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Tag: PHP

  • Where Is php.ini in WordPress? (& How to Edit This File)

    Are you wondering where the php.ini file is located on your website?

    Php.ini is a critical file in your WordPress installation. You’ll often need to edit it for better functionality and performance of your website. However, many website owners don’t know where it is located.

    In this article, we’ll show you where is php.ini in WordPress and how to edit this file.

    Where is php.ini in WordPress and how to edit it

    To help you navigate the post, you can click the links below to jump to any section you’re interested in.

    What is php.ini file in WordPress?

    The php.ini file is a default configuration file for PHP on your WordPress site. PHP is a scripting and programming language on which WordPress is written.

    It’s used on the server side of things, which means it runs on your web hosting server. Through PHP, WordPress is able to display your blog posts, products, media content, and more.

    The php.ini file configures how PHP works and can have a huge impact on your website’s functionality. Whenever PHP runs on your site, it will look for this file.

    That said, let’s see why and when you’ll need to edit the file on your website.

    Why Do You Need to Edit php.ini File in WordPress?

    The php.ini file is very important for your site’s performance and functionality. This means you can edit it to ensure your website works smoothly or resolve any errors.

    For instance, editing the php.ini file allows you to increase the maximum file upload size and resource limits.

    If you have a photography website or a site that requires a lot of videos and images, then you might encounter an error ‘uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize’ message.

    Increasing the upload size in the php.ini file will help resolve this error and allow you to easily upload larger media files. Plus, you can also increase the available memory to accommodate long blog posts with lots of images.

    Check current file upload size limit

    Similarly, the php.ini file lets you edit the file timeout settings. If a file takes longer to process, then your site can timeout and stop processing the request. To prevent this from happening, you can increase the number of seconds before timeout through the php.ini file.

    Lastly, you’ll also be able to enable or disable file extensions in PHP by editing the file. This is really useful if you see a ‘Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension’ error on your site. It helps fix this error and resolve issues when establishing a database connection.

    Now, let’s look at where the php.ini file is located in WordPress.

    Finding the php.ini File Location in WordPress

    There are several ways you can locate and view the php.ini file.

    You can use your hosting service’s cPanel, a plugin, or an FTP client to access your website files and folders.

    1. Use cPanel to Locate the php.ini File

    You can use the cPanel provided by your WordPress hosting provider and access the File Manager to locate the file. This method is pretty straightforward, and you don’t need to edit any code.

    For this tutorial, we will use Bluehost to access the cPanel. If you’re using another hosting service, then the steps may vary.

    First, you’ll need to log in to your Bluehost account. From here, simply click the ‘Advanced’ option in the left panel.

    Open advanced settings in Bluehost

    On the next screen, you’ll see the cPanel of your website.

    Simply scroll down to the Files section and click the File Manager option.

    Open file manager in cpanel

    After that, you’ll see all the folders and files of your WordPress website.

    From the left panel, you can navigate to the ‘public_html’ folder. Next, you should see files in the folder on your right. You can scroll down and locate the ‘php.ini’ file.

    Locate php.ini file

    To download the file for editing, you can simply right-click the php.ini file and save it on your computer.

    2. Locate the php.ini File using a File Manager Plugin

    Another way of finding out where is the php.ini file in WordPress is by using a plugin like WP File Manager.

    It is a free WordPress plugin that lets you edit, download, delete, and organize your files and folders directly from the WordPress dashboard. You don’t have to use an FTP client or cPanel to access your site’s files.

    First, you’ll need to install and activate the WP File Manager plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

    Upon activation, you can head to WP File Manager from your WordPress admin panel.

    Next, you’ll need to select the ‘public_html’ folder from the panel on the left. After that, you can scroll down and navigate to the ‘php.ini’ file.

    View php.ini file in file manager plugin

    Once you’ve located the file, simply right-click to download it onto your computer.

    3. Finding php.ini Path in WordPress using the phpinfo.php File

    You can also find the php.ini file by creating a phpinfo.php file and placing it in the root directory of your WordPress installation.

    This is a slightly advanced method and is recommended for people who know how to use an FTP client and access the root directory of a website.

