PHP 8.x in WordPress: Why You Should Keep Your Server's PHP Version Up to Date

The processing engine behind your content management system

WordPress is primarily written in PHP, a server-side programming language that dynamically structures your website before delivering it to your visitors' browsers. Just like your smartphone’s operating system, PHP receives constant updates to improve its execution speed, fix technical glitches, and reliably patch potential security vulnerabilities on your hosting platform.

Why should you upgrade to PHP 8.x?

Using older versions of PHP (such as PHP 7.4 or earlier) poses a serious security risk, as developers worldwide have stopped providing technical support and patches for these obsolete versions. In addition to cybersecurity, PHP 8.x versions (such as PHP 8.1 or 8.2) introduce exceptional processing optimizations that drastically reduce the server’s RAM usage and speed up WordPress loading times, significantly improving user responsiveness.

Which version of PHP do you currently recommend using?

The general recommendation is to use the latest stable version that is compatible with your version of WordPress and your plugins. Currently, PHP 8.1 and PHP 8.2 offer the best combination of extreme speed and software compatibility. Avoid outdated versions to protect your database and emails, and be sure to run compatibility tests on your staging environment before applying structural changes to the production server, ensuring a successful transition.

What should you do if an older plugin isn't compatible with PHP 8?

When updating your PHP version, you may encounter errors caused by outdated plugins that haven't been updated to support the new code. In this situation, it’s best to review the plugin’s documentation to find modern replacements or deactivate it in your staging environment to identify which design element is affected. This helps ensure your users’ browsing experience isn’t disrupted in production. If you encounter a white screen error after changing the PHP version, you can immediately revert to the previous version using the selector in the dashboard. This gives you a safe buffer to investigate which plugin requires an update or to contact our support team.

How to Safely Update Your PHP Version

1. Create a full backup: Be sure to have a recent backup of your website in case any plugin incompatibilities arise.
2. Test the update on Staging: Change the PHP version on your private test subdomain to verify that there are no issues.
3. Check plugin compatibility: Make sure that all your plugins and themes installed on WordPress support the PHP 8.x specifications.
4. Apply the change on the main site: Upgrade your version with a single click in your UNEMPRENDE hosting control panel.

An infrastructure optimized for business success

Keeping your website’s technical infrastructure up to date not only speeds up loading times for your visitors but also provides a robust platform that’s ready for digital marketing. At UNEMPRENDE, we include selectable multi-version PHP on all our natively optimized servers. Learn more about us and our infrastructure on the page we.