The Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) programming language is an open-source scripting language that is used for extensive customization and for ensuring that WordPress websites perform at their best.
PHP is used to make WordPress, its themes, and its plugins. It is also the language that WordPress sites use to connect to their databases and work with them.
Installing the most recent version of PHP on your website is a terrific method to improve its security and performance, as well as assure compatibility with your WordPress theme and plugins.
This guide will show you how to update PHP in WordPress step by step. You will also learn why it’s important to use the latest version of PHP and what the best practices are.
Why Should You Update the Latest PHP Version in WordPress?
PHP gets updates and changes often, just like WordPress themes and plugins. If you use an older version of PHP, it could slow down your WordPress site and leave it open to online threats.
Therefore, updating your WordPress website to the most Latest PHP version has a number of advantages, such as:
1) Performance boost: With each change, PHP becomes more efficient, which can make a big difference in how fast a website loads. This will make your WordPress website more flexible and improve the user experience.
2) Enhanced security: Cyber criminals often try to hit by using PHP’s weaknesses. When you update to a better version of PHP, your website is less likely to have security problems.
3) Latest features: If you update PHP in WordPress, you’ll be able to fix bugs and use new features. For example, PHP 8.2 has a sensitive parameter property, changes to the type system, and the ability to use constants in traits.
4) Better compatibility: By bringing the website’s PHP version up to date, you can ensure that it is compatible with WordPress plugins and themes that have been optimized for it.
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How to Update PHP in WordPress
It only takes a few steps to update the Latest PHP version in WordPress. But you have to be careful, because updating to a version of PHP that isn’t allowed can break your WordPress site.
In this part, we’ll show you how to update PHP in the best way.
1. Check the current version of PHP in WordPress
Check the site’s current PHP version through the WordPress homepage or your hosting account to see if you should update.
- On the WordPress dashboard area, go to Tools > Site Health.
- Go to the “Info” tab and open the “Server” section to see what version of PHP is currently being used on the site.
2. Make sure you have a recent backup of your WordPress site
Before you update PHP, you should definitely make a backup of your WordPress site. If you get problems that you didn’t expect after updating PHP, you will be able to fix the site.
Using a plugin like UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin, you can make a backup. Here’s how to do it:
- Install and enable the UpdraftPlus plugin.
- Go to Setting > UpdraftPlus Backups.
- Click the button “Backup Now.”
- On the pop-up window, choose the database and website files choices. Then, to complete the action, click the Backup Now button.
- Depending on the size of your WordPress website’s files and database, the backup process could take a while.
3. Update the core, themes, and plugins of WordPress
Before you update the PHP version of WordPress, it’s also important to see if there are any changes for plugins, themes, and the WordPress core software. If you do this, you won’t have as many problems when you change your PHP version.
way to check for changes to software, themes, and plugins is through the WordPress admin dashboard:
- Go to Dashboard and click on Updates. If there are any changes, the changes screen will let you know.
- Check the box next to Select All and click Update Plugins to update the plugins. When changing WordPress themes, the steps will be the same.
- Click the Update to version button to make changes to WordPress.
4. Make sure your WordPress site has the latest version of PHP
Once you’ve made a backup and checked to see if there are any changes for WordPress, you can move on to upgrading the Latest PHP version. Make sure it works with the version of WordPress you’re using now.
The best way to update PHP in WordPress:
If this is the first time you’ve updated PHP versions in WordPress, we suggest doing the following:
Check to see if your theme and plugins are compatible with PHP
Some themes or plugins might not work with the current version of PHP or certain older versions. It’s important to make sure that your site’s style and plugins are compatible with the update so that it will still work after the update.
Go to the loaded Plugins page and click View details next to each loaded plugin to see which PHP versions it supports. Under Requires PHP Version, a pop-up window will show the suggested PHP settings.
Visit the WordPress theme directory to see if a theme works with your PHP version. Use the search bar to find your WordPress theme, and then pick “More Info.” In the PHP Version part, you can find out what you need to do.
Update PHP on a staging site to see how it works
If you check PHP support, you probably won’t have any problems. But it is better to try the Latest PHP version in a WordPress staging environment to make sure the website will work correctly.
A staging setting for WordPress lets you test and change themes, plugins, and new versions of PHP without affecting the live site.
During the testing process, if you don’t find any problems, you can safely update the PHP version of the live site.
Check your site regularly for issues
After you update PHP, you should definitely keep an eye on your website. Check for broken links, redirected error pages, plugins that don’t work well together, and site speed problems.
Using a WordPress analytics tool like MonsterInsights or WP Statistics is a simple way to keep an eye on your site. These plugins have strong tools and features that can help you track traffic, page views, and site speed, as well as gather, analyze, and track this information.
But if you want to fix any possible mistakes, you might want to look at the PHP error log. To do that, you need to use your server control panel to turn on PHP error logging.
Once the problem has been fixed, we suggest turning off the PHP error log so it doesn’t take up too much room.
If you still have problems after studying how well the site works and keeping an eye on the PHP error log, switch the site back to an older version of PHP. The steps are the same as when you update PHP; all you have to do is choose the older version.
Contact your hosting company’s customer service
Before updating the PHP version of your WordPress installation, contacting the customer support team of your hosting company is an additional precaution you may take. Those who have no prior experience with the activity at hand may benefit greatly from this in particular.
Conclusion
Since PHP is the core language of WordPress, themes and plugins also use it. Updating the WordPress PHP version has many benefits for your website, such as making it run faster and making it safer.
We’ve also talked about the best ways to update the PHP version for WordPress. For example, you should test the new version of PHP on a development site, keep an eye on your website for problems, and make sure your themes and plugins are compatible.
We hope that you now know How to Update PHP in WordPress.