wp_options is one of the most basic tables of any wordpress site. It contains key references about the site itself. It doesn’t include any of the normal content like posts or images.
The Envatotuts website puts it quite well:
The
wp_optionstable is unique among WordPress database tables in that it doesn’t share a relationship with any of the other tables. This is because it stores data about the site or network, and not the content. To interact with the options table, you can use the functions in the Options API or the Settings API, and you can also make use of functions which add data network-wide in a Multisite insulation.
The first entry in this table shows how crucial it is:
First line and entry: site URL! Second: home page!
This table is where all the key identifiers and settings of the entire website are stored.
Plugins also add entries in this table: indeed, that’s the place where each plugin is tracked upon installation. Key parameters for each plugin may be listed here, too.
Also, this is where the solution to one of my first programming problems can be solved: local wp-admin login page redirects to live production server instead of local backend.
The snippet of text that helped me figure this out I found here, on this wordpress stack exchange page. Thanks, TheDeadMedic!