Alternatives to phpMyAdmin

[garypigott]

If like me you found the web-based database UI "phpMyAdmin" to be cumbersome, slow, and a bit of a pain to use - there are various free PHP based alternatives.

If you're interested have a look at my blog post at http://www.webdesignstuff.co.uk/pg904/2012/01/04/free-alternatives-to-phpadmin/

Cheers (and Happy 2012)
:D

[David]

Thanks Gary, I'll have to check those out. I've been using phpMyAdmin for so long now that I've got blind to it and I'm sure there must be good alternatives. There are also a number of desktop apps that can be used to manipulate remote databases. The commercial ones are quite expensive but Workbench is an open source GUI developed by MySQL. See what you think: http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/workbench/

[garypigott]

Hi David, I did have a look at that but they only seemed to have downloads for 32bit versions of Windows, I have also googled it and cant find any 64 bit versions - I have just checked some of the forums and there appears to be mixed opinions about whether it will work under 64 bit...

I'll give it a try and feedback.

UPDATE
======
Just installed it and it appears to work fine on with my version of windows, got it talking to my local db easily, still trying to work out the connection options for my remote database - may need to email EcoWeb help for this one.

LATER UPDATE:
============
I've now got the remote connection to work (thanks to Rob at EcoWebHosts), massive improvement on phpMyAdmin - so will probably use this version instead of the web app.

[James]

Gary, what don't you like about phpmyadmin? I use it on a daily basis, I don't think it is perfect, but I am reassured by its long history and it has never done anything awful to my databases.
The interface of the latest version is an improvement over earlier versions.

[garypigott]

Hi James,

I've only just started using phpMyAdmin so part of my issue(s) may be lack of knowledge, but comparing it with database UI's that I've used previously (particularly SQL Server Management Studio) I found:

- interface very clunky
- very slow (although this may be a hosting issue or my ISP)
- data edit wizard is single record pane (what you want is something akin to the input array style approach of SQL Server) and is slow
- create table wizard/window I found horrible to use with speed issues etc...

But the main complaint I had was its speed. Having tried the free PHP versions I've just installed - I found them to be much faster and have better (in my opinion) UI's, and of those I liked sqlBuddy the best.

The windows version of MySQL Workbench which I've just downloaded appears looks good, particularly the data edit pane (which is much better than what I was using in phpMyAdmin) and if I can get this to connect to my remote database then this would probably be the best solution.

I can't comment on the reliability of any of these although I would assume they should be ok (particularly the Workbench version as its an Oracle product like MySQL).

:)

[jim]

Hi Gary,

I must admit I'm with James on this one, although I'll have to read your blog post rounding up the other options. Since phpMyAdmin is hosted I think the speed does depend on the host - I use Heart Internet (http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/) for hosting and WAMP (http://www.wampserver.com/en/) on my own machine and often phpMyAdmin is faster and more response remotely than locally!

[garypigott]

Guys, I'm happy for you to use whatever database front-end you want - I would just ask have you tried MySQL Workbench yet ?

Personally I didn't like phpMyAdmin from the start, having used SQL Server I felt its interface was far inferior. I do take the point related to the performance issues (which I had already mentioned in my blog) but I was finding the other alternatives (including the Windows version) to be faster than the phpMyAdmin control panel which kind of puts paid to the hosting performance point.

Anyway I'm sticking with MySQL Workbench and phpMyAdmin will (from now) be just a memory.