Solution to Classic Godaddy Windows Hosting & WordPress Problem

If you have purchased a Windows Hosting package from Godaddy and followed WordPress installation instructions you would mostly end up with the following error message:

“Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL which is required for Word”

The solution is pretty simple (though it took several hours to find it)

FIRST STEP:

Make sure that you specify the exact MySql Host Name in your wp-config.php file.

Here is the line from my wp-config.php:

define('DB_HOST', 'mysql35.secureserver.net'); // 99% chance you won't need to change this value

To find your MySQL host name, go to Godaddy’s My Account->Select My Hosting Account->Open the appropriate Control Panel->Select Databases->MySQL in the Control Panel and then select the database.

SECOND STEP:

Comment the following lines in wp-settings.php


//if ( !extension_loaded('mysql') )
// die( 'Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL which is required for WordPress.' );


We are commenting these lines because although mysql extension is loaded, the function somehow fails on GoDaddy servers. I have not gone in to details.

Thanks to the forum members who did the real work. I have only summarized the solution spread across several posts.