    First, you’ll need to create a new text editor file. You can use Notepad, Bracket, Sublime Text, or any similar software to create one. In the file, ensure that you enter the following code:

    <?PHP phpinfo(); ?>
    Hosted with ❤️ by WPCode

    1-click Use in WordPress

    Next, you’ll need to save the file and name it phpinfo.php. You can use any other name, but make sure that there is ‘.php’ at the end.

    After that, you will need to use an FTP client to access the root directory of your website and upload the file. Simply drag the phpinfo.php file from the left panel and drop it into your site’s root directory.

    Upload php info file

    If you need help, then please see our guide on how to use FTP to upload files to WordPress.

    Next, you will need to enter the following web address in your browser:

    www.example.com/phpinfo.php

    Just make sure that you replace the ‘example.com’ with your domain name.

    From here, you’ll see details about PHP installation on your site and the path for locating the php.ini file.

    View php installation details

    To find the path of the file, you can look for the ‘Configuration File Path’ or ‘Loaded Configuration File’ fields.

    You’ll see the path for the php.ini file in either one of the fields.

    View path of php ini file

    Once you know the path, you can access your site’s files using an FTP client.

    From there, simply go to the path you just discovered and download the php.ini file.

    Access path of php ini file and download it

    Editing the php.ini File in WordPress

    Now that you know the location of the php.ini file, the next step is to download and edit it.

    Go ahead and open the file in Notepad or any other text editor.

    Edit php ini file

    Next, you can edit the file to improve your site’s performance. Here are a few common configurations you can make in the php.ini file:

    • max_excecution_time – This is the time needed to run commands and execute scripts. You can increase the default time of 60 to a higher number if you’re uploading large files to the server.
    • memory_limit – It relates to the memory needed to upload files and execute commands. Editing the memory limit will help you accommodate long content and lots of images. By default, it is set to 256M, but you can increase the memory limit.
    • upload_max_filesize – Editing this option allows you to upload large media files and increase the limit.
    • post_max_size – If your blog posts contain a lot of images and videos, then the size of the post will increase. To avoid any errors, you can increase the post_max_size to accommodate more extensive articles.

    Once you’ve made these changes to the php.ini file, you can simply upload it back to your server in the same location using the cPanel, an FTP client, or the file manager plugin.

    We hope this article helped you learn where is php.ini in WordPress and how to edit it. You may also want to see our guide on the most common WordPress errors and the best WordPress plugins.

    If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

    The post Where Is php.ini in WordPress? (& How to Edit This File) first appeared on WPBeginner.

  • WordPress 6.3 to Drop Support for PHP 5

    WordPress is officially dropping support for PHP 5 in the upcoming 6.3 release, which is expected on August 8. WordPress’ minimum supported version has sat at PHP 5.6.20 since 2019, but will be updated to 7.0.0 in the next release. The recommended PHP version will stay the same at 7.4+.

    “The minimum supported version was last adjusted in WordPress 5.2 in 2019, and since then usage of PHP 5.6 has dropped to 3.9% of monitored WordPress installations as of July 2023,” WordPress core developer John Blackbourn said.

    “There’s no concrete usage percentage that a PHP version must fall below before support in WordPress is dropped, but historically the project maintainers have used 5% as the baseline. Now that usage of PHP 5.6 is well below that at 3.9% and dropping by around 0.1% every few weeks, plans to increase the minimum supported PHP version can move forward.”

    Blackbourn also emphasized that WordPress’ support for PHP 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2 is “very good” and contributors may soon act on a proposal for the criteria that would enable them to remove the “beta” support label on new PHP versions. Nearly 26% of WordPress users are already running sites on PHP 8.0+.

    Prior to this minimum required version boost, some hosts had even taken matters into their own hands in urging users to get on newer versions of PHP. Dreamhost charges additional fees for sites that require extended support for PHP 7.4 and older. IONOS and Strato have similar policies.

    The decision to bump the minimum supported version is happening after a lengthy seven-month long discussion, which surprisingly drew a little resistance. Although sites that remain on PHP 5.6 cannot upgrade beyond WordPress 6.2, they will still receive security updates, as the project currently backports them to versions 4.1+. The bump to 7.0.0 for the minimum supported version will have many benefits for the WordPress ecosystem of themes and plugins, will significantly reduce memory usage for upgraded websites, and provide better security and improvements to core tooling.

