Untangling a multi-site account.
THE RELIABLE METHOD
Read each site's configuration file.
- WordPress:
wp-config.php, the DB_NAME value - Joomla: configuration.php, the db value
- Laravel:
.env, DB_DATABASE
That is definitive. Names alone are not.
WHY IT MATTERS
With five sites and five databases on one account, guessing wrong means restoring the wrong data over a working site.
WHAT TO RECORD
A simple list: domain, directory, database name, database user.
Keep it off the server, with your site documentation.
IF THE NAMES ARE UNHELPFUL
Databases named db1 through db5 tell you nothing. You cannot rename them safely without updating configurations, but you can record the mapping.
CHECKING FROM THE OTHER DIRECTION
In phpMyAdmin, look at a database's content. A WordPress site's options table contains the site URL, which identifies it immediately.
That is the quickest way to identify an unlabelled database.
BEFORE ANY DESTRUCTIVE ACTION
Confirm which database you are working on. Read the name at the top of the screen.
