PHP is the programming language your WordPress site runs on. Older PHP versions (7.4 and 8.0) stopped receiving security updates some time ago, so we are moving the WordPress sites still running one of them onto PHP 8.3, a currently supported version that keeps receiving security fixes. We are doing this a few sites at a time, not all at once.
💡 Nothing for you to do
This move needs no action from you. Your files, database, plugins, theme and settings are unchanged – only the PHP version your site runs on is different, and you can change it again yourself whenever you like.
Why we do this
An unsupported PHP version no longer gets security fixes from its makers, even though it still runs your site. Moving a site to a currently supported PHP version is one of the things we do to keep your hosting secure, in the same way we keep the rest of the platform patched.
Checked before and after, site by site
Before we move a site we record how it looks and behaves. We then switch it to PHP 8.3 and check it again straight away. If anything is different – the page fails to load, or a new PHP error appears – we put that one site straight back on its previous PHP version immediately, and we try it again another time. A site is only left on PHP 8.3 once it has been checked and nothing changed.
Because every site is checked and moved on its own, most customers will not notice anything at all.
If something does look different
A very old plugin or theme that has not been updated in a long time can sometimes need an update of its own to work with a newer PHP version. If a page on your site looks or behaves differently after this change:
- Check whether the plugin or theme involved has a newer version available and update it.
- If that does not help, or you are not sure which plugin is involved, open a support ticket and we will look at it with you.
- You can also switch the site back to its previous PHP version yourself at any time (see below) while you sort it out.
Choosing a different PHP version yourself
You are never locked to PHP 8.3. Open the site’s page, press Edit under Site functions, and choose the PHP version you want from the PHP version field, then Save. The change applies within a minute or two.
The site’s PHP tab also lets you raise PHP limits (memory, upload size, execution time and more) and switch optional PHP modules on or off for the version the site is currently on.