Summary
You often hate those days, when you open your WordPress and see a white screen saying, Error Establishing Database Connection. Luckily, we have researched and found that 90% of times it is those reasons which we have defined.
What is Database?
A database is a place where your website’s data is stored. It is like an archive, or backbone of your WP. Nowadays, almost all website needs database. Databases come in different platforms, versions, perks and different functionality in them. Some of the famous databases are MSSQL & MYSQL.
WordPress uses MySql, because it is Open Source (a community based free software, anyone can use & customize), just like WordPress. So anyone can afford to use the WordPress and start blogging, setup an online shop, or just to highlight your offline business to get more customers.
Why we need Database in WordPress?
Since WordPress widely depends on the database, that means, as crucial as it is to Speed Optimize your WordPress Files & Caching, having a fast & bug free MySql Database is also important. When you download any version of WordPress, you get lots of files, and one can assume these are the files that makeup the WordPress. Yes but, these files are really there to communicate with the Database, and read, update, create, delete (CRUD) functionality in the database.
For example you Create a Post, the WordPress Core file renders the UI (User Interface), and allows you to input post related data into the MySql database. And when someone opens up your site, the core files communicate back to the database and reads the post your website visitor wants to view.
As you have understood by now, every operation you perform in your WordPress, it will communicate back and forth with the database.
Why Error Establishing Database Connection?
There are can be many reasons, like:
- Database credentials are invalid.
- Database server is down, due to some unexpected error and failed to restart on its own.
- WordPress is having a lot of traffic, which is making a lot of connection requests to the database. And your database is on a shared hosting, so you have reached your maximum connection limit.
- Your website might be hacked, and the hacker just changed the database credentials, or added some malware in your WordPress files.
How To Fix Error Establishing Database Connection?
- You can contact your hosting provider for database credentials. Add them in wp-config.php and you are good to go 🙂
- If you are on a dedicated server, you can run these commands to fix it
- In a shared hosting, you wait for few minutes, and your WP will be back on its own.
- Fixing malware on your own is very time taking, and risky. You can use some plugins to prevent it, like Sucuri, WordFence, IThemeSecuirty. But since you can’t connect to your WordPress, you might want to hire professionals for the WordPress Malware Removal job.
