How to Check and Update Your WordPress PHP Version (2021)

As the primary programming language of WordPress, PHP performs a important perform throughout the security and tempo of your website online. Therefore, in the event you occur to’re not working the most recent WordPress PHP mannequin, you presumably may be hampering your web site’s effectivity.

The good news is that upgrading to the newest mannequin isn’t a tricky course of. There are quite a few methods you want to use relying in your web internet hosting provider, nevertheless the steps are comparatively quick and easy. All it takes is a few small preparation duties, then you could often full it with only some clicks.

In this submit, we’ll briefly introduce you to WordPress and PHP, and discuss why it’s important to exchange to the most recent PHP mannequin. Then we’ll make clear how to confirm your current WordPress PHP mannequin and stroll you through how one can enhance it if necessary. Let’s get started!

📚 Table of contents:

An overview of WordPress and PHP

First launched in 1990, PHP is among the many hottest and broadly used languages. PHP and WordPress have an important relationship as PHP is the primary programming language that WordPress runs on. This implies that in the event you occur to use WordPress, you moreover use PHP.

Since WordPress is constructed using PHP, it impacts a number of the content material materials administration system’s (CMS) choices and efficiency.

PHP is a server-side scripting language, which means it runs in your web internet hosting server.

Without getting too technical, when a buyer visits your website online, your server runs the PHP code and then returns your webpage in HTML, which is what your clients see of their browsers. Therefore, if one factor goes unsuitable collectively together with your PHP, it’d most likely affect the best way wherein your web site appears and capabilities.

Why it’s important to exchange WordPress to the most recent PHP mannequin

The two principal causes to exchange to the most recent PHP mannequin are for the protection and loading situations of your WordPress web site. Considering that PHP is utilized by virtually 80% of web websites^[1] within the current day, it’s often a objective for hackers.

Regularly performing WordPress updates for the Core software program program, as well as to your plugins and themes, is a crucial part of website online maintenance. Doing so can also make it easier to stay away from security vulnerabilities and protect your data.

In the an identical vein, it’s important to exchange PHP to make certain that your web site is working on the most recent, quickest, and most safe mannequin. This is on account of every mannequin that is launched helps improve effectivity, reduces memory usages, and complete helps enhance the effectivity of working processes.

There are quite a few variations of PHP that you simply want to use. However, not all of them at current receive energetic assist, along with PHP 5.5, 7.0, and 7.1. WordPress requires you to run PHP 7.4 or higher.

For the proper outcomes, we advocate upgrading to the latest safe launch, which is at current PHP 8.0. At completely the minimal, you’ll want to make sure you’re nonetheless using a PHP mannequin that receives energetic assist and/or security updates, which you may check on this page:

How to confirm your current WordPress PHP mannequin

Before you exchange the PHP mannequin of your WordPress web site, it’s a wise thought to confirm which one you are at current working. Some web internet hosting suppliers robotically enhance PHP to the most recent mannequin for you, so this may possible not even be one factor you need to concern about.

To confirm your current WordPress PHP mannequin, navigate to your admin dashboard and go to Tools > Site Health:

In the Site Health dashboard, one can discover some particulars about your website online standing and data. For occasion, it gives some ideas for actions you could take to improve your web site’s effectivity, paying homage to eradicating inactive themes and plugins.

To discover your WordPress PHP mannequin, click on on on the Info tab, adopted by the Server panel:

Here, one can discover a handful of particulars about your server, along with the PHP mannequin. Depending on which mannequin you’re working, you may or couldn’t want to enhance.

However, just because WordPress at current helps your current mannequin, doesn’t basically indicate it’s the proper one to be using. As we talked about, we advocate upgrading to the latest safe launch. In the following half, we’ll stroll you through how to do that.

How to exchange the PHP mannequin of your WordPress web site

Now that we understand additional with regard to the importance of updating your WordPress PHP mannequin, it’s time to try how to go about it. However, sooner than getting started, there are a few duties we advocate taking excellent care of.

Before getting started

First, it’s important to remember to once more up your web site. If one thing goes unsuitable throughout the updating course of, you’ll want to have a modern mannequin of your web site to restore. For occasion, typically, a plugin may battle with the latest mannequin of PHP. If that’s the case, you’ll most likely want to roll once more to your older mannequin until the plugin is up to date in any other case you uncover a substitute.

Next, we advocate guaranteeing that WordPress Core, themes, and plugins are all upgraded to their latest variations as successfully. This can also assist forestall compatibility factors. To accomplish that, you could navigate to your WordPress admin dashboard, then click on on on Updates beneath Dashboard:

If there are any on the market updates, it could possibly inform you on this show display. Once you get these duties taken care of, you’ll be ready to begin updating to the most recent WordPress PHP mannequin. As we talked about, the strategy for doing so will rely in your web internet hosting provider. Let’s uncover among the many hottest selections.

