Title: Database problem
Last modified: May 20, 2020

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# Database problem

 *  Resolved [qlm95](https://wordpress.org/support/users/qlm95/)
 * (@qlm95)
 * [6 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-problem-55/)
 * Yoast SEO had problems creating the database tables needed to speed up my site.
 * Debug information :
    AddCollationToTables – Error executing ‘query’ with: ALTER
   TABLE wpca_yoast_migrations CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4_unicode_ci Reason:
   Unknown character set: ‘utf8mb4_unicode_ci’
 * Here is the feedback of my host :
    The utf8mb4_unicode_ci collation is unavailable
   on the SQL server, you must use utf8mb4_general_ci
 * What to do now ?

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  Plugin Support [Maybellyne](https://wordpress.org/support/users/maybellyne/)
 * (@maybellyne)
 * [6 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-problem-55/#post-12864364)
 * Hello [@qlm95](https://wordpress.org/support/users/qlm95/),
 * Thanks for reaching out.
 * Yoast SEO was unable to create the new tables because you haven’t defined a CHARSET
   in your wp-config.php file. Please, refer to this [report](https://github.com/Yoast/wordpress-seo/issues/15151#issuecomment-626906376)
   for more information.
 * You may try the following steps:
    - Edit your wp-config.php file using the File Manager plugin and to add the 
      following line: define(‘DB_CHARSET’, ‘utf8’); [See this screenshot for reference](https://imgur.com/undefined)
    - Deactivate Yoast SEO
    - Go to Tools > Yoast Test and click on the “Reset indexables tables and migrations”
      button
    - Activate Yoast SEO v14.1
    - Go to SEO > Tools and notice that the “Yoast SEO was unable to create the 
      database tables” warning doesn’t appear anymore. Instead, there’s a button
      to “Start processing and speed up your site now”
    - You may try the aforementioned steps on your live site. Please, before doing
      so, for the health and safety of your site, we recommend creating a backup
      of your site and database. Learn more about the [benefits of regular backups](https://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Backups).
    - It’d also be advisable to get confirmation from your hosting provider that
      this process won’t cause any damage or downtime to your website.
    - Many thanks.
 *  Thread Starter [qlm95](https://wordpress.org/support/users/qlm95/)
 * (@qlm95)
 * [6 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-problem-55/#post-12879065)
 * Hello @maybellynen, thank you for the tip.
    I can’t find the Tools > Yoast Test
   Where is that ? When I deactivate and activate again Yoast SEO without doing 
   that step it still shows the error.
 *  [Md Mazedul Islam Khan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mazedulislamkhan/)
 * (@mazedulislamkhan)
 * [6 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-problem-55/#post-12879443)
 * You’ll need to install and activate the [Yoast Test Helper plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/yoast-test-helper/)
   to find the Tools → Yoast Test option to reset the indexables tables and migrations.
 *  [Jerlyn](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jerparx/)
 * (@jerparx)
 * [6 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-problem-55/#post-12910192)
 * Hi [@qlm95](https://wordpress.org/support/users/qlm95/) ,
 * We’re closing this thread because we haven’t heard back from you in a while. 
   Should you have further questions, please open a [new thread](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordpress-seo/).

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘Database problem’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/wordpress-seo/assets/icon-256x256.gif?rev=3419908)
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 * 4 replies
 * 4 participants
 * Last reply from: [Jerlyn](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jerparx/)
 * Last activity: [6 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/database-problem-55/#post-12910192)
 * Status: resolved