WP Engine Offers Extended Support for PHP 7.4

As of November 28, 2022, the PHP 7.4 version, upheld by the PHP developer community, has officially reached the End of Life (EOL) stage. This signifies the conclusion of active maintenance and support for this version, encompassing bug fixes, security patches, and crucial updates. It’s a standard protocol for PHP versions, as each version receives support for two years after its release and then gets deprecated after three years. However, the PHP 7.4 EOL poses a unique challenge: WordPress, along with numerous themes and plugins, hasn’t attained full compatibility with newer PHP versions (8.0+).

Extended Support Catered by WP Engine and Flywheel

While we urge all our users to upgrade to the latest WordPress and PHP versions, we acknowledge that immediate updates might lead to critical errors on their websites. Such outcomes are something we diligently try to avoid, as utilizing unsupported versions, whether PHP or any other software, could pose security risks to both their sites and our platform.

To mitigate this risk, WP Engine has made a significant investment in providing ongoing security support for PHP 7.4. This initiative allows all our customers across WP Engine and Flywheel to continue using PHP 7.4 until 2024 while ensuring the security of their sites and our platform. This extended support stands as a unique offering by a managed platform provider for PHP 7.4.

We haven’t set a deadline for customers to transition away from PHP 7.4, as this additional time is crucial for resolving incompatibilities within the broader WordPress community, including individual plugin and theme developers.

WP Engine’s Role in the WordPress Community

Being deeply integrated into the WordPress community, we recognize the current challenges associated with PHP compatibility. Providing extended security support stands as our commitment to offering much-needed assistance to our customers amidst these challenges.

PHP Update Considerations

While WP Engine customers can opt to update from PHP 7.4 to PHP 8.2, it’s essential to acknowledge potential compatibility issues. We strongly recommend conducting site updates in a staging or development environment to ensure the safety of your live site and test for compatibility issues before going live.

Performing the update is straightforward, and customers can follow the provided steps through their user portal. Our support team is also available for any further assistance.

Benefits of PHP 8.2

PHP 8.2 heralds a range of enhancements and features designed to augment the programming language. Among these are the introduction of Readonly classes, Disjunctive Normal Form (DNF) Types, and the allowance of null, false, and true as stand-alone types. This latest iteration of PHP not only elevates site performance but also significantly diminishes security vulnerabilities, a critical alignment with our initiative to provide extensive support for PHP 7.4. Upgrading to PHP 8.2 not only ensures an optimized site but also fortifies it against potential security risks, reinforcing our commitment to prioritizing site security and performance.

This commitment to staying current with PHP versions is in line with our decision to provide extensive support for PHP 7.4. As the PHP landscape evolves, embracing the latest versions becomes imperative not only for leveraging new functionalities but also for maintaining a secure and resilient web environment.

Security Assurance with WP Engine

With our extended support for PHP 7.4, our customers needn’t worry about vulnerabilities in that version. However, we encourage all WP Engine and Flywheel customers to consider moving away from older PHP versions, as no current vulnerabilities have been flagged.

In summary, while WP Engine remains committed to supporting PHP 7.4 until 2024, transitioning to newer PHP versions, like 8.2, is something to contemplate for future improvements and enhanced security.