The essential & basic WP-CLI commands for a WordPress developer
The WP-CLI is a powerful command line tool for managing WordPress. I believe that it is an essential tool for a WordPress Developer. If we know the options, it is a handy tool & we can improve our WordPress workflow.
Below you can find a large list of WP-CLI commands that is useful in every day.
Install WordPress using WP-CLI
First Create wp-config.php file.
wp core config --dbname=your_db_name --dbuser=your_db_user --dbpass=your_db_password --dbhost=localhost --dbprefix=wp_
I believe that you already created Database and permission for the user.
Install WordPress
wp core install --url="your_domain" --title="Blog Title" --admin_user="admin_username" --admin_password="your_password" --admin_email="your_email"
Update WordPress Core using WP-CLI
wp core update
downgrade / upgrade WordPress core to a specific version
wp core update --version=4.8.1 --force
Plugin Management using WP-CLI
List installed plugins
wp plugin list
Format the output of plugin list
There is an option to update the output format in CSV or JSON in WP-CLI.
wp plugin list --format=json
wp plugin list --format=csv
If you need to refine & filter the list with parameters, it is too easy.
List plugin names & its version only
wp plugin list --fields=name,version
List inactive plugins
wp plugin list --status=inactive
List update available plugins
wp plugin list --update=available
Install Plugin
wp plugin install woocommerce
Activate Plugin
wp plugin activate woocommerce
Deactivate Plugin
wp plugin deactivate woocommerce
Manage theme using WP-CLI
Same like plugins, it is too easier to manage themes using WP-CLI.
List installed themes
wp theme list
Install new theme
wp theme install twentytwelve
Activate new theme
wp theme activate twentytwelve
Import sample data using WP-CLI
First, we have to install WordPress Import Plugin & then run the import command.
wp import wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/dummy-data/dummy-data.xml --authors=create
Update WordPress Options Using WP-CLI
Update blog name
wp option update blogname "New blog name"
Update blog description
wp option update blogdescription "New blog description"
Update admin email
wp option update admin_email someone@example.com
Update time zone
wp option update timezone_string "America/New_York"
Update Discourage search engines from indexing this site option
wp option set blog_public 0
Post Management using WP-CLI
List posts
wp post list
List pages
wp post list --post_type=page
Create a new post
wp post create --post_type=post --post_title='A sample post'
Update an existing post status
wp post update 123 --post_status=draft
Delete an existing post
wp post delete 123
Launch system editor to edit post
wp post edit 123
Generate multiple posts
wp post generate --count=5
Generate multiple pages
wp post generate --post_type=page --count=3
Migrate WordPress database using WP-CLI
When we move WordPress from one domain to another domain, we have to migrate WordPress Database. We can use WP-CLI’s search-replace command for database migration. It is better to run this command on the new host after database is imported.
Migrate & View report
wp search-replace example.com newexample.com --dry-run
If there is no error, migrate & save DB.
wp search-replace example.com newexample.com
Database backup using WP-CLI
wp db export
A backup of our database in a .SQL format will be available at the root of our website.
The options are never end. To know more about WP-CLI, I suggest to check the WordPress Codex page.
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Your Questions / Comments
If you found this article interesting, found errors, or just want to discuss about it, please get in touch.