35 comments
  1. Janet Martin Profile Pic

    Thanks very much. most people keep saying PHP 5.6 is the best and most recommeded for a wordpress website. You have given me enough reasons why I should upgrade to the latest php version.

  2. Stéphane Profile Pic

    I’ve try to upgrade from 7.2 to 7.3 many times during the last year, but each time I had to go back because my site won’t load… blank page. As soon as I return to 7.2, everything comes back to normal. In a local environement, I works fine, but as soon as I try on a live site, it crash.

    1. Team Astra Profile Pic

      Hey Stephane,

      The reason behind you seeing a blank page on your website may be because one of the plugins on your website is not compatible with PHP version 7.3.
      You can try updating the PHP version on the staging site, enable WordPress debug logs on your site and upgrade to PHP 7.3. You will be able to see error log on your site OR wp-content/debug.log file. This log will help you find the error coming from the plugin. The plugin author should be able to help you handle this further. 🙂

  3. visionrouge.net Profile Pic
    visionrouge.net

    Thanks, I’m upgrading from php7.0 to 7.4 but now have a blank screen to start,
    So I guess I need to check each plugin on by one..

    1. Team Astra Profile Pic

      Hello there,

      Yes, that would be the correct way.

      Or checking the debug log for any errors related to any plugin or theme and contact the respective plugin or theme author.

  4. Team Astra Profile Pic

    Hello Philip,

    Glad that you liked the post! 🙂

    And yes, the Hosting can definitely help or upgrade with such technical stuff. And we do list the same under Step 4 of this section – How to Safely Upgrade Your WordPress PHP Version.

  5. Arnold Benton Profile Pic

    I think I’ll try this myself first. Was thinking about hiring someone since I couldn’t figure out what this is.

    I’m not sure if it’s the right move though. Thanks for the info anyway. Really helpful.

  6. Emilio Arroyo Profile Pic

    Just wondering what kind of “Security Threats” does an outdated PHP version get?

    Like is it hackable?

    Anyway, gotta be on the safe side and update.

    1. Team Astra Profile Pic

      Hello Emilio,

      In fact, yes there are chances of the same as there are known security vulnerabilities with the older versions. On the safer side, it is always recommended to keep the PHP versions updated as we do with our themes and plugins. 🙂

  7. Erin Atkinson Profile Pic

    Awesome article. Thanks for including screenshots and examples with my with Siteground.

    Was incredibly easy to follow. Great job to the team.

  8. Stuart Elliott Profile Pic

    Ahh PHP. A few combination of letters I never dared to do research on until my website kept popping this up on my dashboard.

    Glad to find this article. Nicely done.

    1. Team Astra Profile Pic

      Hello Stuart,

      Yes, definitely. Sometimes, it’s great to know some basic technical stuff. As it helps in the longer run. 🙂

  9. Karen Profile Pic

    Very well detailed. Great points on upgrading PHP version.

    Might as well mention that sometimes your hosting does all of this for you.

  10. Jerick Profile Pic

    I think I’ll try this myself first. Was thinking about hiring someone since I couldn’t figure out what this is.

    I’m not sure if it’s the right move though. Thanks for the info anyway. Really helpful

  11. Garie Profile Pic

    Just wondering what kind of “Security Threats” does an outdated PHP version get?

    Like is it hackable?

    Anyway, gotta be on the safe side and update.

  12. ANTHONY MICHAEL DARMANIN Profile Pic
    ANTHONY MICHAEL DARMANIN

    I am a 78 year old amateur in the process of building a wp site using Astra, unfortunately, unaware of the pitfalls, I followed the upgrade recommendations and upgraded to php 7.4 and lost my site immediately. I removed Astra and tried starting another theme but this too did not load. So I tried again to load Astra and when that did not work asked for technical support from my host provider. This was accomplished and voila everything worked, so I asked what they had done and was told they reverted to php 7.3 and although I can continue to build my website I feel this is defeating the object of the exercise.

    1. Team Astra Profile Pic

      Hello Anthony,

      Do ask for more details on what caused the issue. As Astra is compatible with the latest PHP version. Further details might help to look into the issue.

      Feel free to reach out to us through our Support Portal if you need any help in the future.

  13. Christian Melo Profile Pic

    I installed WordPress with Php 7.4, then decide to downgrade to Php 7.3, boom, I broke my site, Error establishing a database connection.

    Any idea why?

    Thanks

    1. Team Astra Profile Pic

      Hello Chrisitan,

      You probably might need to check the Database credentials. If you are unable to figure do reach out to the Hosting Provider to give a better idea on what could be the issue. 🙂

  14. Jeff Schiller Profile Pic

    my server is saying that some parts of astra aren’t compatible with 7.4. is this correct? when my php was set to 7.4, some pages had critical errors. so i’m on 7.3 for now, which works fine, but would like the speed of 7.4. when will astra be fully compatible w php 7.4?

  15. Darren Profile Pic

    I’m currently trying to upgrade from PHP 7.0 but anything newer gives me the blank page error.
    I’ve disabled all plugins prior to updating and still get the blank page. Is it possible that a theme itself is incompatible with a newer PHP version?
    Can it be fixed in the style sheet or config file or similar?

    1. Team Astra Profile Pic

      Hello Darren,

      Usually in this case it would need to relook the theme and other plugins as well. As it is the code of them that needs to be updated as per the latest PHP standards.

      Hope that helps. 🙂

  16. Chris J. Zähller Profile Pic
    Chris J. Zähller

    This article is out of date. PHP 7.3 is no longer supported and WordPress.org recommends PHP 7.4 as its minimum. WordPress Core still has some incompatibilities with PHP 8 so most users should hold off on upgrading to it.

        1. Team Astra Profile Pic

          Hello Luckinson, the WordPress core at this moment is not fully compatible with PHP 8.0 or 8.1. Reference article. Further, our Astra theme works fine with PHP 8.0, but there might be other plugins that might not work well with 8.0/8.1.

  17. PHP Development Company Profile Pic
    PHP Development Company

    Amazing Article! I would like to thank you for the efforts you made in writing this awesome article. This article inspired me to read more. Keep it up

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join 1,653,898+ Happy Site Owners Using Astra

Whether you are a beginner, small business owner, or professional web developer, Astra provides all the tools you need to easily build your beautiful WordPress website.

Download is Just A Click Away!

Membership Retention Checklist Download

REWIND

YEAR IN REVIEW

Download is Just A Click Away!

Enter your email address and be the first to learn about updates and new features.

Download Free Astra Theme - Modal Popup Form
Scroll to Top