Originally posted by: iskim86
I just set up a MySQL account for my webhost, wihtout knowing what it is. in order to set up a blog, I'm supposed to i think. it made a new sub-domain or something like that, and now i'm lost and don't know what to do. is it just for keeping records (database)? and if it's only for keeping records, what's the point of making a new mysql account?
As stated MySql is a database, It allows you to keep track of users, stats, registrations etc... by tying your blog to the database where the records are stored.
Lets say:
You are running 1 blog, it uses a database to store members, it also has unique table names and data. Later you decide to have a forums, you can add that to the same database using unique table names, or you can add another mysql database for the forums.
Some webmasters like to use the same database and intergrate all users to share the same database, requiring 1 login, the same username and password work on both applications. While this is nice if you ever have to reinstall the database info it can get complicated. For this reason you may choose to add a database for the forums etc...
Backups are very important, but the more you modify the software, the less reliable the backups become in some cases.
databases can store usernames, passwords, locations of the users, age, gender, topics created, topics read, post counts, avatars, the type of user ie... mod, admin, or user, groups that a user belong to, themes choices of the user, etc...
Are they necessary, no. But they can make a website more appealing to visit.
Some blogs use "FlatFiles" ie no database, but there is little user intergration, etc. You limited in the security and groups in most cases as well.
Hope this helps
Mike