DB_USER', ‘sample_username’);

/** MySQL database password */

define('DB_PASSWORD', ‘27839hafgdl’);

Replace the username and password with the ones you created for your new database, being sure to keep the quotation marks in place. In the example above, you’d replace ‘sample_username’ with ‘new_username’ and ‘27839hafgdl’ with ‘newpassword’. And that’s it! 

If you’re looking for a simpler solution, you can use a plugin like Duplicator to export and import databases between sites.

Common database uses

At this point, you might be wondering how to utilize the WordPress database. Let’s look at four common use cases. 

1. Edit post or page content

One of the most popular ways to use phpMyAdmin is to edit post or page content from the interface. All you need to do is open phpMyAdmin from your hosting account. Then, click on Databases and select the database for your website.

Next, locate the wp_posts table. This is where WordPress stores all content like posts, pages, custom post types, and more.

Here, you’ll see a list of all content items on your site. You can also see information like the post status and comment status for each of your pages and posts.

Once you find the post that you want to modify, click on the Edit link. Then, you can change the post content, post title, comment status, post excerpt, and more.

Once you have finished making changes to the post, click on Go at the bottom of the screen to save your work.

2. Change user information

You might also find it useful to change user information from the phpMyAdmin interface. For instance, you might wish to reset your WordPress password.

To do this, launch phpMyAdmin and select your database. Then, locate the wp_users table and click on Browse. 

Now, you’ll see a list of all the users registered on your site. Click on Edit next to the user account that you need to change.

Here, you’ll see all the user fields that you can edit, like the username, email, password, and more.

To change the password for your user, you’ll need to delete the value in the user_pass field and enter a new one. Under the Function column, select MD5. Then, click on Go to save the changes.

3. Update WordPress settings

As we mentioned earlier, the wp_options table contains most of your site-wide settings. You can access this table via phpMyAdmin to update settings like the time format, site URL, plugin configuration, and more.

To get started, launch phpMyAdmin and select your database. Then, open wp_options and locate the row you need to change.

You’ll see plenty of fields here, like admin email, site URL, posts per RSS, and more.

Click on Edit next to the setting you want to change. Then, enter a new value into the field and click on Go.

4. Delete plugins or themes

There are times when it might be necessary to delete a plugin or theme from your website via phpMyAdmin. This is often the case if you’ve encountered a WordPress error (caused by a problematic plugin), leaving you without access to your WordPress dashboard.

Additionally, even when you delete themes and plugins from your dashboard, some tools leave behind rows and tables in your database. Over time, this data can mount up and start to affect your site’s performance.

In this instance, you can launch phpMyAdmin and find your WordPress database. Depending on the plugin, there can be traces of it in multiple database tables. That’s why the best method to delete plugins in phpMyAdmin is to use the Search feature.

For instance, if you want to delete the WooCommerce plugin from your site, enter “woocommerce” into the search bar. Under Find, check the option that says all the words. Then, select Go.

Here, you’ll see a list of all the fields and tables where the plugin stores data on your site.

As you can see, there are traces of WooCommerce in tables like wp_posts, wp_users, and wp_options.  

Click on Browse to open the table. Then, you’ll want to filter the table to find every instance of WooCommerce. Enter “woocommerce” where it says Filter rows.

Select all the relevant rows and click on the Delete link. Then, you can go through all the other tables where the plugin stores data and repeat the same steps. 

Common database issues and their causes

When accessing and editing your WordPress site, you might run into some issues. Typically, you’ll know if it’s a database issue because you’ll see the following error message: “Error establishing database connection”.

Other signs of a database issue are:

• Images missing from your site
• Content missing from your site
• The “No update required your WordPress database is already up-to-date” error

Meanwhile, some common causes of database issues include:

• Incorrect database access credentials
• Connection errors
• Corrupt database tables
• A hacked database 

It’s a good idea to work your way through the list and eliminate each of the potential problems. You can check your connection on your operating system and make sure you’re running the latest version of your browser. It’s also useful to double-check your database credentials in your hosting account. 

