Update your PHP for better WordPress Performance

[Dopious]

Just make sure all your plugins can handle the newer versions of PHP .. =)

WordPress 5.9 tests:

Benchmark Results​

• WordPress 5.9-RC2 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 106.56 req/sec
• WordPress 5.9-RC2 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 108.45 req/sec
• WordPress 5.9-RC2 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 110.24 req/sec
• WordPress 5.9-RC2 PHP 8.0 benchmark results: 111.10 req/sec
• WordPress 5.9-RC2 PHP 8.1 benchmark results: 163.43 req/sec

https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/

 

[Roger Marquez]

Have you run into any issues regarding compatibilities between PHP 8.x and any plugin at all?

• WordPress 5.9-RC2 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 106.56 req/sec
• WordPress 5.9-RC2 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 108.45 req/sec
• WordPress 5.9-RC2 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 110.24 req/sec
• WordPress 5.9-RC2 PHP 8.0 benchmark results: 111.10 req/sec
• WordPress 5.9-RC2 PHP 8.1 benchmark results: 163.43 req/sec

If this is accurate, most hosting serves 7.4 by default so, upgrading to 8.1 will mean a 48% improvement. But, I am always hesitant to recommend these to clients due to potential compatibility issues with the plugins they have installed on their sites.

 

[Panther28]

I only found out that you can set your PHP version in Cpanel, so you can test things quickly on newer versions, and revert if you have a problem. Hopefully, this can help another Cpanel user.

 

[xReminisce]

I only found out that you can set your PHP version in Cpanel, so you can test things quickly on never versions, and revert if you have a problem. Hopefully, this can help another Cpanel user.

What I do is
Open a staging site
Open a ticket and ask them to test the latest PHP versions thoroughly

 

[Dopious]

If this is accurate, most hosting serves 7.4 by default so, upgrading to 8.1 will mean a 48% improvement. But, I am always hesitant to recommend these to clients due to potential compatibility issues with the plugins they have installed on their sites.

Yes, you need to be on top of the plugins involved, use a staging setup first with clients and money sites.

 

[nSnoopy]

I will update to 8.x when there will be a stable 9.x version till then, i will stick with 7.4.

 

[leechesBleechin]

I yoloed it and worked out lol. Lots of backups anyway and you can revert it with a quick button press so ^_^

 

[Mr Positive]

I had tried php 8.1 a while back Dec or Jan. a while it seemed okay with ads on you can’t find any difference, but later broke site. It could be CSS, or plugins unfortunately we could not find out. Post that we used perfmatters features and have got 90+ score with simple settings. Best part revenue rose, but we lost some page views that’s fine. Tried old set up page views rose but revenue fell so … I would not advise doing php 8.1 wait till Nov bu then all plugin and them will be ready for it

 

[Roger Marquez]

use a staging setup first with clients and money sites.

+1

I will update to 8.x when there will be a stable 9.x version till then, i will stick with 7.4.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[NulledCode]

Unless @RoiBox wants to go through every WP plugin and theme and confirm they work with php 8.1 then I'll use whatever the minimum WordPress requirements are for PHP.

 

[Dopious]

Unless @RoiBox wants to go through every WP plugin and theme and confirm they work with php 8.1 then I'll use whatever the minimum WordPress requirements are for PHP.

Haha, as I said, be on top of your plugins you use. I´m using 8.1 on some sites, and not on others.

 

[CyberSEO]

I would not recommend anyone to upgrade to PHP 8+ to run WordPress right now. A lot of plugin and theme developers still don't test their sh*t for PHP 8 compatibility. Personally I always test my code for both PHP 7 and 8, but other coders are not that responsible. So be ready that some plugins or themes will stop working or will give you a bunch oа various notices and warning messages...

 

[Curtis178]

Thanks

 

[Jesse Makh]

I updated to 8.1 version today. Had a ton of errors, warnings and notices in wptools.
I went back to 7.4 and there are still errors. How do I fix them?

 

[rafark]

Usually people update because of security. But performance is also a big plus. The problem with PHP 8 is that it’s not as backwards compatible as other versions, so you need to be very careful since updating might not be smooth for you.

 

[walker2320]

Do a backup of older version first, then try 8.1 php and see if it indeed provides a worthy improvement.

 

[Aviorify]

I would not recommend to upgrade to PHP 8+ to run WordPress still not tested and if you face issues you will not find ant tutorial or other people experience to fix it

 

[IM Dude]

Rankmath current version don't work with php7.4 so I upgraded before I can get hacked so should you.

 

[Takdeer Pias]

I don’t update regularly

 

[googleinc]

I do update regularly everytime there is newer version, never find any problem. Currently using 8.1 on my wordpress, work like charm!