    “There are no plans to bump the minimum supported PHP version on a schedule,” Blackbourn said. “The core team will continue to monitor usage of PHP versions and work with the hosting team to encourage users and hosting companies to upgrade their versions of PHP as swiftly as possible. The 5% usage baseline will continue to be used for the foreseeable future.”

  • How to Send Emails From Your Web Server With the PHP mail() Function and PHPMailer

    Most businesses choose to create a professional email account to boost their credibility and build customer trust. To accomplish this, you just need to buy a domain and set up your business email on an email client or a server. If you build your website or web application with the PHP programming language, you can […]

    Read More…

    The post How to Send Emails From Your Web Server With the PHP mail() Function and PHPMailer appeared first on Hostinger Tutorials.

  • Yoast SEO 20.5 Drops Support for PHP 5.6, 7.0, and 7.1

    Yoast SEO 20.5 was released this week with several security fixes and an improved Google SERP preview. The preview shows mobile and desktop snippets with Google’s current styling so users can see exactly how their snippets will look and tweak how they optimize them for Google Search results.

    Another highlight of this release is that Yoast SEO has dropped compatibility with PHP 5.6, 7.0 and 7.1. The plugin now requires PHP 7.2.5 or higher (along with WP 6.0). While this may seem extreme at first glance, approximately 89.9% of WordPress sites are running on PHP 7.2+. WordPress doesn’t cross-reference these stats with WP version numbers, but it’s possible sites running on much older versions of WordPress are also on unsupported versions of PHP.

    WordPress PHP Version Stats – 4/11/2023

    Getting WordPress sites to update to the latest versions of PHP is a slow-moving process, but historically Yoast SEO has been a force for change in pushing users to upgrade their PHP versions. In version 4.5, released in 2017, Yoast SEO threw the weight of its estimated 6.5 million user base behind the movement to push hosts to upgrade their customers to PHP 7. That version of the plugin introduced a large, non-dismissible notice urging site administrators to upgrade to PHP 7.

    “To move the web forward, we need to take a stand against old, slow, and unsafe software,” Yoast founder Joost de Valk said at that time. “Because web hosts are not upgrading PHP, we have decided to start pushing this from within plugins.” He contended that the WordPress ecosystem was losing good developers because the project was moving too slowly and also made the case for security and speed.

    Although the latest version 20.5 will be incompatible with approximately 10% of WordPress sites running unsupported versions of PHP, this move forward is necessary for maintaining a healthy and secure ecosystem.

  • WordPress vs Laravel (2023) — What You Need To Know

    Comparing WordPress vs. Laravel is complicated because both “platforms” have little in common besides using PHP. However, understanding the differences between both options is essential to determine how to build your next project.

    In this post, we will talk about who should use WordPress and Laravel. We’ll discuss customization options, ease of use, security, and more. Let’s get to it!

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Who Are They For?

    It’s important to understand that WordPress and Laravel are two very different types of software. However, they’re both “solutions” that you can use to build websites and online applications.

    WordPress

    WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) that enables you to build sites using visual tools. You get access to a Block Editor that works similarly to page builder software and a dashboard with options to create and manage content, user accounts, and more:

    WordPress homepage

    On paper, WordPress is a blogging platform. However, the CMS is incredibly versatile, so much so that 43% of all existing websites use it. Therefore, it’s suitable for everything from eCommerce stores to personal blogs.

    If you use the open-source version of WordPress, you’re not even limited to a specific web host. You can set up the CMS on any server that you want.

    Laravel

    Laravel is not a CMS but a “framework” for the PHP programming language. That’s the same language that’s at the core of WordPress. However, Laravel doesn’t provide visual tools or dashboards to help you create a website:

    Laravel homepage

    With Laravel, you get a library of pre-programmed features to “put together” a website. That process takes place from a Command Line Interface (CLI) called Artisan.

    To use Laravel, you’ll need to know your way around PHP even though you interact with the framework using a scripting language. Although that process may sound complicated, using Laravel can be remarkably straightforward if you have a development background.

    Laravel is not a “platform” that you can pick up without programming knowledge. If you have zero background in web development, WordPress is definitely preferable.

    However, that’s not to say WordPress is a platform for beginners only. The CMS is incredibly customizable, and you can use it to develop websites with highly complex functionality.

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Ease of Use

    Although WordPress and Laravel offer such different experiences, we can compare how easy they are to use. Let’s start with WordPress.

