MySQL databases and phpMyAdmin

Every hosting plan includes MySQL databases, managed from the customer portal at my.candorhost.com — no separate panel login needed. Open your hosting service and choose Databases (under “Files & databases”). From that one tab you can create and delete databases, create and delete database users, grant users access, and open phpMyAdmin with one click.

Everything on this page is also available in the full control panel — the Open control panel button on your service overview logs you in — but for day-to-day database work the portal tab is the shorter path.

How many databases you get

Published numbers, not “unlimited”:

	Solo	Studio	Org
MySQL databases	2	10	30

These are the same limits configured on the servers — the full table for every resource is on the platform page.

Create a database

1. Log in at my.candorhost.com and open your hosting service.
2. Go to the Databases tab.
3. Under New database name, type a name — lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores only (e.g. appdata).
4. Click Create database.

The name you type gets automatically prefixed with your account name, so appdata becomes something like youraccount_appdata. The list on the same tab shows every database you have, along with its current size. When you connect an application, use the full prefixed name exactly as it appears in the list.

Create a database user

A database on its own can’t be logged into — your application connects as a database user. On the same tab:

1. Under New user, enter a username and a password. Use a long, random password; you’ll paste it into your app’s config once and never type it again.
2. Click Create user.
3. Under Grant a user full access to a database, pick the user and the database, then click Grant access.

Usernames are prefixed with your account name too, the same way database names are. The user list shows exactly which databases each user can access — a user with “no database access” next to it can’t read anything until you grant it.

Note the order matters: the grant form only appears once you have at least one database and at least one user.

Least privilege, honestly stated

The grant the portal makes is full access to one database — the user can do anything inside that database, and nothing outside it. That’s the right scope for an application user. Two habits worth keeping:

• One database per application, one user per database. If you run a WordPress site and a custom app, give each its own database and its own user. A bug (or compromise) in one app then can’t touch the other’s data.
• Don’t share one user across everything. It’s convenient right up until the day you need to revoke it.

If you need finer-grained privileges than “full access to this database” (say, a read-only reporting user), that’s beyond what the portal tab does — ask us and we’ll sort it out.

Open phpMyAdmin — one click, no extra password

Every plan includes one-click phpMyAdmin. Next to each database in the list there’s a phpMyAdmin button. Click it and the portal fetches a one-time sign-on link and opens phpMyAdmin in a new tab, already logged in to that database — there is no separate phpMyAdmin password to remember.

If your browser blocks the pop-up, the tab shows a “Your phpMyAdmin session is ready” banner with an Open phpMyAdmin button — click that instead. The links are single-use, so when you come back later, just click the button again for a fresh session.

There’s also a phpMyAdmin shortcut right on your service overview page that takes you straight to the Databases tab.

Connect your code

Your application needs four values:

• Database name — the full prefixed name, exactly as shown in the list (e.g. youraccount_appdata)
• Username — the full prefixed username from the user list
• Password — the one you set when creating the user
• Host — shown in the control panel with your database details (open the panel from your service overview). If you can’t find it, ask us and we’ll tell you straight.

For WordPress these go in wp-config.php as DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, and DB_HOST — though if we migrated your site, that’s already done. More on running WordPress here: WordPress on Candor Host.

Deleting databases and users

The Delete button next to a database removes it and everything in it — the portal asks you to confirm because it’s permanent. Deleting a user only removes the login; the data stays.

One safety net: automatic backups are included on every plan and they cover your databases, not just your files. Each snapshot on the Backups tab shows separate status for files and databases, and a restore brings both back. Two honest caveats: restoring overwrites your current files and databases with the backed-up versions, and a restore only contains what existed when the snapshot was taken — a table you created after the most recent snapshot isn’t in it yet. Details: How backups work.

Related

• The platform, in numbers — every limit, published
• How backups work
• FTP, SSH, and files
• On Candor Deploy instead of shared hosting? Databases work differently there: Databases on Candor Deploy