![WordPress: Removing Custom Fields WordPress: Removing Custom Fields](https://photos.smugmug.com/Photo-journal/2022-1/n-5D8Pmm/2022-12-20-WordPress-Custom-Fields/i-TtLPXdR/0/f7c87ea6/XL/WordPress-Custom-Fields_3-XL.jpg)
I installed plugins a while back and subsequently deleted the plugins. Each time that I write a post and see the Custom Fields, it reminds me that I need to remove these extra custom fields. So today I opened up PHPMyAdmin and started to look for them in the SQL and couldn’t find them. I tried to search the full database and it didn’t work. Thankfully with a few searches I found references that helped.
![Custom Fields in Post](https://photos.smugmug.com/Photo-journal/2022-1/n-5D8Pmm/2022-12-20-WordPress-Custom-Fields/i-7tppTzr/0/69c29f49/XL/WordPress-Custom-Fields_9-XL.jpg)
Where are the Custom Fields?
On WebNots.com, it explained where the custom fields are stored. I thought they would have their own table, but they are added into the Post Metadata table (wp_postmeta table) in the meta_key field. (One of my friends referred me to a Ralph Kimball book regarding Data Warehousing and I believe that is why these fields are in a table with their values and not separate fields.) Source: https://www.webnots.com/how-to-delete-unused-custom-fields-in-wordpress/
What is the Correct Search Argument?
t first I tried the term “ast” in the Value with the LIKE operator and was not successful. I was looking for fields that started with “ast-” or “ast_” which wee installed with the Astra Theme. I learned from the SQL LIKE Operator article on the W3Schools.com site that the % acts as the wildcard character in the value when using the LIKE operator.
I totally didn’t take screenshots of all of the “ast” searches so I started again. 🙂 Boldgrid had installed custom fields when I moved my site to Dreamhost and used their installer. I removed their theme and a lot of other plugins but the remnants remained.
![Boldgrid in Custom Fields Menu](https://photos.smugmug.com/Photo-journal/2022-1/n-5D8Pmm/2022-12-20-WordPress-Custom-Fields/i-rJs8Nq6/0/583c6103/XL/WordPress-Custom-Fields_8-XL.jpg)
![Search for Bold%](https://photos.smugmug.com/Photo-journal/2022-1/n-5D8Pmm/2022-12-20-WordPress-Custom-Fields/i-LZH34tM/0/1ee21583/XL/WordPress-Custom-Fields_5-XL.jpg)
![Boldgrid search results](https://photos.smugmug.com/Photo-journal/2022-1/n-5D8Pmm/2022-12-20-WordPress-Custom-Fields/i-622sMDZ/0/f1e80181/XL/WordPress-Custom-Fields_6-XL.jpg)
Once I found them I CHECKED ALL and then clicked DELETE.
When did I start using WordPress?
Recently I saw a question: When did you start using WordPress? I couldn’t really remember. But I have seen the Blogger custom fields in my posts. Since I was in the database, I thought I might find the answer. This time I searched for “blogger%”.
First Blogger Post
It turns out my first Blogger post was in November 2006.
![First Blogger Post 2006-11](https://photos.smugmug.com/Photo-journal/2022-1/n-5D8Pmm/2022-12-20-WordPress-Custom-Fields/i-9FvmDcp/0/8a550f4f/XL/WordPress-Custom-Fields_2-XL.jpg)
Last Blogger Post
My last Blogger post appears to be in January 2013.
![Last Blogger Post 2013-01](https://photos.smugmug.com/Photo-journal/2022-1/n-5D8Pmm/2022-12-20-WordPress-Custom-Fields/i-gpvv6Zj/0/3e040598/XL/WordPress-Custom-Fields_1-XL.jpg)
WordPress Start
My guesstimate is that my first WordPress experience was in 2013.
Comments
10 responses to “WordPress: Removing Custom Fields”
@tmichellemoore Following because I could also use some recommendations on a database cleaner.
@scottbrim I totally don’t have any recommendations on a database cleaner. 😊 But I did examine the tables to see if any tables “seemed” extra. Once I figured out how to find those custom fields, I started looking for other plugins I removed. It’s tedious. I found a plugin that lists ALL custom post types, not just CPTs the plugin created, so I am sure there has to be one that can show all custom fields.
@tmichellemoore This is also a simple query to show the metakeys with the most records, so you can clean up more if you don’t use them anymore:SELECT meta_key, COUNT(meta_id) AS records FROM wp_postmeta GROUP BY meta_key ORDER BY records DESC
@JosKleverWebSupport Thank you! I will try this! This is more intuitive!
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