How to Reset the Admin Password in Dolphin

What is Dolphin?

Dolphin, from BoonEx, is a script for building community and social websites. It stores your admin login in a database, which is a digital filing cabinet for your site's data. The password is saved in a scrambled form called a hash. So you cannot read it, but you can replace it.

The exact table and column names can differ between Dolphin versions. This guide uses names common in Dolphin 7. Look at your own database if names differ.

Steps

1. Log in to your hosting control panel.
2. Open phpMyAdmin. This is a web tool to view and edit databases.
3. Select your Dolphin database on the left.
4. Click Export and save a backup copy to your computer.
5. Open the table named Profiles. Your table may have a prefix.
6. Click Browse and find the admin account. Look at the NickName or Email column. The admin often has a Role value of 3 or the nickname "admin".
7. Note the ID of that row.

Make the new password

Dolphin 7 stores the password as an MD5 hash joined with a random "salt". The simplest way is to use the SQL tab.

8. Click the SQL tab.
9. Paste this, then change the ID and the new password:

UPDATE `Profiles`
SET `Password` = MD5(CONCAT('NewPassword123', `Salt`))
WHERE `ID` = 1;

This builds a new hash from your chosen password plus the salt that is already saved, and stores it for that user.

10. Click Go.
11. Open your admin page, usually yourdomain.com/administration/.
12. Log in with the new password.
13. Change the password to a stronger one from the admin panel.

If it does not work

• Check that the table name is right, including any prefix.
• Some versions store the password in other columns. Compare with your database before editing.
• Admin login might also use a separate table in some versions. Look for tables with "admin" in the name.

Choose a long password with letters, numbers and symbols. If you are stuck, open a support ticket.

Quick recap

• Dolphin keeps its admin password as a hash in the database.
• Back up the database in phpMyAdmin first.
• Run an UPDATE query to set a new hashed password.
• Log in, then pick a strong password.