{"id":15049,"date":"2021-01-04T11:53:48","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T11:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.accuwebhosting.com\/blog\/?p=15049"},"modified":"2025-09-15T13:58:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T13:58:00","slug":"wordpress-php-8-compatibility-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.accuwebhosting.com\/blog\/wordpress-php-8-compatibility-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"WordPress & PHP 8 – Compatibility & benefits!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of the tech-geeks are excited with PHP 8.0, and certainly, the changes are huge this time. everyone is going to consume some time to understand the compatibility, configurations, benefits, etc., of PHP 8, and among all, one of the biggest questions popping up is – “is WordPress already compatible with PHP 8, and if not, then what actions are needed.”<\/p>

\"WordPress<\/p>

Well, as soon as PHP 8 is released, our expert time dived into the deepest level of testing, and the outcome can shock anyone! Yes, we know everything now and feel pleasure to flaunt our reports and outcomes of tastings.<\/p>

Not just we’ll show what all has changed, but also give you a pure advice regarding whether you should update to PHP 8 or not.<\/p>

So many breaking changes in PHP 8: But why?<\/span><\/h2>

PHP 8 is a huge update of PHP, and it’s common practice to remove negatives in major versions from the recent range of minor versions. For the highly-talked PHP 8, several breaking changes have been reduced in the previous 7.* versions.<\/span><\/p>

Hence, for projects that were attentively updated over the years, fixing their derogated API’s, it shouldn’t be tough to upgrade at all. Telling the truth, PHP 7.* versions have observed a far bigger set of deprecations in contrast to previous versions of PHP.<\/span><\/p>

We’d say PHP 5.6 to PHP 7 was a pretty simple migration, but going from 7.x to 8 could be somewhat painful, especially for the old codebases, including WordPress, besides several available plugins.<\/span><\/p>

Certainly, for well-typed codebases or up-to-date codebases with the latest PHP versions, big problems won’t occur. However, the reality is that WordPress isn’t such a codebase.<\/span><\/p>

Is WordPress already compatible with PHP 8?<\/span><\/h2>

Saying honestly, maybe WordPress is already compatible with PHP 8, but sealing those words isn’t possible, though. <\/span>WordPress targets to always be compatible with the latest versions of PHP<\/span><\/i><\/a>. However, we’ve deeply analyzed the biggest concerns later in this guide.<\/span><\/p>

\"Wordpress-and-PHP-Compatibility2\"<\/p>

We’ve done an amazing job concerning finding the perfect fixes for the majority of the compatibility problems that could be found using the available strategies. We’ll certainly dive deeper into what all was there and the problems that exist with them.<\/span><\/p>

What performance changes are coming?<\/span><\/h2>

The major potentially exciting feature arriving with PHP 8 is JIT (Just In Time) compilation and debugging. As we know, PHP is an interpreted language, which means it’s translated into machine code when it runs. <\/span><\/p>

JIT tracks the code that’s frequently used and works on optimizing the machine code translation to make it reusable. Now, this can result in a huge performance improvement for a given functionality.<\/span><\/p>

The inclusion of JIT in various languages, for example, JavaScript, has historically conducted an explosion of new applications. For instance, virtual machines running in JS would’ve been out of imagination in the web’s early days. A few tasks that would have needed the installation of modules on the server in the past are going to be practical using core PHP libraries.<\/span><\/p>

For the time being, the actual performance elevation for web apps like WordPress is minimal. Besides that, it will take a huge time before a developer or an average WordPress user reaps the advantages of this new feature.<\/span><\/p>

There are several other new features to bring ease to the developers’ lives; it’s unlikely that these are going to be used in WP themes and plugins for the foreseeable future because the majority would break compatibility with PHP’s earlier versions still in use by several WordPress sites.<\/span><\/p>

How to update PHP for your WordPress site?<\/span><\/h2>

In this guide, we’ll describe how conveniently you can update PHP to the latest version, most importantly, without breaking your WordPress site.<\/span><\/p>

If you are eager to know the path, then just check your current PHP version, then Update WordPress to the newest version. After that, Install the “one.com PHP scanner” and run a scan to fix potential issues. Further, update PHP to the latest version, and verify whether your site is working as expected or not.<\/span><\/p>

Let’s show the whole process.<\/span><\/p>

Step 1: Check your current PHP version<\/h3>

In the very beginning, you have to check what PHP version you’re currently rolling on with. You can get the information of the current PHP version of your website from the phpinfo page. <\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>

If you are running on the cPanel, you can view PHP version from the article how to view and change PHP version in cPanel.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

