I discovered the following about OS X, WordPress Upgrade and PHP:
– OS X does not recognize .htaccess (due to Unix). I found this out the hard way in Step 2 of https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Upgrading_WordPress_Extended. Hopefully a note for OS X can be added. The FTP software indicated the download was complete but the file was nowhere to be found. Essentially, our theme designer had to make a new .htaccess file to get the site back up.
If you cannot reach myPHPadmin, switch to Safari, a PC, or ensure the Firefox popup window is not blocked.
If you can’t find the tools for database administration, keep going deeper. The help page listing of tools on the home page is not always correct.