Bump the minimum PHP version to 7.2

[justlevine]

Background: #51043, #57345

Per discussion in #51043 (and reaffirmed in #57345, specifically https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/57345#comment:29 and https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/57345#comment:83 ), for WordPress to consider dropping support for a PHP version, the versions need to get below 5% usage, regardless of the WordPress version used on those sites.

As of 5 July 2023, [PHP usage for all WordPress sites](​https://wordpress.org/about/stats/)

• PHP 5.6 is at 3.93%
• PHP 7.0 is at 2.05%
• PHP 7.1 is at 1.38%

#57345 is slated to drop support for 5.6, which means barring the unlikely event that migrating users choose PHP 7.0 or 7.1 instead of a later version, the collective usage of PHP 7.0+7.1 is <%5 and eligible to be dropped.

That said (and as evidenced in the referenced tickets), dropping support for a PHP version is an orchestrated event that requires leadership approval, coordination with web hosts, and an announcement post that gives users ample time to prepare.

In an effort to prevent some of the planning hiccups around previous version drops, and hopefully continuing to standardize the process, I propose we already begin planning the eventual removal of the next slated PHP version.

Specifically,

• We should choose a "go/no-go" date for when we should evaluate the stats and determine which versions (collectively) meet the <%5 threshold (my assumption is that we will want to pad #57345 to see where the migrations land).
• We should determine the minimum ideal time before dropping support for an announcement post (several in #57345 suggested 2-3 months advanced notice)

Previously:
#57345 Bumping the minimum PHP version to 7.0 in WordPress 6.3 (targeted)
#46594 Bumping the minimum PHP version to 5.6 in WordPress 5.2
#16917 Bumping the minimum PHP version to 5.2 in WordPress 3.2

[johnbillion]

Thanks for opening this ticket. FYI myself and a couple other core folks are going to propose a somewhat more firmly defined process for proposing each minimum supported PHP version bump, probably next month once 6.3 is out the door. It will benefit everyone if this process is more clearly defined and documented.

[masteradhoc]

Thanks @johnbillion for your work on pushing this. A defined process is always better and gives people an early headsup on whats going to be needed / possible for core, themes & plugins.

Still think a timeline like suggested here https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/57345#comment:77 might be best :)

WordPress Version	Minimum PHP Version	PHP EOL since Date*	Comment
WP 6.3	PHP 7.0	31 Dec 2018	PHP 5.6 Support will be dropped
WP 6.4	PHP 7.2	10 Jan 2019 1 Dec 2019	PHP 7.0 will be dropped PHP 7.1 Support will be dropped
WP 6.5	PHP 7.3	30 Nov 2020	PHP 7.2 Support will be dropped TBD as currently still on 6.26% - might be possible to get that number below 5% for that release

But maybe thats more to catch up and then have a real process.
Lets get first 6.3 ready and then give you guys some time to prepare this. Happy to help.

[samiamnot]

Based on ​stats.

removing PHP 7.2 support is going to take a while since it is currently at 5.64% vs 6.48% last month. This is a pretty significant drop in a month, but it will likely take a while to reach the level where 7.2 can be dropped. PHP 7.3 was at 8.16% last month, and is now at 7.62%.

Month/Year	PHP7.0	PHP 7.1	Total
Jul 2023	2.05	1.38	3.43%
Aug 2023	1.99	1.33	3.32%

[snoringdragon]

Hi, everyone.
WordPress 6.3 is successfully out. Congratulations.
It will be great if we can start work on this ticket as it will take quite some to reach consensus and all approvals.
Thanks.

[samiamnot]

Adding a link to @flixos90's ​Community Summit Discussion Notes: PHP version support post related to this subject.

[samiamnot]

Updated for September based on ​stats.

Removing PHP 7.2 support (not part of this ticket) is going to take a while since it is currently at 5.55%. This is a very small drop compared to the previous month and it will likely take a while to reach the level where 7.2 can be dropped. PHP 7.3 is now at was at 7.18%, and this is dropping at a faster rate than 7.2.

Month/Year	PHP7.0	PHP 7.1	PHP 7.0 + 7.1	PHP 7.2	PHP 7.3	PHP 7.2 + 7.3
Jul 2023	2.05	1.38	3.43%	6.48%	8.16%	14.64%
Aug 2023	1.99	1.33	3.32%	5.64%	7.62%	13.26%
Sep 2023	1.93	1.27	3.2%	5.55%	7.18%	12.73%

[peq42]

It surprised me to see wordpress wasting resources on supporting very old versions of PHP while not having full support for newer ones.

​https://twitter.com/official_php/status/1597203297537957888
PHP devs have dropped support to all versions of PHP below 8.0 since NOVEMBER last year. A whole 10 months.
PHP 8.2 has existed for at least 9 months, and has only fairly recent joined beta support, without even a dev note about it.

PHP 8 and above, even though they are the only supported versions, still are beta for all versions of wordpress according to ​https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/php-compatibility-and-wordpress-versions/

My opinion? Drop PHP 7.4 and below completely and focus on PHP 8 and Above, their performance improvements and new features. People who don't update PHP to the stable, maintained versions won't be updating wordpress anyway, so its worthless wasting time and resources keeping compatibility.

[johnbillion]

@peq42 I appreciate your concern but the topic of WordPress retaining support for EOL versions of PHP has been discussed to death and back again. Just because the PHP project has ended support for a version of PHP does not mean that every piece of software must stop supporting that version. Bumping the minimum supported PHP version to 8.0 would mean cutting off over two thirds of all existing WordPress sites. That is unreasonably hostile to users, and without users there is no WordPress.

