Title: Database confusion… Last modified: August 21, 2016 --- # Database confusion… * Resolved [siratfus](https://wordpress.org/support/users/siratfus/) * (@siratfus) * [12 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-confusion/) * In watching various online tutorials, it seems like one of the common steps is to create a database in mysql, add a user and password, etc. My problem is that I’ve never learned to understand mysql database. I use bluehost and I install wordpress for all sites that I create, and I guess when you install wordpress, they automatically set all that stuff for you. I never bothered to understand databases. * Here’s my question, if the desired destination already has a wordpress site, that means a database has already been created for it, right? So do I still need to manually create a new database? * If the answer is no, then my gut feeling is that you guys will tell me that to use an existing database, I will need to know the user, password, and the database name, correct? If that is the case, how do I know which database belongs to which website? The mysql naming system looks like a foreign language to me. * Please advise, thank you for your time! * [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/duplicator/](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/duplicator/) Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total) * Thread Starter [siratfus](https://wordpress.org/support/users/siratfus/) * (@siratfus) * [12 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-confusion/#post-3880111) * Okay, I’ve figured out how to read mysql database and to match each of them to my domains. So you guys don’t need to show me that aspect. * So the question remains… if the desired destination already has a wordpress site, can I use the credentials of that existing database, or do I still need to create a new database? Does it even matter either way? * [milkymedia](https://wordpress.org/support/users/milkymedia/) * (@milkymedia) * [12 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-confusion/#post-3880119) * It needs an empty database, so I usually just create a new one. You don’t need to install over an existing wordpress install. * But if you want to do that, tick ‘Table Removal’ on the installer page, it will remove all tables from the database that already exists. * Thread Starter [siratfus](https://wordpress.org/support/users/siratfus/) * (@siratfus) * [12 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-confusion/#post-3880125) * But if I do not install over an existing wordpress install, how does the domain know which wordpress site to pull up? * What I want to do is move a wordpress site I’ve been developing under a sub-domain, shop.example.com. I want to move it to my main domain, example.com. Right now, example.com is a wordpress site too. * I’m a newbie btw. Not just to this plugin, but to the overall web-hosting structure. So if my questions seem elementary or silly, please keep that in mind. LOL! * [milkymedia](https://wordpress.org/support/users/milkymedia/) * (@milkymedia) * [12 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-confusion/#post-3880131) * Dont install wordpress from cPanel. * If you already have stuff in your root folder then you can install the new site on another subdomain. * Create the subdomain in Cpanel (newsite.example.com or whatever) then copy the package and installer file into that subdomain folder. * Having created the new database, go to newsite.example.com/installer.php, enter the database details and off you go. * When you have resaved the permalinks, go to the settings page and change the bits (both of them) where it says newsite.example.com to the main domain name example.com. * Now, in cPanel go to domain manager and set your example.com domain to point at the subdomain newsite.example.com. * Done. * I’ve done this for hundreds of sites and its fine every time. * Thread Starter [siratfus](https://wordpress.org/support/users/siratfus/) * (@siratfus) * [12 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-confusion/#post-3880135) * Seems like you’re trying to preserve the contents of my main domain/root folder. It is not important. * Could I go into mysql and delete the database that correlates with my root folder? Then install the package and installer in the root? * Then we wouldn’t need to worry about pointing or redirecting? * Thread Starter [siratfus](https://wordpress.org/support/users/siratfus/) * (@siratfus) * [12 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-confusion/#post-3880191) * Thanks for all the advice Milkymedia! I learned a lot these past few days. This plugin is awesome. * I closed my eyes and did some testing. I found out, it’s okay to install it in an existing wordpress site folder. And you can use the existing database user, password. After you input all the credentials at the installer.php set-up page, it’ll give you an error because of an existing wp-config.php file. You’ll need to delete it. The installer will then overwrite all existing files. I also did a trial run on a fresh install with a brand-new sub-domain. Everything went smooth as well. * I’m curious of one thing though. All these testings are done with subdomains, and subdomains act like their own website. So I get it. What if we just created a folder instead of a subdomain? So instead of newsite.example.com, it would be example.com/newsite. What happens if you do that? Will you have website within a website? Or will that completely wipeout the example.com website? * [Cory Lamle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/corylamleorg/) * (@corylamleorg) * [12 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-confusion/#post-3880216) * Hey siratfus, * Never really tried that scenario so I’m not 100% sure. I’m sure with some tweaks to your web server you could make it work just like a sub-domain. If you do try it be sure to use a non-production environment as I’m not sure of the results… Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total) The topic ‘Database confusion…’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/duplicator/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=2906985) * [Duplicator - Backups & Migration Plugin - Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More](https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/duplicator/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/duplicator/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/duplicator/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/duplicator/reviews/) ## Tags * [WordPress-Database](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/wordpress-database/) * 7 replies * 3 participants * Last reply from: [Cory Lamle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/corylamleorg/) * Last activity: [12 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-confusion/#post-3880216) * Status: resolved