In modern web applications, it is very important to use the appropriate character set for multilingual support, emojis, symbols, and special characters. The default utf8 character set in MySQL does not actually provide full Unicode support; therefore, the utf8mb4 character set should be preferred. In this article, we will explain the reasons, benefits, and how to convert an existing table to the utf8mb4 character set step by step.

Why Should We Use utf8mb4?

utf8mb4 offers true full Unicode support.
It supports 4-byte characters such as emojis and Chinese alphabet.
utf8 only supports up to 3 bytes, so data loss or errors may occur.
Character compatibility is critical for SEO, mobile, and social media integration.

How to Convert Databases and Tables?

The basic SQL command used to convert the character set of a table is as follows:

ALTER TABLE ekasunucu CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

What this command does:

Converts all text fields (VARCHAR, TEXT, etc.) in the ekasunucu table to the utf8mb4 character set.
utf8mb4_unicode_ci is used for comparison. This sorts Unicode characters correctly.

Step-by-Step Conversion Guide

Take a Backup
Always take a full backup of your database first:
```
mysqldump -u root -p veritabaniadi > yedek.sql
```

Change the Database Character Set

ALTER DATABASE veritabaniadi CHARACTER SET = utf8mb4 COLLATE = utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

Convert All Tables
You can use the following command for each table:

ALTER TABLE tabloadi CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

Setting Up Newly Created Tables
Make sure utf8mb4 is set in your database configuration files:
```
[mysqld]
character-set-server = utf8mb4
collation-server = utf8mb4_unicode_ci
```
Then restart the MySQL server:
```
systemctl restart mysql
```

Converting your database to the utf8mb4_unicode_ci character set provides multilingual content support and ensures compatibility with modern web standards. This conversion helps you resolve potential character encoding problems in advance. Remember to convert tables individually and do not skip the backup process. Character set compatibility is one of the cornerstones of database health.