Restarting a WordPress Website: A Comprehensive Guide

Step 1: Back Up Your Website

As a WordPress user, you may find yourself in a perplexing situation where you need to restart your website, either due to technical issues, redesigning, or just starting afresh. Whatever the reason may be, restarting a WordPress website can be a daunting process if you are not familiar with the precise steps to follow.

Before making any significant changes to your website, it’s crucial to remember to back up your data to avoid any bursts of regret later on. Using a backup plugin such as UpdraftPlus and BackupBuddy is one of the most effective ways to guarantee you always have a copy of your website to revert to in case something goes wrong during the restart process.

Step 2: Put Your Site in Maintenance Mode

As you begin the process of restarting your website, it’s important to go into the right headspace and put your site in maintenance mode to prevent any user confusion or frustration. By installing and activating a plugin that will allow you to create a maintenance page, such as WP Maintenance and Coming Soon Page & Maintenance Mode by SeedProd, you can put your website in maintenance mode, which will deny access to users while you work on it.

Step 3: Reset Your Website

Now that the critical preparations are complete, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of resetting your website to its default settings. You’ll do this by uninstalling all inactive plugins and themes, deleting any unwanted pages and posts, and deactivating unnecessary widgets and settings. Locate and deactivate all inactive plugins under the ‘Plugins’ tab and delete them. Similarly, under ‘Appearance,’ deactivate and delete all unused themes. Remove any unwanted pages or posts by selecting ‘Pages’ or ‘Posts’ from your dashboard menu and deleting them.

Step 4: Choose a New Theme

Once you’ve reset your website, make sure to inject some bursts into your life by choosing a new theme that aligns with your desired aesthetics. WordPress offers a wide range of free and paid themes, so be sure to browse through all the available options to find the one that’s perfect for you. Go to ‘Appearance’ and click on ‘Themes’; from there, browse through the available themes, and when you find the one that you like, click the ‘Install’ button followed by the ‘Activate’ button.

Step 5: Reinstall Plugins

After choosing a new theme, it’s time to reinstall essential plugins on your website. These include backup plugins, security plugins, caching plugins, among others. Go to ‘Plugins’ in your WordPress dashboard, click on the ‘Add New’ button, search for the plugins you need using the search bar, and click the ‘Install’ button followed by ‘Activate.’

Step 6: Add New Content

With the technical aspects of site customization sorted, now it’s time to add some desirous content that will enhance your website and leave you feeling refreshed. Create new pages and posts, insert images and videos, and essentially everything that complements your new website experience. To craft a new page or post, navigate to your WordPress dashboard and click on ‘Pages’ or ‘Posts,’ followed by ‘Add New.’

Step 7: Test Everything

After successfully adding new content, it’s important to test your website to make sure there are no hidden surprises lurking around in the background. Ensure that all the pages are opening as they should, and all links and buttons are leading to the desired destination. Checking the load speed will also let you determine whether your website is fast enough so that the user experience is positive.

Step 8: Launch Your Website

You’re almost done. It’s time to go live and end your perplexity after designing and redesigning your website. By pulling your website out of maintenance mode, you are reopening the doors to the world of online users, so they can access your site at their will. Navigate to your maintenance mode plugin settings and turn off the switch.

In conclusion, achieving a website restart on WordPress is, without a doubt, an intimidating endeavour. But by following the eight steps outlined above, you can embark on this journey with a high degree of perplexity, and you will come out at the end without feeling burnt out. Keep in mind; it is essential to back up your website, put your site in maintenance mode, reset your website, choose a new theme, reinstall plugins, add new content, test everything, and finally, launch your website. By following these steps, you can take your online presence to the next level.