    WordPress

    WordPress is straightforward to learn, even if you have no web development experience. It might take a while to go from zero to having a ready-to-go website. However, you have an amazing wealth of resources and tutorials for the CMS. Combine those resources with an intuitive dashboard, and WordPress is a beginner-friendly option:

    WordPress dashboard

    Once you have some experience under your belt using WordPress, you should be able to create new pages and entire websites relatively quickly. You’ll practice using the Block Editor, know which plugins to use in particular situations, and get an idea of which themes to use for different sites.

    Laravel

    If you don’t have a background in web development or experience using the command line, Laravel might be overwhelming. However, you don’t need to be a master programmer to use Laravel.

    Basic knowledge of PHP and CLI functionality should be more than enough to unlock the potential of Laravel:

    Installing Laravel using the command line

    Laravel offers extensive documentation to help you get started. For the best possible experience, we recommend checking out the Laracasts library. The library contains in-depth video tutorials for getting started with Laravel. You’ll also learn how to use some of the many “packages” or pre-built features the framework offers.

    If you want an “easy” setup, Laravel offers some “starter kits” that package several features, including scaffolding (the basic structure for any Laravel app that you create). You can use starter kits such as Laravel Jetstream for faster application deployment:

    Laravel Jetstream

    Arguably, the learning curve for Laravel is bigger than with WordPress. However, once again, we’re talking about two options for web projects with entirely different approaches. If you’re comfortable with the command line, you can set up a Laravel project on your server and start publishing pages in minutes.

    WordPress
    Ease-of-Use 🥇 Winner
    While WordPress does take a second to learn, it is straightforward to get used to and most users will be acclimated within just a few minutes. However, the advanced features will take much longer to master.    		 If you don’t have a background in web development, Laravel can be a lot to take in. However, they do offer video tutorials to help you get you started.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Customization

    Both Laravel and WordPress offer a wealth of customization options for whatever project you’re working on. Here’s how both of them compare.

    WordPress

    Most people customize WordPress using plugins and themes. Plugins are add-ons that can add new functionality to the CMS. Fortunately, there are thousands of plugins available to use, and a lot of them are free:

    Installing plugins in WordPress

    Plugins not only add new features to WordPress but also enable you to change core aspects of how the CMS works. For instance, if you don’t like the default Block Editor, you can replace it with a page builders plugin, such as Divi or Beaver Builder.

    With WordPress, you can develop almost any kind of online project that you can imagine. If you have web development experience, you can also edit the WordPress code and create new plugins and themes. In short, every aspect of WordPress is up for customization.

    Laravel

    With Laravel, you start every project from scratch, choosing which dependencies and packages you want to use. That means any website built using Laravel only includes features that are manually added:

    Some of Laravel's packages

    The Laravel model means that every project has a unique set of features. With Laravel, you can add or remove any package since the framework uses a modular system.

    Although some packages can add a visual interface for your Laravel website, you should expect to make most edits via the command line. That means you’ll need to understand the Laravel syntax and be comfortable managing a web project via commands.

    WordPress
    Customization 🥇 Winner
    With all the thousands of plugins and opportunities for custom coding,
    WordPress is set up to be the master of customization.     		Laravel is designed to be a modular system, with frameworks being hand selected by the user. There is a lot of room for customization, it just takes a lot of know-how.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Themes and Templates

    Many platforms provide themes and templates to customize your website’s style. Themes enable you to quickly try new designs and overhaul your website’s appearance without coding. Here are the differences in how WordPress and Laravel handle theming.

    WordPress

    As you may know, WordPress offers a massive collection of themes, both free and premium. You can look for and install themes without leaving the dashboard and change options almost instantly:

    The WordPress.org theme repository

    Plus, if you look beyond free options, many premium themes add new functionality to WordPress, such as page builder themes (like Divi). The biggest challenge with themes tends to be settling on an option because there are so many of them.

    You can fully customize any aspect of the themes that you use. Moreover, WordPress enables you to edit page templates using the Block Editor.

    Laravel

    Laravel uses the Blade templating engine by default. It enables you to produce layouts manually, which is more efficient than creating pages from scratch. However, you’ll still need to code every section and element of your Blade templates.

