[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #57345: Bump the minimum required PHP version to 7.2

[WordPress Trac]

#57345: Bump the minimum required PHP version to 7.2
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 Reporter:  SergeyBiryukov                       |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  task (blessed)                       |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                               |   Milestone:  Future
                                                 |  Release
Component:  General                              |     Version:
 Severity:  normal                               |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-patch has-unit-tests 2nd-        |     Focuses:
  opinion                                        |
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Comment (by snoringdragon):

 Replying to [comment:39 chris@…]:
 > I'm 100% all for this, but I'm also curious what the general message for
 upgrading will be? PHP 7.x is EOL but PHP 8.x is still listed as "beta
 support" in the [https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/php-
 compatibility-and-wordpress-versions/ WP matrix]?
 >
 > We can tell people to upgrade to 7.x, but your average user is probably
 just going to pick the most recent version. I know 8.2 just came up, but
 if core still is "beta" for 8.0 and 8.1, I'm just not sure we're ready to
 force/encourage an upgrade yet.
 >
 > And I know that most (or possibly all) of the "beta" is just
 deprecations, and "deprecations aren't errors", but your average user
 doesn't know that.
 >
 > To be very clear, I really want this. I write in other frameworks, too,
 and it is really frustrating to switch between PHP versions, remembering
 what is supported in each version, so any upgrade of minimum version
 support will help with that.

 Hi, there.

 We will encourage users to upgrade to latest PHP version available for
 them at their hosting company.

 There are few things to keep in mind.
 1. If someone who is on PHP 5.6 is upgrading, they will most likely have
 to upgrade their plugins and themes too.
 2. If some average user is upgrading PHP version, they will most likely
 seek hosting company's support, instead of doing it all alone.
 3. With above two points in mind, it doesn't matter all that much if they
 upgrade to PHP 7.4 or PHP 8.0/8.1 as long as their plugins and theme are
 compatible with said PHP version.
 4. We can also add an explanation at that
 [https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/php-compatibility-
 and-wordpress-versions/ PHP Compatibility and WordPress Versions] post
 that beta support will work fine and users don't need worry about it as
 long as their plugins and theme are compatible with said PHP version.

 Finally, we can show users running on PHP 5.6 a message about its support
 being dropped in WP 6.2 once they upgrade to WP6.2 and provide them link
 to a make blog post which explain how to upgrade to newer PHP version.

 I hope this address your concerns.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/57345#comment:40>
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