In order to neutralize having to navigate through hundreds of databases when it comes time to transfer a project live, we have decided to run multiple instances of each application in just one database.
Utilizing this method served two-fold in that:
- We can easily achieve this strategy in both Joomla!TM and Wordpress during the installation process and
- Increase the site security by default, due to the way this needs to be setup to work.
By changing the database table prefix you can effectively run as many instances of Joomla! and Wordpress in the same database as you would like. We still keep each application separate, in it's own database and employ the following attributes to each instance.
- While the default Joomla! database install is jos_ >> We keep the underscore & use 3-5 different letters that are related to the project in some way
- The Wordpress default table prefix is wp_ >> We keep the underscore here also and use a 2-4 letter prefix naming convention
Now transferring a database only requires selecting, dumping and dropping the tables that are related to that project. We can also locate each respective database faster due to only having to memorize 2-5 character table prefixes instead of 20+ character database names.
In conclusion:
- Separate databases for each application Joomla / Wordpress
- Multiple instances of each application in their respective databases:
A db for Joomla & One for Wordpress - In cases where remote access is required to the database, we still keep these separate from those that don't
