If a item does not exist it gives a :

"Fatal error: MySQL Error: ( SELECT * FROM [prefix]albums WHERE id = ) failed. MySQL returned the error MySQL not connected in /home1/glamwor2/public_html/clients.zen.com/zp-core/functions-db-MySQL.php on line 69"

$imageobject = getItemByID("images", '4000'); (wrong or removed ID)

any way to check the if exists to avoid this error so I can do a proper exit out the code?

The function can be improved to test the result of the first query and abort if it fails. But the error you report is strange. MySQL should simply have returned a syntax error, not aborted.

yea the abort kills my script ...

I'm running into a similar error:

Fatal error: MySQL Error: ( SELECT id, date, data FROM [prefix]search_cache WHERE criteria='a:5:{s:4:\"item\";s:6:\"albums\";s:6:\"fields\";s:4:\"tags\";s:6:\"search\";s:20:\"a:1:{i:0;s:3:\"Vue\";}\";s:4:\"sort\";s:1:\" \";s:4:\"user\";s:13:\"76.173.231.93\";}' ) failed. MySQL returned the error MySQL not connected in /var/www/vhosts/my-domain.com/httpdocs/gallery/zp-core/functions-db-MySQL.php on line 69

I this first when clicking on an image's tag. If I hit the back button, any link will give the same error. If I start over (refresh gallery home), I can navigate normally, as long as I don't click a tag.

I am not sure exactly when this started.

You should try clearing your search cache. But as to why MySQL is going away, your server or MySQL logs are the only possible clue.

Setting Cache expiry to 0 in options -> search stops the error from occurring, but when I turn it back on, the errors start up again. I'm not sure where to clear it.

I'll take a look at the MySQL logs to see if I can determine the underlying issue.

On the admin => overview tab are buttons to purge the cache.