Database and phpMyAdmin

What you get: a database for your website, with its user and password, and a way to inspect it without installing anything.

Before starting

There are two different things with the same name, and it is advisable not to mix them up:

  • The database bases of your sites (Websites → Databases menu). They come with your hosting plan, they are MariaDB and you can see them with phpMyAdmin. It’s what your WordPress uses.

  • The managed databases (Projects → Databases menu). They are contracted separately, they are PostgreSQL, MariaDB or Redis, and they are used for Projects and for your VPS. The panel itself clarifies: “For your Sites you don’t need any: they already have MariaDB and phpMyAdmin included”.

This guide covers the first type. For the others, Managed databases for Projects and VPS.

Steps

  1. Websites → Databases menu. At the top you will see how many you have used out of what your plan includes, for example “You use 0 of 5”.

  2. New database.

  3. Write the name. Only letters, numbers and lowercase letters. The user and password are created automatically: you don’t have to invent them.

  4. Create database.

How to check it worked

The base appears in the list, with its user and in active status. To see the password, press the password button in its row: it is shown once and is not saved in the browser cache.

Enter phpMyAdmin from the button above and check that you see it in the column on the left.

The connection data from your own website are always the same: localhost server, 3306 port, and the user and password of the database.

Common problems

“Error establishing a connection with the database” in WordPress

The four wp-config.php data must match exactly with those in the list: name, user, password and localhost server. The most common error is the user: it is not the same text as the name of the database.

It says I have reached the quota

The message is “The database quota has been reached”. Each plan comes with a number; at the top of the screen you see how many you have used. Delete one you don’t use or change plans.

I have lost the database password

You don’t need to recover it: in the database row there is a button that shows it again. Copy it from there to your wp-config.php.

I want to connect from my computer with a desktop program

From outside you can’t: the database server only listens on localhost, which is what prevents anyone from trying passwords from the internet. Use phpMyAdmin, or open a tunnel with your SSH user.

My .sql copy is too large for phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin struggles with large files because it uploads them via PHP. Upload the limits first in View and edit your PHP settings, or import them via SSH with the command line client, which does not have that limit.

I accidentally deleted a table

Don’t fix it yourself: the more you write on it, the less it can be recovered. Write to us from Support as soon as possible stating the database and the approximate time.

Can I change the name of a database?

Not from the panel. Create a new one with the name you want, export the old one from phpMyAdmin and import it into the new one. Then change the data in your application and delete the old one.