How to Reset WordPress and Layers to Default
This tutorial is useful if you have a WordPress installation for testing or staging sites, or just want to start over with a clean slate on your current site and will show you how to reset Layers or your WordPress install to default settings.
Safe Method
The “safe” way to go about this is to create a new database, then edit your wp-config.php with the new database login details. This is best if you have anything in the old setup you need to save or reference. If working on a local setup, this retains your wp-content/uploads folder so you can work from existing media.
Full Reset
If you just want to start from scratch on the same database, WordPress Database Reset is a free plugin that provides a nice quick interface for choosing what to purge and whether to restore plugins and themes afterwards. You can download it from within WordPress by going to → and searching for “WordPress Database Reset”.
- Your WordPress database contains all of your site’s content, widget setups and customizer configurations. Using this plugin to reset your site means all of this data will be purged and you will be left with a fresh install. Be sure to backup any pages or widgets you want to reference later!
- This plugin will not delete any data in your wp-content folder, including themes, plugins and media uploads.
To get started, download, install and activate the plugin, then access it from
→- Select the tables you want to purge. These are pretty straightforward if you are looking for specific tasks. For a full reset, click Select All.
- Enter the security code and click Reset Tables. You will be asked if you want to restore your active theme and plugins afterwards – this is up to you depending on if you want to reinstall them or not.
For support or further help with resetting WordPress, refer to the WordPress Reset Database support forum.
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