PHP version 8.1 is now available for sites to be upgraded to!
On November 28, 2022 PHP ended support for version 7.4. This means that security updates are no longer being provided for versions 7.4 or older. So, if an exploit is discovered that could compromise the security of a site that is running PHP version 7.4, there is no fix coming to fix that exploit. In order for sites to remain secure, it will be important to upgrade your site to PHP version 8.1.
Before a site can be upgraded, there are a few items that should be taken care of. First, it is important that all updates are completed before attempting to upgrade to PHP 8.1 including your version of WordPress, plugins, and themes. Below are instructions for where to go to complete these upgrades.
Once everything is up to date, you can follow the instructions here to upgrade your version of PHP on your site. If something goes wrong, your site will likely be replaced with a generic 500 error page. The best way to recover will be to reverse the actions that you took to switch to PHP 8.1 and to switch back to PHP version 7.4 and confirm that all updates were completed successfully before attempting the switch to PHP 8.1 again.
Updating Your Plugins, Themes, and WordPress Version
1. Navigate to your Website Pro dashboard
2. Click on WordPress dashboard
3. Click on the Updates menu option
If there is no menu option as shown, there are no updates available and you are all up to date.
