In a continuing effort to ensure WordPress sites perform at their best, WordPress will begin displaying a warning banner in the back end of any sites running outdated PHP versions. The notifications are due to be introduced in April this year, when the minimum acceptable version will be PHP 5.6, moving up to PHP 7 in December 2019.
The notification will contain a button that links to a knowledge-base article that outlines the steps required to upgrade to the required PHP version.
It’s also been confirmed that sites running outdated PHP versions will not be able to perform WordPress core upgrades until they update to at least the minimum supported PHP version. However, these sites will still receive security updates.
While roughly 85% of WordPress sites using WordPress 5.0 are already running on PHP 5.6 or above, that’s still 15% of users who will find themselves receiving these banner warnings when April rolls around.
If you’re unsure which PHP version your site is running on or need more information about this or any other element of WordPress, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team of WordPress experts today.
