Why update the PHP version of your site?

When you use your website (ex: WordPress), it runs software called PHP on the server. The PHP software interprets the programming code and generates the web pages that your visitors will see. It potentially manages access and authentication to the administrator / customer account, online purchases, dynamization of pages, etc.

Like any software, PHP is available in different versions. Newer versions are generally faster, have fewer bugs, and any security vulnerabilities discovered are fixed as quickly as possible. So here's why it's important to update the PHP version of your site.

How PHP versions work

Each PHP version is fully supported for two years from its initial release. During this period, bugs and security issues that have been reported by the community are fixed. After this two-year active support period, the release is then supported for an additional year only for critical security issues. No other functionality is added.

Today, according to data provided by WordPress and packagist, it is estimated that around 45% to 50% of sites that use PHP, and which are maintained regularly, are running a version that is still supported.

Be careful if you are not part of this 50%: if ever a major security breach is discovered, your website will be completely at risk with no possibility of fixes. As sites migrate to a newer PHP version, the rising tide lifts all websites in terms of performance, leaving your site behind the herd.

Plus, fewer hosting platforms will want to deal with outdated language, making it difficult to find a place that would accept to host your site.

Update the PHP version, for a faster website

• Double or triple your speed;
• Improve your Google search ranking accordingly;
• Make the necessary security fixes.

What to do with older PHP versions?

Is it possible to update to PHP version 8.0, but if my version is older?

Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question. If your website is not recent, or even if the PHP version your website is running on is 7.4, you or the team that takes care of your site will need to test all the code on your platform and make the necessary changes to make sure they are compatible with each other.

Your PHP website developer, or your own team of developers, can give you an idea of ​​the extent of work required to update your website.

If your website uses an e-commerce platform or a CMS platform , like WordPress, HubSpot or Craft for example, updating it may involve checking each of the extensions used, the theme and the version of the platform itself. , to make sure everything is compatible with the update.

How to update the PHP version of your site

There are several tools that can help us when migrating to a newer PHP version. A phase of testing and debugging is imperative. The job will be much easier if your site includes unit tests and good documentation. Bugs found with these tests are generally easier and faster to fix.

If, on the contrary, your site does not include these elements, we can use several tools to facilitate the work such as: PHPStan, Xdebug, Psalm, Sentry, etc.

In any case, it will be likely that we will have to re-factor critical parts of the code, not just with the prospect of running under the new PHP engine, but also with the idea of ​​technical debt reduction (if it applicable) and improved stability. To the point where you can even upgrade your web application for a better development strategy.

Basically, an update can be seen as an opportunity to improve the application in every aspect of it: not only in security, performance, and compliance, but also in maintainability, test ability, and readiness for future developments.

Although less common, a PHP update may require upgrades to other infrastructure components. For example, databases sometimes also need to be upgraded following changes to extensions and / or libraries. This aspect should be seen, once again, as an opportunity to improve your site.

It is clear that this process can bring its share of problems. But one of the problems is the stability of the post-upgrade application. In order to correct this instability, a support team should be involved in the testing / acceptance phase at the end of the process. Because this testing phase can be crucial to the proper functioning of the website, the support team should be ready for a busy period immediately after the upgrade is released.