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How do I safely delete a Wordpress subdomain?

by Janice Sperry
6 replies
A long time ago I uploaded WP as an Add-on domain. I also uploaded a premium theme. That's it - nothing else. No content, etc...

It is easy to delete the theme.

I want to delete wordpress completely without messing up my main domain or any of my other add-on domains. I then will manually install WP again but without using Fantastico.

I am guessing someone will say:
Login to cPanel > click on File Manager >....

Don't laugh but it scares me going into the File Manager. I am always afraid I will accidently mess something up.

If someone could walk me through it like I am a ten year old with her first computer.

Thanks in advance.
#cpanel #delete #safely #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author octopus
    What I understand from your post is that you want to basically uninstall WP and install WP again?

    I don't know cpanel much but what I would do :
    - Delete all files (WP files) via FTP. To be sure you're deleting the right thing, put a "test.txt" file with "hello" written in it. Access "http://www.yoursite.com/test.txt". If you see your "hello" in your browser, you're at the root of your website, it's safe to delete it.
    - If you want to be super safe, just download all the content on your computer before deleting (with a FTP client).
    - Then, with cpanel, delete the database (I think the name of the database should be in your config.php file of wordpress if you don't know).
    - If you want to be safe, make a backup of the database. (I don't know how with cpanel but looking for "backup database cpanel" on Google should help you)

    Does this make sense?
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    • Profile picture of the author RobinInTexas
      Originally Posted by octopus View Post

      What I understand from your post is that you want to basically uninstall WP and install WP again?

      I don't know cpanel much but what I would do :
      - Delete all files (WP files) via FTP. To be sure you're deleting the right thing, put a "test.txt" file with "hello" written in it. Access "http://www.yoursite.com/test.txt". If you see your "hello" in your browser, you're at the root of your website, it's safe to delete it.
      - If you want to be super safe, just download all the content on your computer before deleting (with a FTP client).
      - Then, with cpanel, delete the database (I think the name of the database should be in your config.php file of wordpress if you don't know).
      - If you want to be safe, make a backup of the database. (I don't know how with cpanel but looking for "backup database cpanel" on Google should help you)

      Does this make sense?
      That doesn't make any sense and it's not correct.

      BTW why backup the database with no content?

      P.S. You can respond to me and increase your post count.
      Signature

      Robin



      ...Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just set there.
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      • Profile picture of the author octopus
        Hi Robin. I'm not trying to increase my post count, I'm just trying to help. I seriously don't care about a counter under my name in a forum. Sorry but English is not my mother tongue. So maybe I didn't understand what Janice meant or maybe my post is not clear enough. Or maybe I'm talking "programmer".

        To answer your question :
        I worked on numerous deployment of websites in my 10+ years of web programming. Why backup an empty database? Well, what if you delete the wrong database? That's why you backup everything you delete. In some company, they will even backup every databases before doing any operation on just 1 database, in case some script go wrong. It's overkill but whatever.

        And why isn't my post "correct"? I would like to know so next time I won't post bad answers! Thanks for helping me here!

        Edit :
        BTW, your instructions are the same as mine, I'm just adding steps to help Janice to be sure she's deleting the right thing. But yea, maybe they are not clear. Lets try to redo this :
        1. Install filezilla (google search, it's free)
        2. You should have an FTP account to connect to your "add-on domain". If you don't have this, you could try to find instructions on "how to add ftp account with cpanel" or simply file a ticket with your hosting company.
        3. When you have your FTP connection, to be absolutely certain that you delete the right thing, you can do that (it's optional) :
        3.1 Create a "test.txt" file and upload it with your FileZilla.
        3.2 Go to "http://your-add-on-domain-url/test.txt"
        3.3 If you see the content of "test.txt", then it means that you can delete the content there because you effectively are on your "add on domain" site.
        3.4 Another "optional" step : download everything with FileZilla before you delete it. That way, if you delete the wrong thing, you have a backup.
        4. For the database, find the database, backup it (in case you delete the wrong one), and then delete it. You should find the instruction on how to do this with cpanel easily on Google.

        Yes, some of those steps are overkill, but if it can reassure Janice, I think it's good. 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 are optional and if you don't understand those, it's not a problem. Just backup everything (3.4) and you'll be OK.

        I hope it's easier to understand?
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        • Profile picture of the author RobinInTexas
          test.txt

          In the root (or any other) directory will not display anything. (although I could force it to display something, but I am sure the OP does not know how to that) do that.
          Signature

          Robin



          ...Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just set there.
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          • Profile picture of the author octopus
            If test.txt doesn't work, then you can try with an image. Add an image where all the other images are and try to access it with your browser. That way you'll know you're at the right place.

            Robin : Why would'nt a web server display a test.txt? I use it often to help support people be sure where "they are" (when you have 10 machines for 3 different setup for testing purpose of big systems, it can be confusing). Anyway, is it specific to WP? Or some web hosting company?
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  • Profile picture of the author RobinInTexas
    If it's an add-on domain, create an ftp account for the add-on domain.

    Install filezilla and use the instructions from your hosting company to add the ftp settings for the add on domain.

    Connect using the ftp account for the add-on domain.

    You should see nothing but the WordPress files for the add-on domain.

    You can safely delete everything there.
    Signature

    Robin



    ...Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just set there.
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