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How to Reset your Development Site Easily

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May 26, 2021

When working on a staging or development site, one of the most common issues you might run into is resetting the site. One of the easiest plugins to use to reset a development site is WP Reset.

Using the plugin, you can reset all of the site as well as specific parts of it. After you have installed and activated the plugin it will add a new admin menu item:


Tools > WP Reset > Tools


Some of the specific parts that you can reset using the tools in the plugin are theme options, delete transients, purge cache, delete local data, delete themes, delete plugins, clean the uploads folder, and empty or delete custom tables in the database.


To access all of the reset options that the plugin provides, go to the following admin menu:


Tools > WP Reset > Reset


Using the site reset option in the plugin, it will reset the following on the site:


  • Posts, pages, & custom post types
  • Comments
  • Media
  • Users
  • Widgets
  • Transients
  • Settings & options (from WP, plugins, & themes)
  • Data in all default WP tables
  • Custom database tables with prefix wp_

The WP Reset plugin also includes WP-CLI support so that different parts can be reset or deleted:


wp help reset

wp reset delete themes --yes

wp reset delete plugins

wp reset delete custom-tables --truncate --yes

wp reset delete custom-tables --empty --yes

wp reset --yes


Using the WP Reset plugin on your staging or development site will make it easily reset or delete specific types of data in the site database and files on the site server.


For 24-hour assistance any day of the year, contact our support team by email or through your Client Portal.

Luke Cavanagh
Luke Cavanagh


Luke Cavanagh, Strategic Support & Accelerant at Liquid Web, brings a decade of experience working with WordPress and WooCommerce to our Product Team. His GitHub page offers a glimpse into his multiple areas of subject matter expertise. Luke elicits "ideation" for new website management and ecommerce software needs. Then, he collaborates with the Liquid Web team in the development of next generation product features and wins.


With proficiency, Luke infuses the product roadmap with a curated vision of the next enhancements while quickly evolving the functional requirements to align with innovations in the industry. He brings structure to ambiguous situations. His professional acumen and precise communication style have won him respect among stakeholders and engineers alike. "Ninja stuff with WordPress and WooCommerce," is an apropos way to describe Luke's savviness with these platforms — and his way of influencing our organization for improving to them.


Coming out of the University of Brighton with a Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) Higher National Diploma (HND) in 2D & 3D Design, Luke's credentials prepared him well for his current role that blends both web development and design. His HND credential leveraged his foundational learning at West Kent College, where is received a National Diploma (ND) in Graphic Design.


Prolific are Luke's contributions to our knowledge libraries that are available within the Liquid Web Family of Brands:

- Nexcess blog for the WordPress category

- Nexcess blog for the WooCommerce category

- Nexcess knowledge library for the WordPress category

- Nexcess knowledge library for the WooCommerce category

- Liquid Web blog for the WordPress category

- Liquid Web blog for the WooCommerce category

- Liquid Web knowledge library for the WordPress category

- Liquid Web knowledge library for the WooCommerce category


In his personal life, Luke is a devoted husband and teen wrangler. He considers himself a Synthwave enthusiast, Jerry Goldsmith fan, and Doctor Who aficionado. He is happy to introduce his friends and teammates to essential vocabulary for life found only in British English, such as "gubbins" and similar terms.


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