Let's keep this ticket on topic, thank you. A few internal (sorry) discussions have happened about which version we could or should bump the minimum to, based on current and projected usage figures and how they correlate with WordPress versions.

Hopefully we'll have an update soon.

[johnbillion]

Just to manage expectations, there has been some internal discussion on this topic (again, sorry about that) and there will be no increase to the minimum supported version of PHP in WordPress 6.4. We'll come back to this in due course.

[justlevine]

Replying to johnbillion:

Just to manage expectations, there has been some internal discussion on this topic (again, sorry about that) and there will be no increase to the minimum supported version of PHP in WordPress 6.4. We'll come back to this in due course.

Thanks for the update @johnbillion!

What can be done to make these discussions public and transparent going forward?

[peq42]

Won't keeping support to those old versions be detrimental to wordpress' overall performance? Lot's of new functionality won't be useable if the project has to take into account PHP 5.6

[johnbillion]

Replying to justlevine:

What can be done to make these discussions public and transparent going forward?

I wish I knew.

Replying to peq42:

Lot's of new functionality won't be useable if the project has to take into account PHP 5.6

The minimum supported version is 7.0 since WordPress 6.3, but yes in general newer functionality can't be used unless it's done conditionally or with backwards compatibility included. Hence the push to increase the minimum supported version as soon as we can while still considering that end users are the priority.

[samiamnot]

Replying to johnbillion:

Just to manage expectations, there has been some internal discussion on this topic (again, sorry about that) and there will be no increase to the minimum supported version of PHP in WordPress 6.4. We'll come back to this in due course.

On the positive side, with the delay there is hope that by WP 6.5 even PHP 7.3 may be in play 😄. I somehow doubt that it will be low enough though. As of today, 7.0 + 7.1 + 7.2 = 8.64% usage.

[justlevine]

@johnbillion I wonder would these backroom conversations be able to already raise this for 6.5?

We still have some 6.4 beta time to add a Site Health notice about the minimum PHP bump in the following release, which even (or especially) in lieu of a formal policy / proposal (whenever it comes) I think we can all agree is a good pattern.
(Iirc it was used for the >= PHP 5.6 drop, but skipped before the >= 7.0 drop since the final ship decision was relatively last minute).

[samiamnot]

Updated for October based on ​stats.

Removing PHP 7.2 support (not part of this ticket) is going to take a while since it is currently at 5.31%. This is a very small drop compared to the previous month and it will likely take a while to reach the level where 7.2 can be dropped. PHP 7.3 is now at was at 6.87%, and this is dropping at a faster rate than 7.2.

Month/Year	PHP7.0	PHP 7.1	PHP 7.0 + 7.1	PHP 7.2	PHP 7.3	PHP 7.2 + 7.3
Jul 2023	2.05	1.38	3.43%	6.48%	8.16%	14.64%
Aug 2023	1.99	1.33	3.32%	5.64%	7.62%	13.26%
Sep 2023	1.93	1.27	3.2%	5.55%	7.18%	12.73%
Oct 2023	1.87	1.23	3.1%	5.31%	6.87%	12.18%

[masteradhoc]

@johnbillion any update for the new propose for handling php versions?

Based on the decision on WP 6.4 to not raise any minimum php version i'd like to propose a new timeline to get to a more up to date minimum php version.

As of now - see ​https://www.php.net/supported-versions.php - only php 8.1 and 8.2 get active support. php 8.0 will run out of security fixes in a month. We cant keep up that speed but should definately catch up...

WordPress Version	Minimum PHP Version	PHP EOL since Date*	Comment
WP 6.4	PHP 7.0	31 Dec 2018	no change
WP 6.5	PHP 7.2	10 Jan 2019 1 Dec 2019	PHP 7.0 & PHP 7.1 Support will be dropped - currently combined on around 3% usage
WP 6.6	PHP 7.3	30 Nov 2020	PHP 7.2 Support will be dropped currently on 5.5% - should be possible to get that number below 5% for that release

Usage based on ​https://wordpress.org/about/stats/ and the updated collection of @samiamnot at https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/58719#comment:16

Second @justlevine's idea on https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/58719#comment:15 to already preinform users to give them an early hint that they should prepare to update.

[samiamnot]

Updated for November based on ​stats.

Here are the latest monthly stats.

Month/Year	PHP7.0	PHP 7.1	PHP 7.0 + 7.1	PHP 7.2	PHP 7.3	PHP 7.2 + 7.3
Jul 2023	2.05	1.38	3.43%	6.48	8.16	14.64%
Aug 2023	1.99	1.33	3.32%	5.64	7.62	13.26%
Sep 2023	1.93	1.27	3.20%	5.55	7.18	12.73%
Oct 2023	1.87	1.23	3.10%	5.31	6.87	12.18%
Nov 2023	1.79	1.17	2.96%	5.20	6.51	11.71%

[samiamnot]

Updated for early Dec based on ​stats.

Here are the latest monthly stats. No significant change, but PHP 7.2 is getting close to 5% that may allow it to be dropped in a subsequent release.

Month/Year	PHP7.0	PHP 7.1	PHP 7.0 + 7.1	PHP 7.2	PHP 7.3	PHP 7.2 + 7.3
Jul 2023	2.05	1.38	3.43%	6.48	8.16	14.64%
Aug 2023	1.99	1.33	3.32%	5.64	7.62	13.26%
Sep 2023	1.93	1.27	3.20%	5.55	7.18	12.73%
Oct 2023	1.87	1.23	3.10%	5.31	6.87	12.18%
Nov 2023	1.79	1.17	2.96%	5.20	6.51	11.71%
Dec 2023	1.73	1.12	2.85%	5.08	6.17	11.25%