Pair Networks Adds Shared phpMyAdmin Install »
One of the complaints about pair Networks is that their back-end interface is a little different than a lot of hosts, and I'll have to capitulate on this point. It's not your standard cPanel host - not even a branded one.
Instead, pair has developed their own interface, dubbed the Account Control Center, where you log in to do all the necessary tasks related to your account - setting up email accounts (including related tasks), managing databases, files, billing tasks, just about anything you could want. The only difference is that it's not what you're likely to see on any of dozens of other hosts. The one thing that they didn't typically offer that most hosts did was an easy way to administer your databases. Until now.
That's not to say that you couldn't install your own copy of phpMyAdmin - or whatever you would prefer to install. You could. You just had to do it yourself, in your own web space. But for those who are used to having everything done for them, with a pretty link to get to their database, it wasn't happening.
Just recently, pair started offering a shared installation of phpMyAdmin that you can access right from the ACC. All you have to do is go to your database management screen. Then, click on the database in question and you will see a new button labeled Manage Using phpMyAdmin. Click it and away you go!
Keep in mind that you're still a customer of pair Networks, so you do have one more step to take - you'll need your database password to get to your data. But it's better than having to install your own copy (and maintain it), though there are some advantages to that as well. Namely, you can put the passwords in the configuration file and protect them with a different password so you don't have to log into different instances all the time. But most people don't need that, and for you, this will work fine.
Perhaps even better, you can access this shared installation without ever touching the ACC. Simply go to https://my-db.pair.com/phpMyAdmin/index.php and you're set. Now when you do this, you will need to know your server name, your user name and your password. So it may be even harder for you - but you don't have to log into the ACC, which means if you have a consultant of some kind logging into your account, you can let them have access to your database without letting them into the ACC, which is nice.
