Index: trunk/core/kernel/startup.php
===================================================================
diff -u -N -r8402 -r8598
--- trunk/core/kernel/startup.php	(.../startup.php)	(revision 8402)
+++ trunk/core/kernel/startup.php	(.../startup.php)	(revision 8598)
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@
 	define('SQL_USER', $vars['DBUser']);
 	define('SQL_PASS', $vars['DBUserPassword']);
 	define('SQL_DB', $vars['DBName']);
+
+	if (isset($vars['DBCollation']) && isset($vars['DBCharset'])) {
+		define('SQL_COLLATION', $vars['DBCollation']);
+		define('SQL_CHARSET', $vars['DBCharset']);
+	}
 	define('TABLE_PREFIX', $vars['TablePrefix']);
 
 
Index: trunk/core/kernel/application.php
===================================================================
diff -u -N -r8568 -r8598
--- trunk/core/kernel/application.php	(.../application.php)	(revision 8568)
+++ trunk/core/kernel/application.php	(.../application.php)	(revision 8598)
@@ -225,8 +225,8 @@
 		}
 
 		$this->Conn = new kDBConnection(SQL_TYPE, Array(&$this, 'handleSQLError') );
-		$this->Conn->Connect(SQL_SERVER, SQL_USER, SQL_PASS, SQL_DB);
 		$this->Conn->debugMode = $this->isDebugMode();
+		$this->Conn->Connect(SQL_SERVER, SQL_USER, SQL_PASS, SQL_DB);
 
 		$this->Factory = new kFactory();
 		$this->registerDefaultClasses();
Index: trunk/core/install.php
===================================================================
diff -u -N -r8397 -r8598
--- trunk/core/install.php	(.../install.php)	(revision 8397)
+++ trunk/core/install.php	(.../install.php)	(revision 8598)
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@
 
 				case 'db_config':
 					$section_name = 'Database';
-					$fields = Array ('DBType', 'DBHost', 'DBName', 'DBUser', 'DBUserPassword', 'TablePrefix');
+					$fields = Array ('DBType', 'DBHost', 'DBName', 'DBUser', 'DBUserPassword', 'DBCollation', 'TablePrefix');
 
 					if (!isset($this->systemConfig[$section_name])) {
 						$this->systemConfig[$section_name] = Array ();
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@
 				case 'db_config':
 					// 1. check if required fields are filled
 					$section_name = 'Database';
-					$required_fields = Array ('DBType', 'DBHost', 'DBName', 'DBUser');
+					$required_fields = Array ('DBType', 'DBHost', 'DBName', 'DBUser', 'DBCollation');
 					foreach ($required_fields as $required_field) {
 						if (!$this->systemConfig[$section_name][$required_field]) {
 							$status = false;
@@ -363,6 +363,16 @@
 			switch ($this->currentStep) {
 				case 'db_config':
 					// store db configuration
+					$sql = 'SHOW COLLATION
+							LIKE \''.$this->systemConfig['Database']['DBCollation'].'\'';
+					$collation_info = $this->Conn->Query($sql);
+					if ($collation_info) {
+						$this->systemConfig['Database']['DBCharset'] = $collation_info[0]['Charset'];
+
+						// database is already connected, that's why set collation on the fly
+						$this->Conn->Query('SET NAMES \''.$this->systemConfig['Database']['DBCharset'].'\' COLLATE \''.$this->systemConfig['Database']['DBCollation'].'\'');
+					}
+
 					$this->SaveConfig();
 
 					// import base data into database
@@ -622,7 +632,6 @@
 				return false;
 			}
 
-
 			$this->Conn = new kDBConnection($this->systemConfig['Database']['DBType'], Array(&$this, 'DBErrorHandler'));
 			$this->Conn->Connect($this->systemConfig['Database']['DBHost'], $this->systemConfig['Database']['DBUser'], $this->systemConfig['Database']['DBUserPassword'], $this->systemConfig['Database']['DBName']);
 			return $this->Conn->errorCode == 0;
@@ -771,6 +780,12 @@
 				if (!$sql) {
 					continue; // usually last line
 				}
+
+				if (substr($sql, 0, 13) == 'CREATE TABLE ') {
+					// it is CREATE TABLE statement -> add collation
+					$sql .= ' COLLATE \''.$this->systemConfig['Database']['DBCollation'].'\'';
+				}
+
 				$this->Conn->Query($sql);
 				if ($this->Conn->getErrorCode() != 0) {
     				$this->errorMessage = 'Error: ('.$this->Conn->getErrorCode().') '.$this->Conn->getErrorMsg().'<br /><br />Database Query:<pre>'.htmlspecialchars($sql).'</pre>';
Index: trunk/core/install/step_templates/db_config.tpl
===================================================================
diff -u -N -r8397 -r8598
--- trunk/core/install/step_templates/db_config.tpl	(.../db_config.tpl)	(revision 8397)
+++ trunk/core/install/step_templates/db_config.tpl	(.../db_config.tpl)	(revision 8598)
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 <tr class="table-color2">
 	<td class="text"><b>Server Type<span class="error">*</span>:</b></td>
-  	<td align="left"> 
+  	<td align="left">
     	<select name="DBType">
     	<?php
     		$options = Array ('mysql' => 'MySQL', /*'mssql' => 'MS-SQL Server', 'pgsql' => 'pgSQL'*/);
     		$option_tpl = '<option value="%1$s"%2$s>%3$s</option>'."\n";
-    		
+
     		foreach ($options as $option_key => $option_title) {
     			$selected = $option_key == $this->systemConfig['Database']['DBType'] ? ' selected' : '';
     			echo sprintf($option_tpl, $option_key, $selected, $option_title);
@@ -17,35 +17,51 @@
 
