title: mySQL database changes when I open a field in phpmyadmin, but I don't make any change
body: <p>I have a wordpress site, and a template with demo-data installed. When I open some fields up in phpmyadmin, even if I make no changes and select some other field, it does an update to the field. No problem, it updates nothing, because I made zero changes. What happens then is the wordpress site's front end goes haywire, because SOMETHING changed in the field I was simply examining. The field in question has a large chunk of HTML code in it, and quite a few ; and " characters in it...</p>
  
  <p>I think when I open the field and close it, the update command parses what's in the field, and it see's the ; and " all over the place... I could be wrong. Anyway when I look at the data and copy it, either by mysql shell query or by phpmyadmin, and update it EXACTLY back into the DB like it was before, SOMETHING is changing, but even using a notepad++ compare plugin and looking at the data every way I can, there is no change to it...</p>
  
  <p>Does this make any sense? It's driving me nuts!</p>
  
  <p>This is a wordpress site using a rocket theme, with the gantry framework in case anyone is familiar...</p>
  
  <p>Here is a video demonstration of this issue</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljXTDKKmUUw" rel="noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljXTDKKmUUw</a></p>
  
  <p>Ok, the answer seems to be, that if data is stored serialized in an array inside a field, it must be unserialized with php first to be read and serialized again with php to be written.</p>
  
  <p>Apparently this is a common problem with wordpress, and causes allot of frustration when people try to do database migrations that change url lengths.</p>
  
  <p>I learned allot more about this problem here:
  <a href="http://wpgarage.com/tips/data-portability-and-data-serialization-in-wordpress/" rel="noreferrer">http://wpgarage.com/tips/data-portability-and-data-serialization-in-wordpress/</a> </p>