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A couple of days ago, I tackled a project to clean up the WordPress wp_options table. A bold move on my part would you say. I downloaded the wp_options tables using PhpMyAdmin to view the wp_option table entries. It’s a mess like I suspected. There are over 1000 entries. The default wp_options table for WordPress 2.1 only comes with 70+ entries. Why so many entries you may ask? Well, I guess it makes sense after running WordPress close to three years and installing more than three dozens plugins and hacks. So, I went through the entries line-by-line to determine which one I can delete. I was able to identify several entries of plugins that I no longer use. I can delete those entries. But, the rest? I have no idea what they are for, which means I can’t touch them without possibly crippling WordPress. Restoring the wp_options tables is easy as long as you have proper backup. In the end, I decided it’s a cause not worth pursuing. Leave it the way it is. A spaghetti mess. It reminds me of the old adage, “don’t fix it, if it’s not broken.”