 <tr class="table-color2">
 	<td class="text"><b>Hostname<span class="error">*</span>:</b></td>
-	<td align="left"> 
+	<td align="left">
 		<input type="text" name="DBHost" class="text" value="<?php echo $this->systemConfig['Database']['DBHost']; ?>" />
 	</td>
 </tr>
-				            				            				            
+
 <tr class="table-color2">
 	<td class="text"><b>Database Name<span class="error">*</span>:</b></td>
-	<td align="left"> 
+	<td align="left">
 		<input type="text" name="DBName" class="text" value="<?php echo $this->systemConfig['Database']['DBName']; ?>" />
 	</td>
 </tr>
 
 <tr class="table-color2">
-  <td class="text"><b>Database User Name<span class="error">*</span>:</b></td>
-  <td align="left"> 
-	<input type="text" name="DBUser" class="text" value="<?php echo $this->systemConfig['Database']['DBUser']; ?>" />
-  </td>
-</tr>	
-			            				            				            				            
+	<td class="text"><b>Database Collation<span class="error">*</span>:</b></td>
+	<td align="left">
+		<select name="DBCollation" class="text">
+			<?php
+				$option_tpl = '<option value="%1$s"%2$s>%1$s</option>'."\n";
+				$collations = Array ('utf8_general_ci', 'latin1_swedish_ci');
+				foreach ($collations as $collation) {
+					$selected = ($collation == $this->systemConfig['Database']['DBCollation']) ? ' selected="selected"' : '';
+					echo sprintf($option_tpl, $collation, $selected);
+				}
+			?>
+		</select>
+	</td>
+</tr>
+
 <tr class="table-color2">
-  <td class="text"><b>Database User Password:</b></td>
-  <td align="left"> 
-	<input type="password" name="DBUserPassword" class="text" value="<?php echo $this->systemConfig['Database']['DBUserPassword']; ?>" />
-  </td>
+	<td class="text"><b>Database User Name<span class="error">*</span>:</b></td>
+	<td align="left">
+		<input type="text" name="DBUser" class="text" value="<?php echo $this->systemConfig['Database']['DBUser']; ?>" />
+	</td>
 </tr>
-	
+
 <tr class="table-color2">
-  <td class="text"><b>Table Name Prefix:</b></td>
-  <td align="left"> 
-	<input type="text" name="TablePrefix" class="text" maxlength="7" value="<?php echo $this->systemConfig['Database']['TablePrefix']; ?>" />
-  </td>
+	<td class="text"><b>Database User Password:</b></td>
+	<td align="left">
+		<input type="password" name="DBUserPassword" class="text" value="<?php echo $this->systemConfig['Database']['DBUserPassword']; ?>" />
+	</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr class="table-color2">
+	<td class="text"><b>Table Name Prefix:</b></td>
+	<td align="left">
+		<input type="text" name="TablePrefix" class="text" maxlength="7" value="<?php echo $this->systemConfig['Database']['TablePrefix']; ?>" />
+	</td>
 </tr>
\ No newline at end of file
Index: trunk/core/kernel/db/db_connection.php
===================================================================
diff -u -N -r8441 -r8598
--- trunk/core/kernel/db/db_connection.php	(.../db_connection.php)	(revision 8441)
+++ trunk/core/kernel/db/db_connection.php	(.../db_connection.php)	(revision 8598)
@@ -181,6 +181,11 @@
 				if (defined('DBG_SQL_MODE')) {
 					$this->Query('SET sql_mode = \''.DBG_SQL_MODE.'\'');
 				}
+
+				if (defined('SQL_COLLATION') && defined('SQL_CHARSET')) {
+					$this->Query('SET NAMES \''.SQL_CHARSET.'\' COLLATE \''.SQL_COLLATION.'\'');
+				}
+
 				$this->setDB($db);
 				$this->showError();
 			}