I have a site that is going to use Wordpress within the main server www directory as it's blog engine. I know for a fact that the credentials are correct because I have no problem logging into PHPMyAdmin with them, so I'm almost positive that this is a server configuration issue. Has anyone else encountered this, and if so how do you resolve the issue. If it helps at all the site is hosted on Media Temple.
Just logging into phpMyAdmin through a hosting company does not mean you have the correct credentials for a database. For example, my hosting provider keeps all logins the same across cPanel / phpMyAdmin, but I have separate usernames / passwords for my databases.
You need to make sure that you:
From there, you will most likely choose 'localhost' as your database's host and enter your MySQL username and password.
This is pretty detailed and should walk you through the installation: http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress
Or it looks like they offer one-click install: http://kb.mediatemple.net/questions/913/Installing+WordPress+using+the+1-Click+Application+Tool
Also don't forget that Media Temple shared hosting servers do not allow use of localhost. You need to go into your panel to find your server name if it is not a DV.
http://kb.mediatemple.net/questions/4/Why+can't+I+connect+to+my+MySQL+database+from+PHP%3F#gs