It is required that you store all your data in Unicode format (UTF-8). New installations must be performed into databases that have their default character set as Unicode. If you are upgrading, you should perform the UTF-8 migration process (see the Admin page).
CHECKHello,
Check this out:
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=80672
Hope this may help.
MV and whoever else is interested,
You are correct about the line in config.php and the database (it's in the table mdl_config, assuming you are using the default table prefix). But as you might guess, it should only be used if you're sure your database is 100% unicode (every table and every column in every table), as I commented in the thread referenced by SH earlier in this thread. See also http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=69967#p334071.
RLE
LM,
Your attached picture shows the (default) collation of marlinpr_vle2 as utf8_unicode_ci, but what about the character set? That needs to be utf8 also.
RLE
PS As both my post to which you replied and MK's post to which mine inked say, the line in config.php only tries to trick Moodle into believing the database is Unicode. The results can be disastrous if it isn't. Furthermore, MK's post points out that the flag set in that line was recognized in Moodle 1.6, not in 1.7, but again in 1.8. Your experience seems to show that it is ignored again by 1.9! Maybe there's something about odd numbers...
LM,
OK. I have the XAMPPlite version of Moodle on my PC, so I don't have cPanel. I did download phpMyAdmin but I never installed it because I don't need to. Whatever I need to do with my database I can do with the mysql command.
So I looked for phpMyAdmin docs, both on my PC and the WWW. All I found was info on how to install, and a FAQ that deals with what if things go wrong. No user guide. Every doc refers you to a printed book that I don't have and don't plan to buy. But I got the impression that it lets you run SQL commands. So here are some SQL commands that MySQL recognizes that you can use.
To find out your database's character set, use (don't type comments in square brackets):
use marlinpr_vle2; [to make sure this database is the current one]
show character set;
To change it:
alter database marlinpr_vle2 character set utf8; [database name can be omitted it it is the current one]
RLE
LM,
RLE
LM (Leah) & LM (Lynn),
You both might benefit from my latest reply to BN (http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=82414#p365142). You (Lynn) are welcome to try the same query I gave her, and post the results. The more the merrier! 
As for you (Leah), I gave them the query I did because they are using MySQL. You haven't said what type of database you are using, so that may or may not apply to you. If you are using a different type, fell free to post it and I will see what query, if any, is appropriate. One of the types (Oracle or MS SQL Server, I forget which) isn't tested at all because it is always assumed to be Unicode.
RLE
Lynn M,
OK. Assuming the correct database (vle2) was the active one when you ran that query, that is the reason Moodle doesn't believe your database is Unicode. Problem is, we are getting conflicting information from phpMyAdmin: in your earlier post you showed a screenshot of phpMyAdmin executing the ALTER DATABASE query and reporting it had done so successfully, so the character set of the database should be utf8. On the other hand, the character_set_database variable says it is still latin1.
Maybe the problem is in the database prefix marlinpr. I don't know enough about phpMyAdmin to know whether I was wrong to include it in the ALTER DATABASE query I gave you. Maybe it should have been just _vle2. If so, since it reported a successful execution of that query, maybe what it did was create a new database called marlinprmarlinpr_vle2, and make its character set utf8. You might want to check your list of databases for that. If that's what happened, try the ALTER DATABASE query again with just _vle2 as the database name.
Otherwise, it looks like there is a bug in either phpMyAdmin or MySQL itself that is causing it to maintain inconsistent info on databases. (I'm assuming the database is still empty. If a latin1 table was added to it, that is probably the problem.) Either the database really is utf8, and the variable Moodle is using to check it is wrong, or it really is latin1, and it didn't really execute the ALTER DATABASE query correctly. If that is true, I don't know what workaround Moodle could do; maybe the developers do. So let's pin this down and report the results to the tracker.
In the meantime, the only suggestion I would have if there really is a bug in MySQL regarding changing character sets of databases, is to drop the database and recreate it. I know it can do that because I have a utf8 MySQL database on my computer.
RLE
Lynn M,
OK. Now I have seen your latest comment at MDL-11743 (I've added one too). My response is: yes, you could install MySQL on your home computer and create a Unicode database. But uploading it is problematic. For one thing,
Even if you did all that, I'm not 100% sure it would work. MySQL might not recognize a database it didn't create, and it might need to have a record of it in its own database. So I don't recommend it.
Is there some way you can run the mysql utility (instead of phpMyAdmin) on your server (for example, with telnet or ssh, or a shell command feature in cPanel)? That's what I use on my XAMPPlite installation of Moodle 1.8.2 on my PC. I don't know if cPanel has a shell feature, but if it is anything like WebMin's, it won't work.
If none of that helps, I can think of only one alternative: find a web host that will let you create Unicode databases!
RLE
Lynn M,
You're right. I did misunderstand you.
I was going to suggest asking your host's tech support about creating a Unicode database, but you have saved me the trouble. They seem kind of hostile.
I also see I don't need to persuade you against using Fantastico. I guess you are already aware of the problems with it.
Anyway, it might be interesting to see what happens. Because my next suggestion would have been to run a create database query to make a Unicode database, and see what it does with that. It apparently sabatoged your alter database query; would it do the same with create? Undoubtedly the sql file you upload will begin (after the header) with a create database query. Will that be executed without modification? I can't wait to find out!
So far, it seems that they won't allow you to create a Unicode database with phpMyAdmin, but they will allow Fantistico to create one. I don't know whether this is normal for phpMyAdmin, or whether they have modified it or reconfigured it.
All the watchers and commenters at MDL-11743 will surely be interested in the result of your import.
RLE