    Alternatively, you could use CCS pre-processors and frontend toolkits. One of the most popular options among Laravel users is Bootstrap:

    The Bootstrap homepage

    Toolkits such as Bootstrap do support and offer themes. However, these are not specific to Laravel itself but to the pre-processor you’re using.

    Although the lack of theming systems might be a con for some, the open-ended approach that Laravel offers is quite appealing. Since you’re working with a framework, you’re free to use any front-end toolkit. Therefore, you can choose from hundreds or thousands of templates if you take the time to set things up.

    If you look for Laravel templates, you will find some options for admin dashboards. Keep in mind that Laravel doesn’t come with an admin panel or dashboard. However, you can build one and use Laravel templates to customize its style:

    Examples of Laravel templates

    These templates will usually require dependencies and frontend toolkits to work. Additionally, you’ll still need to configure Laravel to work with the template and display data through it (some packages can do this).

    WordPress
    Themes and Templates 🥇 Winner

    WordPress offers a huge variety of premium and free themes.

    		 Laravel utilizes the Blade templating engine to produce manual layout, but you can also take advantage of Bootstrap to use hundreds of themes, as long as you take the time to set them up properly.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Publishing Tools

    Although Laravel isn’t a “publishing” platform per se, it can fulfill that role with the right approach. Let’s talk about how WordPress and Laravel compare with publishing tools.

    WordPress

    Publishing posts and pages are at the core of the WordPress experience. The CMS focuses on providing tools to create pages and blog posts with ease. The Block Editor reflects that with its visual approach to page creation:

    The Block Editor

    WordPress also offers functionality for managing posts. You can edit, update, and delete posts at any time. Even if you have a massive library of content, WordPress makes it easy to manage it.

    Laravel

    Laravel doesn’t offer built-in publishing tools. However, you can easily change that using the right packages. Some Laravel packages focus on adding blogging and publishing functionality to the framework.

    One such example is Laravel Blog. This package adds a dashboard that looks like WordPress and a classic text editor to publish new posts and pages:

    The Laravel Blog dashboard

    The alternative is to code and publish pages manually. That’s a valid approach, but if you plan on running a blog that publishes content often, you’ll want to use packages to handle the workload more efficiently.

    WordPress
    Publishing Tools 🥇 Winner

    WordPress is a very user-friendly platform, making it easy for non-technical users to create and publish content without much technical expertise. It offers a built-in editor with a variety of formatting options and multimedia support.

    		 Laravel is more developer-oriented and requires technical expertise to use effectively. While it doesn’t offer a built-in content editor, it can be used to build custom publishing tools that are tailored to specific needs.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Security

    Protecting your website from attacks and securing user data is key to any modern website. Here’s how Laravel and WordPress compare in terms of security.

    WordPress

    One of the main advantages of using WordPress is that the platform gets regular updates and security patches. If you keep WordPress itself, plus the themes and plugins you use, up to date, your website should be mostly secure. There are security plugins that can help you keep your website safe as well, We’ve listed the best ones here.

    Having said that, there are plenty of extra steps that you can take to protect your site even further. Some plugins can help you implement features such as Two Factor Authentication (2FA). Additionally, you can whitelist IP addresses, use web hosts that offer advanced security functionality, and more.

    Laravel

    Laravel offers many pre-programmed security features that you can implement for your projects. These features are not “enabled” by default, meaning you need to add them manually on a project-by-project basis. They include:

    • A user authentication system
    • Protection against XSS attacks and SQL injections
    • Email verification
    • Password hashing and reset functionality

    On top of its pre-programmed functionality, Laravel includes packages to enhance security. Arguably, Laravel is much more secure than most other PHP frameworks. However, there’s always more that you can do to protect your site, so it’s essential to be proactive about it.

    WordPress
    Security WordPress has several security plugins that can be installed to further enhance its security features. However, since it is a widely used platform, it is often targeted by hackers, making it more vulnerable to attacks. 🥇 Winner
    Laravel, on the other hand, is a PHP web application framework that is designed to be secure by default. It comes with built-in security features such as CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) protection and secure session management.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: E-commerce

    Running an online store is one of the best ways to make money online. This section will help you decide which platform is more suitable.