As we mentioned earlier, you might also want to optimize your database using a simple MySQL command to ensure faster performance.

Frequently asked questions about the WordPress database

Although we’ve tried to provide a complete guide to the WordPress database, you might still have some questions. Let’s answer some of them. 

Where is the WordPress database stored?

The WordPress database is stored on your web host’s server. Therefore, you can access it through cPanel. If your host does not provide access to cPanel, you might be able to use a plugin to access it. It’s important to note that the WordPress database is sometimes inaccessible to those on shared hosting plans.

Can my WordPress database be stored on a separate server?

Yes, but you’ll need to make sure that the MySQL server allows the database to be accessed by an external server. You can export the current database and create a new one on another server.

Then, in wp-config.php, find define (‘DB_HOST’’localhost’) and add the IP address of the server instead of localhost.

Can I export my WordPress database to use on another website?

Yes, there are various ways to export the WordPress database. The easiest option is to use the built-in export tool in your dashboard. To access the tool, go to Tools → Export.

Then, select the content that you want to export and download your export file.

You can also use a plugin like Duplicator to export your WordPress database. For advanced users, you can export your database manually using phpMyAdmin.

What happens if I accidentally delete a record from the WordPress database?

If you delete a row like wp_posts, you’ll lose all the content on your site. Meanwhile, if you delete a row like wp_options, you’ll lose your site settings. This can have a negative impact on your search engine rankings. Plus, your website may suffer downtime as you repair the issue.

That’s why it’s important that you assign the correct permissions to users on your site. That way, only those with technical knowledge can access and edit your database.

On top of that, it’s a good idea to install a backup recovery plugin like Jetpack VaultPress Backup. Then, even if you accidentally delete a record from the database, you can easily restore your site to an earlier version. 

What are the best practices for backing up the WordPress database?

One of the best ways to secure your website is to make frequent backups. With a plugin like Jetpack VaultPress Backup, you can also back up your entire database. 

You’ll also want to store your database backup in a different location than your server. You might download it to your computer, or save it in a remote location like the cloud.

It’s important to make sure that you can restore your site quickly should something go wrong. Otherwise, you can lose out on traffic and revenue. 

With VaultPress Backup, you can restore your site in just one click. Plus, if you use the Jetpack mobile app, you can even get your site up and running again from almost anywhere. 

How can I ensure the security of my WordPress database?

It’s important to maintain top levels of security for your WordPress database since this is where vital information is stored. For instance, anyone with database access can edit content on your site, change user passwords, and delete entire tables.

Therefore, consider limiting the number of people with access to your database. In fact, you should make sure that only those you trust have these privileges. Additionally, you can educate them on how to interact with the interface to reduce the likelihood of accidents.

You’ll also want to enforce strong passwords on your site. Ideally, they should contain a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters. 

Finally, you’ll need to make sure that software, like plugins and themes, is kept up-to-date. This will help protect your database against cyberattacks. 

WordPress database: The power of independence at your fingertips 

While you don’t need to understand how the WordPress database works to run your website, this knowledge can come in handy. For instance, you might need to edit user information, troubleshoot common errors, or perform certain actions when you can’t access your dashboard. 

Your database is stored on your web host’s server, and you can access it via phpMyAdmin. You can also create a new database in phpMyAdmin and perform tasks like configuring site-wide settings. 

Protect your WordPress site

After all the hard work you’ve put into learning how to work with your site’s database, building the perfect site, and developing a strong flow of visitors and users, you don’t want anything to stop your progress. 

Jetpack’s top-tier WordPress security plugin not only provides a best-in-class, real-time, cloud-based backup solution, but also features that prevent most issues and resolve many others in just a few clicks. 

From malware scanning to spam prevention, downtime monitoring, brute force attack protection and more — Jetpack’s got your back.

Don’t risk losing your hard work — get Jetpack Security today.