Frequently Asked Questions

The NearlyFreeSpeech.NET FAQ (*)

MySQL (*)

Q. Ok, I have a MySQL process. How do I create a database?

Sometimes if you are using a pre-built application, it will create its own database, but in general you will have to do this yourself.

Remember that MySQL databases and MySQL processes are not the same thing. When you first create your MySQL process, there won't be any databases in it.

There are two easy ways to create a database inside your MySQL process. For either method, you will need the database administrator username and password. The username is the same as your member login name, and a temporary password was created and emailed to you when you created the process.

The fastest way to create a database in your MySQL process is to click the "Create a Database" action on the MySQL Process Information page for your MySQL process on the MySQL panel, and just follow the steps.

However, the phpMyAdmin tool that we provide can also be used: Choose "Open phpMyAdmin" from the "Actions" box on the MySQL tab Then log in to your MySQL process. Then choose the "Databases" tab. Next, look for the text box under Create database. Pick a name for your database and enter it in that box. Then select the Create button. That's all there is to it!

You can use this ability to set up a whole bunch of applications to use different databases in the same MySQL process, even if the applications are running on completely different sites and don't share any information.

Example: Suppose you have two sites, and you wish to run the phpBB forum software on both of them without having them smack into each other. You could create two databases, one called sitea and one called siteb, in your single MySQL process, then set the $dbname value in each site's phpBB config.php file to sitea or siteb.

(You can also use phpBB's $table_prefix feature for this purpose, but three out of four nerds agree that the two-database way is "better.")