function connect_db() {
    $servername = "localhost";
    $db_username = "root";
    $db_password = "root";
    $db_name = "wikibadge";

    try {
        $conn = new PDO("mysql:host=$servername;dbname=$db_name;charset=utf8", $db_username, $db_password);
        // set the PDO error mode to exception
        $conn->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
        $conn->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES, false);
        $conn->setAttribute(PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND, "SET NAME'utf8'");

        echo "\nPDO connection object created\n";

        return $conn;
    } catch (PDOException $e) {
        echo "Error: " . $e->getMessage();
    }
}