phpMyAdmin is a free and open-source administration tool for MySQL and MariaDB. As a portable web application written primarily in PHP, it has become one of the most popular MySQL administration tools, especially for web hosting services.
What is phpMyAdmin
- phpMyAdmin is a free software tool written in PHP, intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the Web. phpMyAdmin supports a wide range of operations on MySQL and MariaDB. Frequently used operations (managing databases, tables, columns, relations, indexes, users, permissions, etc) can be performed via the user interface, while you still have the ability to directly execute any SQL statement.
- phpMyAdmin comes with a wide range of documentation and users are welcome to update our wiki pages to share ideas and howtos for various operations. The phpMyAdmin team will try to help you if you face any problem; you can use a variety of support channels to get help.
- phpMyAdmin is also very deeply documented in a book written by one of the developers – Mastering phpMyAdmin for Effective MySQL Management, which is available in English and Spanish.
- To ease usage to a wide range of people, phpMyAdmin is being translated into 72 languages and supports both LTR and RTL languages.
- phpMyAdmin is a mature project with a stable and flexible code base; you can find out more about the project and its history and the awards it earned. When the project turned 15, we published a celebration page.
- The phpMyAdmin project is a member of Software Freedom Conservancy. SFC is a not-for-profit organization that helps promote, improve, develop, and defends Free, Libre, and Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects.
phpMyAdmin is loaded with a number of features that have helped it grow into one of the most popular database administration tools available today. Just some of these tools include:
- The user-friendly interface makes it particularly easy to manage your databases
- Allows for both the management of your MySQL and MariaDB databases
- The option to import your data from both SQL and CSV formats
- Option to export your data from numerous formats including CSV, SQL, PDF, XML, Word, Excel and many more
- The ability to administer multiple servers at once
- Build PDF graphics of the layout of your database
- The options to either search a subset of your database or perform a global search
- Change the data you have stored into any format of your choosing through the use of predefined functions
- View real-time activity charts for the monitoring of your MySQL server including CPU/RAM use, server processes, and connections
- phpMyAdmin is compatible with a number of different operating systems
How PhpMyAdmin Got Its Start
phpMyAdmin was created in September 1998 by IT consultant Tobias Ratschiller as a means to make database management easier. He appreciated a similar project called MySQL-Webadmin but looked to improve on a few of its shortcomings and features it lacked. Ratschiller was successful in creating a better database management solution, evident by the fact that it was quickly adopted by users. However, Ratschiller had to abandon working on phpMyAdmin in 2000 simply because he didn’t have the time to appropriately attend to it. His last release was made in June of that same year. Not long after, the trio of developers Loic Chapeaux, Marc Delisle and Olivier Muller was able to pick up where Ratschiller left off. Since their first release of phpMyAdmin in August 2001, the work of the three developers has helped phpMyAdmin continue to thrive and pick up steam.
PhpMyAdmin Database Management Options
With all the powerful features included within phpMyAdmin, it’s easy to forget that it’s designed to make it easier to manage your MariaDB and MySQL databases. Here are the ways phpMyAdmin makes it possible to do just that:
- Browse Tables – You can view all tables that have existing records with a click of the browse button. From there you’ll see a comprehensive list of the table’s records.
- Table Structure – Click the button to view a list of the table’s field names, attributes, types, collations and just about anything else you could want to know.
- Add Information – Click the Insert button within your phpMyAdmin install to insert records within your database.
- Search Function – Easily find any information you’re looking for within a specific table.
- Drop – Use this functionality to remove an entire table as well as any records that it contains.
- Remove Data – Similar to the drop button, the Empty button gives you the ability to remove data while still keep the newly empty table.
What is it good for?
The phpMyAdmin program is handy for performing maintenance operations on tables, backing up information, and editing things directly in the event that WordPress is not working. Occasionally, in the Support Forums, someone will post a SQL query of some benefit or other that can be run using phpMyAdmin. Although many of the same tasks can be performed on the MySQL command line, doing so is not an option for many people.
Where can I get it?
Often host control panels, such as cPanel and Plesk, have phpMyAdmin pre-installed, so there is nothing special you have to do to use it. It is usually linked from the database page. Ask your host if this is available. You can download phpMyAdmin yourself and install it from the main phpMyAdmin project page.
Warning
With great power comes great responsibility. phpMyAdmin allows you to interact with the database directly: it also lets you mess up the database directly. There is no “undo” or “undelete” in your database. Always exercise caution when working with the database.
Features
Features provided by the program include:
- Web interface
- MySQL and MariaDB database management
- Import data from CSV and SQL
- Export data to various formats: CSV, SQL, XML, PDF (via the TCPDF library), ISO/IEC 26300 – OpenDocument Text and Spreadsheet, Word, Excel, LaTeX and others
- Administering multiple servers
- Creating PDF graphics of the database layout
- Creating complex queries using query-by-example (QBE)
- Searching globally in a database or a subset of it
- Transforming stored data into any format using a set of predefined functions, like displaying BLOB-data as image or download-link
- Live charts to monitor MySQL server activity like connections, processes, CPU/memory usage, etc.
- Working with different operating systems.
- Make complex SQL queries easier.