WHY are you wanting to do a fresh re-install? What are you hoping to gain?
If you are already running the most recent update of WP 4.5.2, I’m not sure what will change.
I think to do this, I would download the WP 4.5.2 zip file, unzip, and FTP only the wp-admin, wp-includes and loose root files (making sure not to overwrite wp-config.php).
Thread Starter
gauthp
(@gauthp)
Thanks for your answer !
There are two reasons for this. First, my site got hacked last winter. I succeeded in cleaning it. All is okay now according to the tests I ran (through Google), but I am kind of still uncomfortable with the idea that a corrupted file may still be hiding in there.
Second, I was a newbie when I made my original install, and I think I made some strange maneuvers then. Now, the root folder includes files that I think are irrelevant : cgi, Error Logs, even a file named WordPress containing only a nearly empty wp-content file. Maybe I should just erase those unintentional leftovers from previous erroneous installations.
Am I becoming too insecure ? That hacking episode really busted my confidence…
I can understand your anxiety about hacked files. If you first delete the wp-admin and wp-includes directories and loose root files (making sure not to delete or overwrite wp-config.php), that should cover any hacked files in those locations.
You could do the same – delete existing directories and re-upload fresh copies – with plugins and themes. Your settings should remain intact.
Of course, this doesn’t address any hacked code that could be in your database. Using malware scanners is going to be about all you can do for that.
There will not be much you can do with your uploads directory except look through those manually for any files that seem to be something you didn’t upload.
I think I would make multiple backups of your network that you keep in a safe spot and save for a while, and then try deleting the cgi, error logs, and additional “WordPress” directories.
Or another option that might address your second concern would be to completely start over with a new network and migrate your existing sites in using the WordPress export/import content (pages and posts and their uploads) tool. Depending on how complex some of your sites are with custom posts and plugin features, this might make it a lot of work – but it would take care of concerns about any hacked files, and get rid of any strange configuration issues.
