#UPGRADING FROM PHP 5.2 TO 5.6 PATCH#

They do not give accurate information about security, as most hosts run backports that patch security on older versions separate from what is officially supported by the core PHP project. They do not provide a good way to contact the host. РІР‚СљThey do not say what version it is currently on. РІР‚СљWe also need to work on our messaging around these PHP and core upgrades, so we donРІР‚в„ўt cry wolf and cause these notices to be ignored,РІР‚Сњ continued Mullenweg in his explanation for closing the ticket, pointing to the current site health messaging in WordPress. There is an open ticket for solving issues with PHPUnit testing where the team is exploring options to support the range of PHP versions. PHPUnit 9 requires a minimum of 7.3 and is necessary for testing PHP 8.0 compatibility. Technically, it has syntax that requires PHP 7.1 - hence, the need for the WordPress version bump. Such is the case with PHPUnit, a testing framework for PHP applications like WordPress. The wider the range of versions that the platform supports, the harder it is to test. Regardless of WordPressРІР‚в„ўs minimum required version, it must also work with the most up-to-date version of PHP. PHP 8.0 is slated for release on November 26, 2020. The need for updating the minimum version of PHP is not simply about developers wanting to use the newest and shiniest tools. Dropping support for old versions of PHP has not been nearly as fast as some - including me - would like. This has meant taking a slow, deliberate approach while also reaching out to web hosts and users alike. While there are certainly arguments to looking at the data in different ways, one of WordPressРІР‚в„ўs guiding philosophies has been making the platform accessible to as many users as possible over the years.

The numbers strongly suggest itРІР‚в„ўs too early to drop PHP 5.6.РІР‚Сњ

РІР‚СљAnd for what itРІР‚в„ўs worth, our philosophies and standards on this have been consistent for more than a decade. РІР‚СљThis is obviously a key philosophical decision that should be made by the project lead,РІР‚Сњ tweeted lead developer Andrew Nacin. РІР‚СљGiven that weРІР‚в„ўre still releasing security updates for WP 3.7 (released almost 7 years ago), itРІР‚в„ўs not like weРІР‚в„ўre leaving PHP 5.6 or 7.0 users without security updates, they just wonРІР‚в„ўt have some latest and greatest features of WP 5.6+, which seems fair,РІР‚Сњ he said in the comments on the WordPress 5.6 announcement. This percentage is even lower than when the team flipped the switch to PHP 5.6+. Of the WordPress installs on versions 5.2 through the current 5.5 only 10.69% of those are running PHP 5.6, according to Sergey Biryukov, a core committer for WordPress. WordPress has required a minimum of PHP 5.6 since its version 5.2 release. РІР‚СљJust so we donРІР‚в„ўt cherry-pick stats to make a point, itРІР‚в„ўs worth noting that the PHP distribution across all WP sites we track is the same as when that post was made in 2018: 85% are 5.6 or above,РІР‚Сњ he wrote. Matt Mullenweg, WordPress co-founder and project lead, closed the ticket a few short hours after its opening. It does not look like it will happen this year. WordPress developers, especially those who have longed for WordPress to be more proactive in updating its PHP requirements, will have to continue pushing for modernization into 2021. It would be a nice sendoff, a farewell that could usher in a new era of maintaining some semblance of staying up to date with the latest and greatest the programming language has to offer.Р”В«ut the excitement was cut short. Fate seemed to be calling down, saying that it was time to move past the platformРІР‚в„ўs support of a version that reached End of Life in December 2018. There is no denying the symmetry of dropping support for PHP 5.6 with the release of WordPress 5.6.

She had opened it after seeing the plan to no longer support PHP 5.6 in the WordPress 5.6 release plans (note that initial release plans are not necessarily set in stone). She had opened the ticket in anticipation of movement on WordPressРІР‚в„ўs minimum supported version of PHP. Juliette Reinders Folmer wrapped up her final thoughts on a ticket she had opened a mere three days ago. We should say what we do and do what we say. We should carve out the road to the future, not continue to fix a broken road to the past. We should be guiding the users, not coddling them. We should be leading the users, not following them.

Upgrading from php 5.2 to 5.6