Hi, for long time I use: SET NAMES utf8 SET CHARACTER SET utf8 SET character_set_results=utf8 SET character_set_connection=utf8 SET character_set_client=utf8 it's a bit superfluous but it has always worked OK. I've never expirienced any trouble with this setup. -- Jan Bednarik www.bednarik.org - web about Typo3 in czech