Connecting to database

[Ciara McCarthy]

Hello,

Ive only started using MySQL this week and fraid im getting stuck on the basics! Im using the mysql server from a localhost and having problems connecting to the database. (im using a php programme for the mysql queries)

I can connect to mysql itself if i use the default settings: mysql_connect("localhost")

But when i try to connect to my database i keep getting the same error messages:
"Access denied for user: '@localhost' (Using password: NO)"

Ive tried creating a new user in MySQL and granting privileges such as:
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON my_database.* TO user@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'passw';

When i change the connect settings to: mysql_connect("localhost", "user", "passw")
then i dont connect to mysql, but get an error message saying:
"MySQL connection failed: Access denied for user: 'user@localhost' (Using password: YES)"

I have no idea where im going wrong!! any ideas would be much appreciated : )
thanks,
Ciara