Change MySQL-Charset from utf8 to utf8mb4 with PHPMyAdmin

Question

When I want to change MySQL-Charset from utf8 (utf8_general_ci) to utf8mb4 (utf8_unicode_ci) with PHPMyAdmin, it is sufficient when I do these things?

1. Change database collation to "utf8_unicode_ci"
2. Change tables collation to "utf8_unicodel_ci"
3. Change every text column to "utf8_unicodel_ci"
4. Change set_charset in my PHP code to "utf8mb4"

Is this correct or is something missing what to to? Where can occur any problems?

Answer 1

all coalition the same:

• for database - utf8mb4_unicode_ci
• table - utf8mb4_unicode_ci
• columns - utf8mb4_unicode_ci

if You want avoid feature mistakes with string functions by mix coalition, good also set default coalition for server:

edit my.cnf (my.ini):
[mysqld]
collation-server = utf8mb4_unicode_ci
init-connect='SET NAMES utf8mb4'
character-set-server = utf8mb4

because if You create new tables in feature not manual, but for from script - it create all new tables with default for server settings, and string function may stop work properly