Before running the installation, a MySQL database will need to be created. Most hosting companies provide a control panel that contains all the tools necessary to create databases. Since different hosts offer different control panels, we won't be able to provide specific instructions on this task. Please read through your host's documentation or contact them directly to find the location of your host's control panel.

Two of the more popular control panels that hosts use are Plesk and cPanel. Instructions for managing databases with Plesk are available here. (http://download1.sw-soft.com/Plesk/Plesk7.5/Doc/plesk-7.5r-clients-guide-html/ch03s54.html) Instructions for managing databases with cPanel are available here (http://www.cpanel.net/docs/cpanel/) (click on "MySQL Databases" in the table of contents.)

Some notes regarding database creation:

• You will need to make up three things when creating your database - the database name, a database username and a password. Each of these three items can be pretty much anything you like - just remember to write them down! You will need them later.
• Some hosts append your account name to your database name. For example, if you name your database 'classifieds' (without the quotes!), your host may refer to this database as 'youraccountname_classifieds'. The same thing may occur with the database username you create ('youraccountname_username'). Typically, the only thing that remains exactly the same is the password you assign.
• Most control panels will review the values to use (such as 'youraccountname_classifieds') on the main database page after the database is created.
• On a vast majority of hosts, the location of the database will be 'localhost'. You can verify this on the main database page after the database is created.