In case you’re using PHP version 7.3 or higher, then everything is fine. For those having PHP 7.2, an update is needed. Please cherish to step 2.<\/span><\/p>

Step 2: Update WordPress to the latest version<\/span><\/h3>

Ensure that WordPress core and all the plugins and themes are updated to the latest version if you really want to avoid any malfunction.<\/span><\/p>

    \n
  1. Log in to your <\/span>WordPress Admin<\/span><\/strong> and Click <\/span>Dashboard<\/span><\/strong> > <\/span>Updates<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Check whether you’ve got the latest version of WordPress installed and that all themes and plugins are up to date.Update your WordPress to the latest version now. <\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

    <\/h2>

    Step 3: Install the “one.com PHP scanner.”<\/span><\/h3>
      \n
    1. In your <\/span>WordPress Admin<\/span><\/strong>, tap <\/span>one.com<\/span><\/strong> > <\/span>Plugins<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Locate the <\/span>one.com PHP scanner<\/span><\/strong> and <\/span>tap Install now<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Now, click <\/span>Activate<\/span><\/strong>, and move to the next step.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

      Step 4: Run a scan & fix potential issues<\/span><\/h3>
        \n
      1. In the menu on the left, tap <\/span>PHP scanner<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
      2. Tap <\/span>PHP version 7.4<\/span><\/strong>, then “<\/span>All themes and plugins<\/span><\/strong>,” and then <\/span>tap Start scan<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
      3. You can proceed once the scan is finished.<\/span><\/li>\n
      4. You can have three results:<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

        – <\/span>Compatible<\/span><\/strong> = It means all is good!<\/span><\/p>

        – <\/span>Warning<\/span><\/strong> = It means that it should work but might give issues with the upcoming PHP version.<\/span><\/p>

        – <\/span>Error<\/span><\/strong> = It’s not so good, will certainly cause issues after updating.<\/span><\/p>

        Fix any themes or plugins that read errors, either by updating it to the latest version or by replacing it with an alternative plugin providing the same functionality.<\/span><\/p>

        Tip:<\/span><\/strong> We recommend you to use just those plugins use plugins that get updated regularly and bring no compatibility issues with the latest version of WordPress. Besides that, it’s a good practice to remove any unwanted plugins to enhance the site’s performance.<\/span><\/p>

        Step 5: Update PHP to the 8.0 version<\/span><\/h3>

        You are now all set to update PHP. We recommend to turn on PHP error messages simultaneously. In case there’s an issue with the code, you’ll see error messages telling you what’s causing it and also where exactly it’s located.<\/span><\/p>

          \n
        1. In the control panel, return to <\/span>PHP and database settings<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
        2. Scroll down to <\/span>PHP error messages<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
        3. Click <\/span>Update <\/span><\/strong>after setting the error messages to <\/span>On<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
        4. Directly below this, change the version and <\/span>tap Update<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

          <\/h2>

          Step 6: Verify whether your website is working as expected.<\/span><\/h3>

          Now, you’ve got the PHP version updated, and it will <\/span>take a minimum of 20 minutes<\/span><\/strong> before the changes apply. If your site receives a lot of visitors, the time frame may extend to even several hours. That’s the reason we recommend checking your website a couple of times minimum during the upcoming 24 hours.<\/span><\/p>

          In case your site isn’t working against what you expected, then the most likely issue is your theme or any plugin. To find out what’s exactly causing issues:<\/span><\/p>

            \n
          1. Temporarily switch to the default WordPress theme, we’d say, “Twenty Seventeen”.<\/span><\/li>\n
          2. Select all installed plugins and deactivate them altogether.<\/span><\/li>\n
          3. Enable themes and all plugins again, one by one, and keep checking each time whether your site is still working or not. You can catch the culprit this way.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

            If we talk technically, then the compatibility of the present-time nightly of WordPress with the highly discussed PHP 8 is at a similar level as we inhabit from WordPress releases right before a fresh version of PHP pops-up.<\/span><\/p>

            Our testing was as substantial, the fixing was as meticulous, and the level of trouble-fixes was as huge as any of PHP compatibility fixing inside WordPress core. However, if you don’t follow this guide, you won’t be able to understand the compatibility challenges and reap maximum benefits out of PHP 8.<\/span><\/p>

            The huge amount of breaking changes and the sorts of changes included in PHP 8, besides a few added complexities in cross-version tooling, certainly make this compatibility challenge a bigger beast from what we’ve experienced before with the previous versions of PHP. This report targets to explain the same case.<\/span><\/p>

            WordPress and PHP8 Compatibility challenges<\/h2>

            We’d show you a few strategies that you can deploy for making an existing codebase compatible with PHP 8.<\/span><\/p>