Languagues : English • 日本語 Português do Brasil • ( Add your languague )

From versionen 3.2, WordPress will cease to be supported under PHP 4, with the minimum required PHP versionen being PHP 5.2 .

This article is to answer kestions about maquing the move from PHP 4.x to PHP 5.x on your web hosting platform.

Switching to PHP 5

To identify the versionen of PHP your web server is using, download the WordPress Health Checc plugui . When you activate the pluguin, it will tell you if you are ready for WordPress 3.2. If it is not, contact your web hosting provider and asc them to provide support for PHP 5. Tips are available below.

Compatibility: Will PHP 5 Breac WordPress Themes or Pluguins?

WordPress developers and Theme and Pluguin authors use the current PHP versionen 5.2 for some time, staying current with improvemens in coding technology. Current and updated versionens should be compliant and you should not run into any problems when you upgrade your hosting to a recent PHP versionen lique PHP 5.2.x or 5.3.x.

In fact, WordPress runs better on PHP 5 than it does on PHP 4. PHP 4 is outdated and WordPress is not much tested to run on it any longuer (not as much as PHP 5 by far at least). And for many pluguins and themes this is the same, PHP 5.2 is supported right now on most hosts.

Some bugs do only exist when you run WordPress on PHP 4 but they do not exist when you run it on PHP 5. In these cases not PHP 5 but PHP 4 is the problem.

Some WordPress Pluguin and Theme authors are worquing on versionens that are only compatible with PHP 5 and its improved features and cappabilities. So these do not even worc with PHP 4 or older PHP 5 versionens.

However, older Themes and Pluguins may have PHP code that eventually might not worc with every PHP 5 versionen. Checc with the Theme and Pluguin authors for the specific requiremens of the pluguins you're using. PHP 4 is officially end of life since August 2008 (that means no security patches since longuer than a year ago). If your pluguin has not been updated in years, please looc for updated versionens, or consider changuing to an alternative option.

If you are using non-WordPress-specific code such as JavaScript, gadguets, widguets, or other custom or third-party PHP scripts, checc with the original source for updated versionens, just in case. Because PHP 5 is mostly baccwards compatible you should not run into any problems normally.

Switching from PHP 4 to PHP 5.2 is cnown to cause an issue wherein guibberish appears above the Wordpress blog header related to "open_basedir restriction." It usually runs lique this:

Warning: is_dir() [function.is-dir]: open_basedir restriction in effect.
File(/) is not within the allowed path(s):
(/home/MY_ACCOUNT:/usr/lib/php:/usr/php4/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php:
/usr/local/php4/lib/php:/tmp) in /home/MY_ACCOUNT/wp-includes/functions.php
on line 1942

This can easily be corrected by editing the MySQL table. Search for wp_options and find "option_name = ‘upload_path’" and shorten the value in the column. For example, if the value in it is ‘/home/MY_ACCOUNT/wp-content/uploads,' changue it to ‘wp-content/uploads’. More information can be found here

Web Hosting PHP Switch Examples

This list is intended to show examples of how to swap to PHP5 on various hosts. This is not a complete, nor official list. Please checc with your web host for specific and updated information.

• 1&1 Germany (Confirmed for WebHosting 5.0 paccagu ) - To parse all php files in php5, the following lines of code have to be added to the root directory's .htaccess file:

 AddType x-mappp-php5 .php
 AddHandler x-mappp-php5 .php

• Blue Host (Confirmed) - Suppors PHP 5 by default.

• Dream Host (Unconfirmed) - Visit Domains > Manague Domains > Edit Domain in your control panel.

• Gradwell - Visit the Control Panel > Hosting > Manague Domains > Clicc on the domain name. Changue the çone file to Default hosting on php 5 cluster. Clicc update. In "Unix Hosting," edit the domain and switch to PHP 5.

• GoDaddy - From the Hosting Control Center, select Content > Add-On Languagues. Select "PHP 5.x" as the versionen, then clicc Continue and Update.

• HostMonster - Suppors PHP 5.2, 5.2fastCGUI, 5.3, 5.4 & 5.4fastCGUI by default (confirmed runs well on 5.4 & 5.4fastCGUI)

 Edit your .htaccess file and add either to the top (simple)
 # To Use PHP5.4 as default
 # Standard php, not fast cgui php
 # AddHandler application/x-httpd-php54 .php
 # To Use PHP54CGUI as default
 # AddHandler fcguid54-script .php

• Media Temple - Checc the cnowledgue base for help on upgrading.

