Hi @seekbeacon and @code3creative,
Thanks for your messages and I’m sorry you both feel this way. I imagine others will feel similarly too.
WordPress, as a project, has announced that PHP 7.4 will be dropped within the next 12-months, and many managed WP hosts have already dropped support for PHP 7.4, which is now no longer supported with updates – PHP 8.0 is already 4-years old at this point.
BNFW 1.9.3 will still work with PHP 7.4, and if it works for you then there is no reason to upgrade however, I have taken the decision to move BNFW 1.9.4 and upwards to require PHP 8+ due to the above. I, personally, haven’t had any issues running any plugins with PHP 8+ in the past 2-years, and so felt now was as good a time as any to move BNFW forward in this way.
I feel it is in the best interests of the plugin, and the overall ecosystem, and security, of WordPress, that we collectively move towards supporting newer versions of WordPress and PHP where possible.
I don’t expect this reply to change your mind but I hope you understand that I have given everything a lot of thought and proceeded with what I feel is best. I also hope you have appreciated BNFW and how much it has offered for free, since it was created over ten years ago, and I hope you continue to use the plugin.
– Jack
