What is MySQL (and MariaDB)?

A database stores information in an organised way so an application can find, sort and update it quickly. MySQL and its close relative MariaDB are the most widely used databases for websites.

What goes in a website’s database

• Posts, pages and products
• User accounts and hashed passwords
• Comments and orders
• Settings

Uploaded images and the application’s code are files, not database content.

The structure

• Database — a container for one application’s data, e.g. username_wp
• Tables — like spreadsheets: posts, users, options
• Rows — one record each
• Columns — fields such as title or email

Users and privileges

An application connects with a database user and password. The user has privileges on specific databases. Give each application its own user with access only to its own database. Managing database users and privileges

On Traxio

• Create databases and users in Account Manager › then MySQL Management. How to create a MySQL database in DirectAdmin
• Browse and edit data with phpMyAdmin. How to access and use phpMyAdmin
• Databases count towards your 3GB of disk space.

SQL

Applications talk to databases in SQL:

SELECT title FROM posts WHERE status = 'published' ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 5;

You don’t need to know SQL to run WordPress; it helps when troubleshooting.