Thread

Hi there,

here is the scenario:
I have 2 websites, feed by 1 database (mostly same tables, same data). That means I need to have the data from the database also for 1 website (non EE) in ISO-8859-1 and cannot change the encoding of the database!

Therefore the second website (EE2) needs to be in ISO-8859-1 also. But when I change the encoding to ISO-8859-1 in the config editor ($config[‘charset’]) the umlauts break the title _and_ the templates right before the first umlaut.

Any ideas?

Gerd
PS: v2.3.1 - Build: date 20111017

Anybody?

Nobody???

Could somebody from technical support please answer my question!

Hi Gerd,

I’m sorry you feel like you had to wait an undue amount of time for a response. As you can see from our support policy, we strive to have a response to everyone in the forums within one business day of posting. While we’re running a little behind right now, I know that’s not really any solace to you. So on behalf of the support team, I do apologize for your wait.

To answer your question, EE2 must be run with encoding set to UTF-8, and that’s including charset encoding for the files as well as the database. The config variable you changed in your config.php file actually doesn’t dictate the encoding of the database and is below the lines meant to end user-configurable settings:

// END EE config items

If your other website’s database must be encoded with something other than UTF-8, you will need to give EE its own database so that it may be UTF-8 encoded.

Does this help clear things up?

Thanks, but it does not clear up anything. Regarding the wait. I am really frustrated, because I am using the paid EE for a reason: Fast customer service and I feel like I should have gotten the free version instead if the customer service is so slow.

As I said I need to use 1 database for all my sites. The database is in iso-8859-1. The new site has to use the same database (with all the common data).

EE has its own independant database of course, but what I want to do is to use EE as the new system for new data, layout etc. but I also have to display data from the common data database (iso-8859-1).

User Guide: The character encoding used for the channel. Most channels will use “utf-8” or “iso-8859-1”, but other encodings can be specified. This information is available as a variable for use in the channel Templates. A drop-down list is available for selection.

I used EE1 and did not have a problem. What is the last EE version, where I can have my new channels in iso-8859-1?

Is there anybody who could please answer within a day? We are running an business here and you guys promised customer service! Where is it???

Gerd,

Again, I’m sorry you feel like you’re having to wait an undue amount of time for a response. Like I said, we’re just running a little behind right now, but we’re working hard to get everyone an answer as soon as possible.

I’m afraid I won’t have a solution for you that you’ll like. EE2 requires the database to be encoded UTF-8, and there’s just no way around it. If the other parts of your site that require database access must have a database that’s encoded differently, then technical limitations dictate that you must use two different databases.

Perhaps that doesn’t provide a solution to you, but does that at least help you understand the technical limitations within which you’re working?

I DO have 2 different databases! One is utf-8 which is the EE2 database and this one is responsible for layout header, footer, sidebar, navigation and upcoming new data etc. The second one is the database for a bunch of old data which has to be also shown on the website but needs to be in ISO-8859-1. But when I include data from that iso.. database into the new layout (EE2 utf-8) there is a mix up with character encoding.

If EE2 is not able to do what I would like to do - that’s fine.

But if you could answer my question from my last post: EE1 did not have a problem with ISO-8859-1. So again, what is the latest version EE1 & EE2 which can handle my needs?

This is getting ridiculous Kevin!

Obviously nobody from Ellis Lab gives a rats ass about helping your paying customers. Every time you “answer” my question, without really reading it completely, I have to explain everything again and then I have to wait another 1-2 days until you get back to me with another unrelated, unqualified answer!

I am from Germany and I am used to bad customer service, but what you guys are doing - or not doing - really beats everything I have experienced when it comes to customer service.

I bought several licenses of EE for my customers, but that is going to end right now.

I really feel scammed by Ellis Lab and I am asking you to refund the money I spend on EE and the add-ons I bought.

Gerd,

I’m sorry you feel scammed. Honest, we’re not trying to scam you. We’re down a tech support agent right now, which is why we’re hiring a new one. We love and care about our community, so we only want to hire the best to take care of you. And if I’ve learned anything in the last year, it’s that hiring great people takes time.

So I don’t disagree; our response times are not what we’d like them to be right now, but I hope you can see that we’re working on improving that in a very real way as quickly as we can. I understand you’ve been using EE for years but only recently needed direct support for it yourself. Unfortunately, you needed us most when we were short a support agent and weren’t able to meet your expectations. If you really do want to move to a different system and would like refunds for your licenses, I understand. We’ll be glad to make the exception for you; just email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with the license numbers you’d like refunded.

I have 2 websites, feed by 1 database (mostly same tables, same data). That means I need to have the data from the database also for 1 website (non EE) in ISO-8859-1 and cannot change the encoding of the database!

Therefore the second website (EE2) needs to be in ISO-8859-1 also.

As I said I need to use 1 database for all my sites. The database is in iso-8859-1. The new site has to use the same database (with all the common data).

I DO have 2 different databases! One is utf-8 which is the EE2 database and this one is responsible for layout header, footer, sidebar, navigation and upcoming new data etc. The second one is the database for a bunch of old data which has to be also shown on the website but needs to be in ISO-8859-1.

As to your questions above, forgive me for not understanding. In your initial post, you said you had 2 websites fed by 1 database. And in that first post, this was your initial question:

Therefore the second website (EE2) needs to be in ISO-8859-1 also. But when I change the encoding to ISO-8859-1 in the config editor ($config[‘charset’]) the umlauts break the title _and_ the templates right before the first umlaut.

Since EE requires its database to be UTF-8 encoded, the answer, based on the information you initially provided, seemed simple enough.

But when I include data from that iso.. database into the new layout (EE2 utf-8) there is a mix up with character encoding.

Ok, I understand now that you want to pull information from a second, non-EE database into EE to display it on your website. That makes sense now, but Gerd, that’s the first time you said that. I understand now what you ultimately wanted to accomplish, but please understand that this wasn’t communicated at the time. I was answering the questions you were asking me.

So now, let’s put all the cards on the table: help me understand how you’re going about pulling in content from the second database. Encoding isn’t an easy topic, so rather than give you answers based on my assumptions about your setup (since that’s really not worked so far in this thread), let’s talk specifics about how your website operates and I’ll see if I can get you a better answer based on that information.

What are you doing to display data from this ISO-8859-1 database in EE?

Is that data from the ISO-8859-1 database, and ISO-8859-1 database itself, still being used by another site, or could you export that data and bring it into EE and EE’s UTF-8 database?

You said that EE1 didn’t have a problem doing this. Specifically, what were you doing in EE1 that you’re unable to do now in EE2?

Please be clear and as detailed as possible in your answers so that I can better understand and get you a better quality answer quickly. Thanks Gerd!