Introduction to the WordPress database

The process of planning and designing a database is one of the most critical phases of any project. A well-planned database design eases the process for future growth while increasing performance in data storage and retrieval. Usually, it's the responsibility of the development team to identify the entities and relationships between these entities. WordPress, on the other hand, is a CMS and hence offers an existing database to handle core features. So, the process of planning a database is not part of the responsibility as a developer in most scenarios. Instead, developers have a tougher task of understanding the core tables and managing the data needs with its limitations. Of course, you can create and use your own database tables for any requirement. But, doing so eliminates the whole purpose of developing on top of WordPress.

The WordPress database currently supports MySQL and MariaDB, with MariaDB being the most preferred choice. However, most of...