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WordPress and PHP end-of-life checker

See whether your PHP and WordPress versions still get security fixes, and until when, from php.net's and WordPress.org's own records.

The version records have not been loaded on this site yet. Until they are, php.net lists the supported PHP versions and WordPress.org lists its releases.

Finding your versions

In the WordPress dashboard, go to Tools, then Site Health, and open the Info tab. The WordPress section gives the WordPress version and the Server section gives the PHP version. Your hosting control panel shows the PHP version too, and is where it is changed.

What the words mean

  • Fully supported: the PHP project fixes faults and security holes in the series.
  • Security fixes only: security holes are still fixed. Other faults are not. It is time to plan the move to a newer series.
  • End of life: nothing is fixed. A security hole found from now on stays open. Some hosts keep patching an old series themselves; ask yours whether it does, and for how long.
  • Outdated and insecure are WordPress.org's own words for a release that is not the current one, and for a release with known security holes that a later release fixed.

Moving to a newer PHP

The PHP version is changed in your hosting control panel, usually from a list, and can be changed back the same way. The risk is an old plugin or theme that does not run on the newer PHP and stops the site.

  1. Take a backup, and update WordPress, your plugins and your theme first. How to safely update WordPress has the order.
  2. Try the newer PHP on a copy of the site if you can. How to set up a staging site shows how.
  3. Change the version at your host and look through the site: the home page, a form, the checkout.
  4. If the site shows an error, change the version back, then find what failed. How to fix the white screen of death shows how to read which plugin it was.

Common questions

My host says my PHP version is fine. Is this page wrong?
Both can be true. This page gives the dates the PHP project itself publishes. Some hosting companies and operating systems go on patching a series after those dates. If yours says it does, ask until when.
Which PHP version should a WordPress site run?
One that is fully supported or still gets security fixes, and that your plugins and theme run on. WordPress.org publishes the version it recommends on its requirements page. Check there before a major change.
Does an old WordPress version get security fixes?
WordPress.org says only the most recent release of the current series is safe to use and actively maintained. Security fixes have been released for older series as well, which is why the newest release of an older series is marked outdated and not insecure. That is not a promise for the future.
How current is this page?
The dates are read from php.net and WordPress.org twice a day. The page says which day they were last read.

On a version that has run out?

Tell us which versions the site runs. We reply with what would need to change to move it, and a fixed quote. The diagnosis is free.

Get a free diagnosis