Creating the database

A lot of the information created in your Mahara will be stored in a database. Mahara offers support for both PostgreSQL and MySQL databases. However we prefer to use PostgreSQL. If you are interested, see http://mahara.org/interaction/forum/topic.php?id=302 for a discussion on why PostgreSQL is preferred to MySQL.

The way you create your database will depend on who you have chosen to host your Mahara. Sometimes, your web host will provide a graphical user interface to access your server database. Get in touch with your local IT expert to find out how to do this.

However, for smaller Mahara installations, we often prefer to use something like phpPgAdmin, which is a software application that allows you to manage PostgreSQL databases over the Internet. See http://phppgadmin.sourceforge.net for more information on setting up phpPgAdmin on your server.

Also see http://www.phpmyadmin.net/, for phpMyAdmin which works in a very similar way to phpPgAdmin but operates on a MySQL database.

For now, let's get on with creating a Postgres database using our phpPgAdmin panel.