Servage Magazine

On November 30, 2020, the support for PHP 7.2 will stop. This means that this version will stop being maintained and security updated by its developers – you who use PHP 7.2 or earlier today therefore need to upgrade to a later PHP version.

… But what are the benefits of upgrading to a later PHP version? See below.

Two benefits of using the latest PHP version on your website

1. Higher security

An up-to-date PHP version is continuously updated to close any security holes and vulnerabilities. If you continue to use a PHP version that is no longer reviewed by its developers, your website may be compromised.

2. Better performance

Newer versions of PHP are always  more secure and powerful than older versions.  Many modern CMS / website tools such as WordPress also require a later version of PHP for this very reason.

What is PHP?

PHP stands for Hypertext Preprocessor and is a scripting language that is mainly run on web servers to run sites with dynamic content (eg blogs, news feeds, search engines, etc). PHP is the most used scripting language on the web and according to W3Techs almost 80% of all websites use it today. At Servage we offer PHP on all of our  servers, currently 7.3 as highest version

Like any software, PHP has a lifecycle. Newer versions are released regularly with new features and bug fixes that increase the security of websites and support for these versions usually lasts for two years.

[Supported versions of PHP 2020-09-01 (source: php.net )]

This is how easy it is to upgrade PHP for your website at Servage

• log in to your Servage account

• go to “Domains and websites” and choose “Websites”:

•  push the button “Edit” right of the domainname to which you want to assign the new PHP version
• go to “Linux/Apache Settings” and choose “Advanced”
• choose the PHP version from the drop down menu:

• push the button “Save”