TOPIC:

Tried in vain to install XOT on my local MAMP:
localhost:8888
database: toolkits_data on localhost:8889
username: root
pass: root

I keep getting the error "SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] Connection refused".

Any ideas how to solve this?

I don't know what the proper defaults are for MAMP. They are certainly different from XAMPP.

By heart everything you used sounds familiar, except the database credentials, I would expect username: root, no password. But please verify in the MAMP documentation.

I have no experience with MAMP but on a Debian server using root to log on the database I get an access denied error - even though I can log in with those credentials on the console using mysql. You could try creating a new database user and setting permissions as Unix based systems are stricter on root access through web based applications.
I have moved past this problem only to get a line 89 page2.php error which again looks like a permission error.