What Is phpMyAdmin & How to Manage WordPress With It

Do you want to manage your WordPress database without messing up with the coding lines?

Fortunately, that’s possible. All thanks to phpMyAdmin. Yes, you can manage your WordPress site & even create one from scratch by using phpMyAdmin. The cherry on top? You don’t even need any experience with MySQL.

This detailed guide explores all you can do with phpMyAdmin, which includes exporting & importing databases, running SQL queries, and improving your tables, among other tasks. So, let’s dive in.

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What Is phpMyAdmin? (An Overview)

phpMyAdmin is a free and open-source web application developed to manage MySQL, MariaDB, and similar databases. Developers and website hosts mainly use it to manage database-related issues without visiting the command line interface.

phpMyAdmin, originally written in PHP, allows users to work with databases, query SQL, and carry out other types of administrative tasks. It supports a wide range of operations on MySQL, including creating, modifying, and deleting databases, tables, fields, and rows.

It is most frequently used in web hosting platforms and can be integrated with hosting control panels, making it ideal for database management for any web application.

How Does phpMyAdmin Work?

phpMyAdmin functions as a web application that allows users to interact with MySQL databases using a browser.

Here’s how it works:

• Upon setting it up, you have to link to the MySQL server using the login credentials from your hosting server.
• Once connected, phpMyAdmin lets you create and manage databases, import and export data, and run SQL queries.

It basically acts as a visual front-end to the MySQL server, translating user inputs into SQL commands that the server understands. This makes it an excellent tool for database management, as it reduces the need to manually write complex SQL commands yet still provides full control over database management.

Benefits of Using phpMyAdmin for WordPress

phpMyAdmin offers several advantages for WordPress users, especially when working with databases and diagnosing issues. Here’s a breakdown of the key benefits:

• phpMyAdmin allows users to access and use WordPress databases directly, making data management easier.
• It helps diagnose and solve issues related to WordPress, especially when plugins or themes cause problems by altering the database incorrectly.
• Admins can edit database tables to correct issues, such as:
  • Filtering out bad data
  • Removing corrupted entries
  • Resetting user passwords
  • Importing or exporting posts and pages
• By managing the database efficiently, phpMyAdmin helps keep WordPress sites healthy and optimized.

So, phpMyAdmin is a simple yet powerful tool that makes managing WordPress databases much easier and more effective.

How to Install phpMyAdmin & Manage WordPress Sites on Cloudways

Not a Cloudways user? Jump directly to this part.

Note: Want to try Cloudways for free and create your WordPress site in minutes? Sign up for their 3-day free trial without entering your credit card details. 

• You can install phpMyAdmin on your existing WordPress app or can launch a new one with a few clicks.
• Once your WordPress app is live, follow these steps to install phpMyAdmin.

Step 1: Launch SSH Terminal

• Go to Server Management on the Cloudways Platform.
• Launch the SSH terminal & log in using Master Credentials.

• After logging in, use the command below to head to the application folder where you want to download phpMyAdmin:

cd applications/<folder name>/public_html

Step 2: Download & Install phpMyAdmin

• Visit the phpMyAdmin website & copy the download URL of the latest version of phpMyAdmin (zipped format)

• Now open SSH Terminal & type the following command with the URL you copied before.

wget https://files.phpMyAdmin.net/phpMyAdmin/5.2.0/phpMyAdmin-5.2.0-english.zip

• Press Enter and let the server download the file.

• Once the file has been downloaded, run the following command to unzip it:

unzip phpMyAdmin-5.2.0-english.zip

• Wait for the command to finish its process.

• Once done, run the following command to delete the zip file:

rm phpMyAdmin-5.2.0-english.zip

• Rename the folder to access it easily by executing the following command:

mv phpMyAdmin-5.2.0-english phpMyAdmin

Note: Learn more about useful SSH commands in our detailed blog.

• Now, head to the application URL and add /phpMyAdmin at the end of the URL. You will see that phpMyAdmin has been installed and its login page.

• Log in using the database credentials.

• You’ll be able to access the phpMyAdmin page once you have logged in with your database credentials.

• Congratulations! You have successfully installed phpMyAdmin on your WordPress app via Cloudways. Now, you can use it to access all your applications’ databases on the server on which it is installed.

Now, let’s learn how to manage WordPress with phpMyAdmin.

How to Manage WordPress with phpMyAdmin

Once you have access to your database, then go to the present in the Databases section.

Here are some of the things you can do with phpMyAdmin to manage your WordPress site.

1. Check the Status of Your WordPress Database

• Click on the Status option from the top bar to check the database status.

Here, you can see all the traffic and connection details related to your website, including information about queries, uptime & more.

2. Access and Edit Your WordPress Database

• Click on the Databases tab in your phpMyAdmin dashboard
• Locate and select the database that you want to edit.
• Once inside the database, you’ll see a list of tables. Select the table you want to edit (e.g., wp_posts for posts, wp_users for user accounts).

• Click the Browse option next to the table. From here, you can view and make changes to the data, such as editing posts or user information.

3. Back Up, Import, and Export Database

Importing a Database

• Click on the Import option on the phpMyAdmin homepage.

• Click Choose File to select the file you want to import, then select the database file.
• Once the file is selected, click Go to import it to your WordPress database.

Exporting a Database

• Click on the Export option at the top of your phpMyAdmin homepage.
• In the Export Method section, choose between:
• • Quick to export everything instantly OR Custom to manually select specific tables or data for export.

• Select the SQL format and click Go.
• Your database will be downloaded to your computer. Be sure to name the file appropriately for future reference.

4. Manage Users and Passwords using phpMyAdmin

Resetting Your Password:

• Go to your WordPress database and find the wp_users table.

• Click Browse to view the users.
• Find your username and click Edit.
• Change the user_pass value to your new password and set the function to MD5.
• Click Go to save the changes & your password will be updated.

Changing the Username:

• Click Browse in the wp_users table.
• Select the user you want to modify by clicking on the Edit option next to the username.
• Enter your new username in the user_login field.
• Click Go to save the changes.

Adding a New User:

• Click Insert in the wp_users table.
• Enter the new user’s details (username, email, etc.).
• After completing the form, click Go to add the new user to the database.

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5. Disable WordPress Plugins Using phpMyAdmin

Sometimes, you need to deactivate a WordPress plugin but can’t get to the dashboard. In this case, you can disable all plugins by accessing the WordPress database through phpMyAdmin. Here’s how you can do this:

• In phpMyAdmin, open your WordPress database and locate the wp_options table.

• Use the Filter Rows tool to search for active_plugins.
• Click Edit next to the active_plugins entry.

• In the option_value field, replace the existing content with a:0:{}.
• Click Go to save the changes.

Doing so will deactivate all plugins on your WordPress site, but they won’t be removed. You can reactivate them later via the WordPress dashboard.

Final Thoughts

We hope that this guide helped you learn WordPress database management and how to use phpMyAdmin. This blog covers everything about managing PHPMyadmin, such as the ability to import and export databases, manage users, and reset passwords. These features are especially helpful when troubleshooting issues or making large-scale updates.