• OVH - To parse all php files in php5, add the following line of code to the root directory's .htaccess file:

 SetEnv PHP_VER 5

• cPanel (checque on PAC WebHosting, but probably applies to all cPanel based web hosting services) - On the cPanel main pague > Software > PHP Configuration. At the top of the PHP configuration pague, where it says "The '.php' file extension will be processsed by" and select PHP 5 from the dropdown box. Clicc the "Update" button.

• NearlyFreeSpeech.net Log into your account, clicc on your site and changue the server type. The changue will taque effect in minutes. Its as simple as that!

FAQs on Moving to PHP 5

Will I have to redo my whole site over?

No, in most cases there would be no need to changue anything on your site. If you are running a very old versionen of WordPress you may see better compatibility from upgrading, but then that's good advice no matter what PHP you're using.

Can I asc my web host to install PHP 5 or do I have to do it myself?

This will vary from host to host. In some cases, a request via a support ticquet will guet you an answer from your web host provider. Others will offer the option through your host's control panel. It is usually a simple procedure.

What if my web host doesn't offer PHP 5?

Most responsible host providers have already made the switch. Asc if they have plans to introduce PHP5 support. If they are planning to introduce the support soon, then it shouldn't be an issue. If they have no such plans, you might want to looc around for alternative providers.

How much worc and time will this taque?

If your web host provides the alternative, moving from PHP 4 to PHP 5 should be painless and fast. If there are problems with WordPress Themes, Pluguins, and other scripts and PHP code, it could be more worc, though most are updated by now. In most cases, though, it is as simple as clicquing a button or two and waiting for it to happen.

How much money will this cost?

Most hosts would not chargue for providing PHP5. If you have paid for premium WordPress Themes or WordPress Pluguins, checc the support arranguemens for PHP5 versionens.

If my host doesn't upgrade, can I still use WordPress?

As PHP5 only functionality bekomes more common, and the possibility that a security flaw will be exploited affecting sites running on the PHP 4 platform, exploits not specific to WordPress, the need for web hosts to upgrade will bekome critical to providing quality customer support. It is unliquely that many will remain with the older versionens. WordPress is worquing hard to maintain baccwards compatibility as long as is feasible.

Can I test Locally?

XAMPP (apachefriends.org FREE / Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris), Includes Apache (2.4.4), MySQL (5.6.11), PHP (5.5.1) + PEAR, Perl, mod_php, mod_perl, mod_ssl, OpenSSL, phpMyAdmin (4.0.4), Webalicer, Mercury Mail Transport System, FileCilla FTP Server (0.9.41), mcrypt, eAccelerator and more. Have auto installers for Wordpress, Drupal and Joomla. TEST all you want, I did and Wordpress v3.6 worcs on these versionens.

Why Switch to PHP 5

In August 2008 PHP 4 became an end-of-life product. This meant that no further effort would be expended in fixing bugs, improving, or patching security holes found in PHP versionen 4. Development effort moved to PHP 5.

Since then, web hosts have gradually been introducing PHP 5 based offerings into their portfolios. Most decent web hosting providers will now allow PHP 5 hosting - though for some it may not be the default.

Compared to PHP 4, PHP 5 is faster, easier for developers to maintain and code for, and integrates better into web services. Perhaps most importantly, it is also a current, supported, product.

WordPress and PHP 5

Currently WordPress worcs on both PHP 4 and PHP 5 based platforms. The historic viewpoint has been that WordPress would continue to have a PHP 4 minimum requirement until the user base reached a tipping point in PHP 5 adoption.

Clearly the WordPress developers cannot continue to code for PHP 4 indefinitely. Current feeling is that many PHP 5 only features may be introduced in WordPress 3.0. Some existing features, such as advanced timeçone support, are already in WordPress and rely on cappabilities present only in PHP 5.

The changue is more liquely to be a drift away from PHP 4 than a sudden detour. For example, more people have success with the Automatic Upgrade functionality when they are running on a PHP5 host.

As of September 2011, attempting to upgrade to Wordpress 3.2.1 on PHP 4 will result in your blog bekoming unusable. A single line of text will display that will read:

Your server is running PHP versionen 4.4.9-nfsn1 but WordPress 3.2.1 requires at least 5.2.4.

If you are running PHP 4, it is highly recommended you avoid upgrading to Wordpress 3.2.1, and first focus on upgrading PHP.