    WordPress

    WordPress is a very user-friendly CMS for running an eCommerce store. Using the free WooCommerce plugin, you can create a storefront, upload products, process payments and shipping, and more:

    WooCommerce plugin

    Furthermore, you can use WooCommerce extensions to add extra functionality to your store, such as product filters and customer reviews. Since you control your shop visually, it’s very easy to organize and sell your products.

    Plus, you can choose from other free and paid eCommerce plugins, such as Easy Digital Downloads. Overall, WordPress eCommerce is very accessible.

    Laravel

    As we previously explained, Laravel works with packages. Some Laravel packages can add complex functionality to your projects, such as publishing tools and eCommerce systems.

    E-commerce packages like Aimeos and Lunar can help you set up complex online stores:

    Lunar

    These eCommerce packages give you arguably more freedom than WooCommerce since you can design more complex products, shopping carts, and customer parameters. You’ll also typically get access to an admin hub to manage all your sales. However, as with most Laravel features, you’ll need developer experience to get the most out of eCommerce packages.

    WordPress
    E-commerce The WooCommerce plugin let’s you create an online store with ease, plus it has extensions to add functionality and customize your store to your liking. 🥇 Winner
    Laravel provides a solid foundation for building e-commerce websites with a range of features such as authentication, routing, database management, and templating.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs Laravel: Picking The Best Option

    Laravel and WordPress offer very distinct approaches to creating a website. With WordPress, you get a CMS that packages visual tools to help you build and manage every aspect of your site. By contrast, Laravel is a PHP framework that requires you to put together projects from scratch using pre-built features and packages.

    WordPress
    Ease-of-Use 🥇 Winner
    While WordPress does take a second to learn, most users will be acclimated within just a few minutes.     		If you don’t have a background in web development, Laravel can be a lot to take in. However, they do offer video tutorials to help you get you started.
    Customization 🥇 Winner

    WordPress is set up to be the master of customization.

    		There is a lot of room for customization, it just takes a lot of know-how.
    Themes and Templates 🥇 Winner

    WordPress offers a huge variety of premium and free themes.

    		 With Laravel you can use hundreds of themes, as long as you take the time to set them up properly.
    Publishing Tools 🥇 Winner

    WordPress is a designed for bloggers.

    		 Laravel is more developer-oriented.
    Security WordPress is a widely used platform, so it’s often targeted by hackers, making it more vulnerable to attacks. 🥇 Winner
    Laravel comes with built-in security features that are unmatched.
    E-commerce The WooCommerce plugin let’s you create an online store with ease. 🥇 Winner
    Laravel provides a solid foundation for building e-commerce websites with the right extension packages.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    There isn’t a definitively better option for building a website. If you’re an experienced programmer, you’ll probably appreciate Laravel for what it offers – an incredibly scalable and customizable framework that can adapt to your needs. On the other hand, WordPress simply works right out of the box, which can simplify and speed up some projects.

    WordPress vs Anything Else

    One more thing. Before you make your final decision on your website platform…are you curious to see how WordPress stacks up against its other biggest competitors? We did the hard work and compared WordPress vs. everything else so that you don’t have to! We also reviewed WordPress vs. GitHub Pages, and I think you will be interested to see the results.

    If you’re looking for specific plugins to help WordPress become even more powerful, we recommend the following:

    Do you have any questions about using WordPress vs. Laravel? Let’s talk about them in the comments section below!

    The post WordPress vs Laravel (2023) — What You Need To Know appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • WordPress Versions 3.7-4.0 No Longer Get Security Updates

    In September, WordPress’ Security Team announced it would be dropping support for versions 3.7 through 4.0 by December 1, 2022. Yesterday the final releases for these versions (3.7.41, 3.8.41, 3.9.40, and 4.0.38) were made available to the very small percentage of users who are running ancient versions of WordPress.

    As part of the final releases, the upgrade notification now informs users that they are on a version that is no longer receiving security updates. This affects fewer than 1% of total installs. The vast majority of WordPress sites are running 4.1 or later and will continue receiving security updates.

    Wherever possible, WordPress users should be running 6.1.1 on PHP 8 or later. (Although PHP 7.4 is the minimum version required to use WordPress, PHP 7.4 reached end of life two days ago and will no longer be receiving security updates. Version 8.0 will reach EOL in 11 months.)

    Now that the Security Team is no longer obligated to backport security updates to very old versions, it frees up their time to better support newer versions of WordPress.