"The site database appears to be down." !?

Did you get this error message in our membership website software? oops ! But there is nothing to worry.

It is a very easy-to-fix problem.

Why does this error message appear?

Whenver the membership website script fails to connect to the mentioned database it shows the error message – “The site database appears to be down.”

Please note that the PHP script tries to connect to your database system using the information you filled in “data.php” file. Now, the script assumes that all the database connection information you entered in the configuration file – “data.php” is correct and therefore when it is unable to connect to the database using those “correct” information, it assumes that the database is down or not up-and-running, and hence the error message – “The site database appears to be down.”

How to fix this problem?

Pretty simple! Review and check the database connection information in “data.php” file. Precisely, look for the following variables in “data.php” file:

You will find the database server (host name) inside your website hosting account. In case of any confusion, you may contact your hosting provider. But there is an easy way too to find it out! You may open the database in PHPMyAdmin and the host name or server name for this database is normally mentioned at the top left of the webpage.

But again, if face any problem you may either contact your web hosting provider or you can contact our technical support team and they will be able to help you out.

Apart from the database server name (host name), you should review and confirm the database name and the username and password to connect to this database. You may either create them from scratch or use an existing one.

A summary of the check list:

Review and confirm the following variables and their value in “data.php”

• $m_host : you may confirm the database server name from PHPMyAdmin
• $m_database : make sure it is a MySql database and not an MS Sql database. You can either create a new database or use an existing one
• $m_db_username and $m_db_password : make sure that the username-password pair is associated with the database. And you can either create a new database or use an existing one

The above check-list will certainly fix the problem and you won’t see this error message again.

Still the problem persists?

Please email us details of your “data.php” file. Also, the technical support team may require a temporary access to your web hosting account to find out and confirm your database server name. If required, they may also create a new database and username-password pair. Alternatively, you may also take help of your web hosting provider to find out these details.

You can email our technical support team directly at support [at] paypalmemberscript.com or fill up the technical support form here and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Wish you all the success for your membership website.

Have a great day !

- Prakash