Why is my phpMyAdmin displaying garbled text despite correct MySQL and webpage encoding?

Troubleshooting UTF-8 Display Issues in phpMyAdmin

When working with a database containing non-English characters, it is important to ensure that UTF-8 encoding is correctly configured. While issue-free operation in the MySQL command line and webpages suggests a proper setup, viewing the same data in phpMyAdmin can sometimes reveal garbled text. This guide explores the potential causes and solutions to address this issue.

Verifying Database Configuration

First, verify that the database is correctly set to UTF-8. If the database was migrated from an older version of MySQL or an incompatible web application, it may still contain latin1 encoding. Check the CREATE DATABASE statement to confirm the character set:

CREATE DATABASE `japanese` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;

Additionally, inspect the charset collation settings for the affected tables. latin1_general_ci should be replaced with utf8_general_ci for correct UTF-8 handling.

Correcting Data Encoding

If the database is properly configured, the issue may lie with the data itself being stored incorrectly. To address this, follow these steps:

1. Back up the database as a .sql file.
2. Open the file in a UTF-8 capable text editor.
3. Replace all instances of latin1_general_ci with utf8_general_ci.
4. Save the file as a new SQL file, avoiding overwriting the backup.
5. Import the new file into the database to ensure correct display in phpMyAdmin.

Client-Side Configuration for PHP

For PHP web applications using the php-mod-mysql extension, adding the following configuration to my.ini is crucial:

[mysql]
default-character-set=utf8
[mysqld]
default-character-set=utf8

Additionally, use the mysql_query("SET NAMES UTF8") statement after mysql_connect() to ensure correct character encoding.

Modernization Recommendation

While addressing the issue is possible, it is highly recommended to use modern PHP frameworks such as CodeIgniter or Zend. These frameworks employ mysqli or PDO to connect to databases, eliminating the problems associated with php-mod-mysql. By embracing modern frameworks, you can improve the performance, scalability, and database independence of your project.

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