Database collation should be utf8mb4_unicode_ci

[ralf-krause]

Describe the bug

The MoodleBox database collation is utf8mb4_general_ci and should be utf8mb4_unicode_ci instead.
Please look at https://docs.moodle.org/403/en/MySQL_full_unicode_support

To Reproduce

You can see the database collations when you get http://moodlebox.home/adminer.php
And you should see the database collation in the Moodle config.php

Expected behavior

I think your setting with the collation utf8mb4_general_ci should be no problem as long as nobody gets a collation mix in the database. I heart about the mix problem in https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=455362 . I can’t say if the installation of a plugin will be able to add database tables with a different collation.

Additional context

• Raspberry Pi 4B
• MoodleBox 4.6.0
• MoodleBox plugin 2.17.4
• Moodle 4.3.3+ (20240215)

Screenshots

No screenshot

[martignoni]

Did you experience any problems with current utf8mb4_general_ci collation? (other than MoodleHQ recommendation)

I just verified the whole DB has the same utf8mb4_general_ci collation, so the mixed collation shouldn't be an issue.

Anyway, following upstream recommendations is always a good idea, so I'll fix this.

[ralf-krause]

As I wrote utf8mb4_general_ci should be no problem as long as nobody gets a collation mix in the database. I can‘t say from which reason the database get‘s a collation mix … could it be a plugin installation? Could it be a Moodle course restored from a platform with a different collation?