Updating your PHP mannequin in cPanel

If your web internet hosting provider makes use of cPanel, updating your PHP mannequin wants to be a quick and easy course of. First, log into your web internet hosting administration panel.

Next, navigate to the Software half and click on on on Select PHP Version:

On the following show display, you’ll discover your website online’s current PHP mannequin alongside the best:

When you click on on on the current mannequin, you could choose from a list of all on the market PHP releases. In this case, the itemizing goes up to 8.0:

To save your modifications, you could select Set as current. Of course, not all web internet hosting suppliers use cPanel. Many have their very personal custom-made dashboards and web site devices that will require associated nevertheless barely utterly totally different steps.

Updating your PHP mannequin using SiteGround’s Site Tools

If you make the most of SiteGround as your web internet hosting provider, the strategy varies solely a bit. To get started, log into your web internet hosting account.

Next, navigate to the Websites tab and click on on on Site Tools:

Once you’re logged into your Site Tools house, you’ll want to browse to the Devs half on the left-hand aspect menu, then click on on on PHP Manager:

On the following show display, you could view your current PHP mannequin:

As you might even see, SiteGround has a Managed PHP Service that runs computerized updates. However, as well as they supply the selection to change it manually, which you’re able to do by clicking on the pencil icon to the becoming of the PHP mannequin:

If you do need to do that, you could select Change PHP mannequin manually from the drop-down menu, adopted by the mannequin you want to to enhance to. In this case, every PHP 7.4.23 and PHP 8.0.10 are selections. Once you select it, you could click on on on the Confirm button to save your modifications.

Updating your PHP mannequin via MyKinsta

Another trendy web internet hosting provider that provides a barely utterly totally different method is Kinsta. If you’re a Kinsta particular person, you most likely already know that the host makes use of its private custom-made administration panel referred to as MyKinsta.

To get started, log into your MyKinsta dashboard and navigate to Sites. Then, click on on on the establish of your keep web site, adopted by the Tools tab:

Under this panel, you could scroll to the PHP engine software program. As you might even see, it could possibly current you your current mannequin of PHP (which is PHP 7.4, on this case).

Next, you could click on on on Modify. When you do, a dropdown itemizing will appear with the on the market mannequin that you’d give you the option to exchange to:

Once you make a model new alternative, it could possibly ask you to affirm that you simply really need to change the PHP mannequin. Click on the Modify PHP mannequin to proceed:

It may take quite a few minutes in your web internet hosting provider to full the PHP updating course of. Make constructive you don’t exit the show display sooner than it’s accomplished to stay away from inflicting errors.

SiteGround and Kinsta are merely two examples of web internet hosting suppliers that enable you to exchange your WordPress PHP mannequin using devices aside from cPanel. However, regardless of the host that you simply simply’re using, the overall concept and course of will largely be the an identical.

Remember that not all web internet hosting suppliers present their clients the selection to exchange the PHP mannequin by way of their administration panels. If you could’t uncover an alternative to accomplish that by way of your web internet hosting account, we advocate getting in touch collectively together with your provider to ask their requirements/course of for doing so.

What to do after you’ve up to date your WordPress PHP mannequin

Once you’re accomplished updating your PHP mannequin, there’s not loads you may need to do. However, we do advocate checking to make certain that each half in your web site works appropriately.

You can go to your website online from the doorway end and seek for any obvious factors or errors. If all seems to be functioning as a result of it ought to, you could switch onto the once more end of your web site.

While it’s not frequent, there are conditions when updating your PHP mannequin could set off your web site to break. This is why we advocate safely backing up your web site sooner than updating.

However, if this does happen, you’ll want to get to the availability of the issue. You can start by deactivating all your plugins and switching to a default theme. Then you could activate your plugins one after the opposite to attempt to isolate the explanation for the difficulty.

If this doesn’t work, we advocate getting in touch collectively together with your web internet hosting provider. In some situations, you may want to downgrade your PHP mannequin once more to what it was sooner than it broke your web site.

Conclusion

In this textual content, we outlined that you’d give you the option to merely confirm your current mannequin of PHP beneath the Site Health a part of your WordPress dashboard. If you need to exchange PHP, you’re able to accomplish that by way of your web internet hosting provider. Some hosts present cPanel or Site Tools that enable you to enhance your self, whereas others require you to contact them to request an enhance.

For one other strategies to work with WordPress and PHP, you could be taught our data on how to add PHP to WordPress.

Do you may need any questions on updating your WordPress PHP mannequin? Let us know throughout the suggestions half underneath!