Updating PHP: does it have anything to do with StudioPress themes?

[EugeneHunt]

Good day,

I have a MagazinePro theme on WordPress with PHP 7.2.34. Now WordPress prompts me to update PHP, recommending a minimum version of 7.4

I have a rather vague idea about the way PHP interacts with anything, including Studiopress themes. Tried to Google it but formulating right questions takes more understanding about PHP than I have for the moment.

So before I ask about it from hosting provider where I have got the WordPress website in the first place, I thought I should first ask here whether PHP has anything to do with Studiopress themes and if there are any suggestions as to:
(1) which PHP version is best for Studiopress themes for now - should I have 7.4 or 8.0?
(2) are there any special recommendations as to PHP settings to avoid problems/issues and have an optimal setup, and
(3) is there anything else one should be aware of when updating PHP while running a WordPress site with StudioPress/MagazinePro theme.

Thank you so much for feedback!

https://moneysaurus.com

[Victor Font]

PHP is the programming language in which WordPress, the Genesis Framework, and child themes are written. The Genesis Framework is designed to run on PHP version 7.1 or higher. I have all of my sites running on 7.4 and I manage a loy of sites. In my development environment, I sometimes use 8. I haven't had any issues with Genesis or its child themes on any of the higher PHP versions.

What you may run into is problems with custom code and 3rd party plugins. Developers generally write code for the current version of PHP. Functions that work in older versions of PHP may be deprecated and later removed in newer versions. This means that if a new version of PHP displays errors originating in custom code, the custom code may have to be rewritten.

The same holds true for plugins. I don't use 8 much in my development environment because quite a few WordPress 3rd-party plugins are not compatible with 8 yet. If you upgrade to 8 and have plugin issues, downgrade to 7.4.

As a rule, we create a separate staging or development environment to test major upgrades such as a new version of PHP. You shouldn't have any problems upgrading to 7.4. If you decide to go to V8, do yourself a favor and clone your production environment and upgrade the cloned environment first so you can test without impacting your production environment.

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Regards,

Victor
https://victorfont.com/
Call us toll free: 844-VIC-FONT (842-3668)
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[EugeneHunt]

Hi Victor,

Thank you for your expanded reply. That makes everything much more clear to me. Having read what you said, I choose to play safe and upgrade to PHP 7.4 as prompted in my dashboard. Don't see any immediate benefits of having PHP 8 for the moment for me.

Thank you again!

[Author]

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