Clarify meaning of "beta" with newer PHP versions (or remove)

[desmith]

​https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/php-compatibility-and-wordpress-versions/

That web page says that WordPress' support for PHP 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2 all are "beta". In this context, I believe the label is at best misleading.

In my work role at a web host, I've seen a LOT of customers point to that page as a reason to resist/refuse upgrading their sites past PHP 7.4. My understanding is that the intent of the label, on that page, is not to indicate that WP core has compatibility issues; rather it is intended to highlight that many themes and plugins may not yet properly support those PHP versions.

(My interpretation of that intent comes from ​https://make.wordpress.org/hosting/2023/05/15/is-wordpress-compatible-with-php-8/ , which I inadvertently inspired; if that is inaccurate, please let me know!)

I believe the "PHP compatibility" page should more explicitly state that WP core is, in fact, fully compatible with PHP 8.x (assuming that's the case, of course). If that seems too much of a step, the page should at least clarify that the "beta" label is intended to represent the state of the larger community's support, and not necessarily that of core.

[sabernhardt]

Related:
​https://make.wordpress.org/core/2023/06/20/proposal-criteria-for-removing-beta-support-from-each-php-8-version/

[desmith]

Just saw that. I don't think that discussion, and this ticket, are mutually exclusive. Clarifying where "compatible" and "beta" refer to core, versus where they refer to the WP ecosystem as a whole, is likely to be an ongoing discussion.

[SergeyBiryukov]

#58928 was marked as a duplicate.

[sabernhardt]

​https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/04/09/php-8-support-clarification/

[johnbillion]

Fixed as per the above. Cheers!

[johnbillion]

To clarify: The meaning of the beta label itself won't be changing (and is detailed in ​the criteria for remove the beta label from each version), but the "beta support" and "compatible with exceptions" labels have been removed from 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2. Support for 8.3 and 8.4 remains in beta and per those criteria.