TI For All Circles

We now enter the final, and you could say, most important stages of the browser installation. This step establishes the information Joomla! requires in order to communicate with your database.

The Database Configuration Stage Screen

You now require the information you (hopefully) secured earlier in this guide.

Select the database type from the drop down list, which includes mysql and mysqli by default. Typically you will select mysql for your database choice. There may be subsequent changes that require the use of mysqli but such speculation is outside the scope of this document.

If you would like to read more about the difference between the two types visit http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/php/ where you will find some basic details.

Thereafter, enter the Host Name, User Name, Password, and Database Name for your database.

The Additional Settings fields allow for further definition of your database. If, for example, you have had a previous, but no longer required, database of the same name as you have entered in the field above, you have the options to either Drop (delete) the tables within the existing database or create full backups of the tables and therefore retain the information just in case you need to step back from the current installation utilising this backup.

You can also change the Table Prefix that Joomla! will use for all the tables in your database. You may want this facility if you are running more than one Joomla! Web site from within the same database.

Never use the prefix bak_ as this is used by Joomla! specifically for back-ups of tables within the database.

Always ensure the inclusion of the single underscore character following the prefix you choose otherwise the prefix will simply “run into” the table name. The default prefix is jos_.

Your Database Configuration will now look similar to the following:

We will detail some of the common problems and solutions in the Error Handling section at the back of this manual rather than blur the picture at this stage. This section will be completed after the release of the full version of Joomla! 1.5.