Hi, we have a forum issue with internationalization. We can use characters like á, í, ø etc. but when trying to post compound characters like ā we get a database error. Is this because mySQL is not configured automatically by Moodle 2.x as UTF-8?
Sorry, I forgot to mention that we are working with a brand-new SimpleScripts installation of Moodle 2.2.3. The same thing happens if I try to use compound characters anywhere in the site. This leads me to wonder if SimpleScripts did not configure the database with the UTF-8 charset.
Hi David,
I don't think Moodle sets the UTF-8, I think it requires it already set in the database being used, and as far as i can remember, in a normal install, it checks for this before proceding. However, i can't speak for the SimpleScript installation, never having used it, but it does seem that your suggestion is the most likely reason for the issues you have come across. Perhaps you need to contact your hosts to correct this?
Richard
The installer can reset the charset, but it may not be the right one. For example, some cPanel installations have set to a utf-8_swedish_ci and another reported a latin_swedish_ci charset. While I do not think I have seen one of these for a while, they can still happen. You may want to look at the database and see what charset it is set up as with phpMyAdmin for MySQL, or phpPGadmin for postgres. Your host should provide you with an appropriate tool. BTW, it should be utf-8_general_ci.
Colin, this is very helpful. That would explain why some compound characters appear to work, and not others.
I just checked the database using phpMyAdmin and it appears that most tables are collated with latin1_swedish_ci. That would explain it! I am trying to get my provider to run the process given here. Hopefully that will fix it.
Our web host does not provide support for executing UNIX shell commands like those required to convert our Moodle database charset. You know and we know that is BS; but anyway we need some help with this process. We are not UNIX hackers, and have no time or desire to learn all the stuff required to complete this process. Can any knowledgeable user help us out by running the commands?