307 – Updating PHP to Version 7

Announcements Custom CSS in Customizer Global WordPress Translation Day Nov 12 Is there a plugin for that? With more than 43,000 plugins in the WordPress repository, it’s hard to find the perfect one. Each week, I will highlight an interesting plugin form the repository. For more great plugins, download my 50 Most Useful Plugins eBook. Duplicate Posts allows to clone a post or page, or edit it as a new draft. Updating PHP to Version 7 We talk about updating WordPress, themes, and plugins regularly, but never talk about updating the technology behind your site. Version 7 Improvements * Performance improvements with PHP7 will be significant (2-3x improvement over PHP5) * Exception handling – errors will be caught as exceptions * Testing tools are available to forward test your code against the new framework. The main thing you need to keep in mind before you upgrade is that not all your plugins, themes and scripts are necessarily compatible with the lastest or specific version of PHP you want to use. If there’s an issue here, it could partially or completely break your site. Besides manually checking your site for possible pain points, there may be plugins available to automatically do a scan of your site to determine whether your site would be compatible if you upgrade. PHP Compatibility Checker – This plugin lets you choose a version of PHP and you site is then scanned for compatibility issues. It also generates a report so you know exactly what to fix. PHP Pseudo Compiler – A PHP validation tool to check for undefined functions or methods. Error Log Monitor – If there are errors, you can enable a log to keep track of all the errors to help you know what needs fixing. If you find that you’re using a plugin, theme or script that isn’t compatible with the version of PHP you need, you can contact the author or a developer to help resolve the issue. If you need an extra hand, you can get in touch with our expert support heroes. If you’re a member, you can open a ticket, search the support forum or getlive help. Updating or Changing PHP in cPanel It may not be possible with all types of hosting, but if you see a PHP Version Manager button in the control panel, you’re free to make the switch when you’re ready. It may be in different locations depending on your host, but click PHP Version Manager and navigate to the directory where your site is located that you also need to upgrade. Choose one of the available PHP versions from the list, then click the Save button. Thank You! Thank you to those who use my affiliate links. As you know I make a small commission when someone uses my link and I want to say thank you to the following people. For all my recommended resources, go to my Resources Page View on YourWebsiteEngineer.com