Fatal Error: Version 6.3.3 is introducing potential PHP version issues

Hi @kzeni,

Sorry about this, indeed, PHP 7.4.30+ is now a requirement. I have immediately updated this in the plugin’s information and released a new version to make sure this is updated.

Hopefully that will not create any more issues.

Thanks a lot for reporting this!

Thanks for the speedy update! I can confirm it’s correctly flagged as being unable to install the latest version on a site that has PHP 7.2.x.

Thanks for the confirmation! It’s really great it’s flagged correctly, I remember that a long time ago it wasn’t really working properly. Cheers! And again, thanks a lot, I am glad you caught this issue before it’s too late.

Hopefully, this also catches the update process where a site might still be on the version before all of this (while then having PHP < 7.3.x) where there’s technically the newer versions it might try to grab when seeing the latest version has a PHP version compatibility issue (while it then updates to that latest supported version that isn’t actually supported.)

I wonder if those versions (I suppose it’d be the tags in the plugin SVN, but I don’t know all that much about removing a version from WP.org to say for sure) could/should be removed to prevent that from being a possibility. That way, we have the last version that worked on older PHP, a gap where the problematic versions were (while they are no longer available), and then the new version that’s tagged with the new PHP version requirement (old setups don’t get tripped up & just stay on that last version while new/upgraded setup can continue using it normally). It might be fine, but it could be a good precautionary step if it’s not too involved to do.

Please post link to previous version, I had to get it from the backup, but i’m sure not everyone is able to do this. ??

@mrtvykenny You can usually go to the plugin’s page on WP.org, go to the “Advanced View” that’s offered as a link in the right sidebar (below the main plugin stats like the version, active installs, requirements, languages, etc.)

That should take to you https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/wp-retina-2x/advanced/ (in the case of this plugin) which there’s then a “Previous Versions” section at the bottom of that page which then has a dropdown to choose a particular version to download.

No need to supply the previous version separately here as they’re generally always available via this method (only time I’ve seen this not be available was when things were taken down for security/reliability/etc. concerns and/or the plugin author simply took their plugin down which then has it where they really don’t want people to be using the plugin at all anymore so it’s just not offered… which doesn’t appear to be the case here since every version that was released from now back to version 4.8.0 [which https://plugins.trac.www.ads-software.com/browser/wp-retina-2x/tags shows as being from more than 6 years ago] looks to be available.)

@kzeni Sorry to spam your thread.

@tigroumeow Just a quick feedback: I had the same issue with PHP 7.2 running on Ubuntu 18.04 (that is still supported). It’d be nice to include such changes at least in the changelog. Additionally, I’d even include such changes in the version number. For example, I would have released it as 6.4 if not as 7.0. Thanks.

I’m a little confused — does this plugin now require php 7.4.30, rather than 7.4.3? It won’t update on my server (Ubuntu 20.04 running its latest available version, php 7.4.3).

Actually, 7.4.3 might be okay, but personally, I have only tested 7.4.30. I am pretty sure you can force the update ?? But I can’t really test every version to see until which “old” version it can work so unfortunately I need to make a decision like this.

If you have an idea on how to do this better, I am interested, of course ??

How about keeping the minimal required version to the major version number (7.4), instead of point release number (7.4.x)?

There is no difference in terms of features between the major version(7.4) and the subsequent point releases (ex: 7.4.30). Only bug fixes and security patches are different. Direct quote from… https://www.php.net/supported-versions.php

Each release branch of PHP is fully supported for two years from its initial stable release. During this period, bugs and security issues that have been reported are fixed and are released in regular point releases.

This would solve the issues mentioned by @gothickgothickorguk who is probably using the PHP version supplied by the OS that takes care most (if not all) of the security patches for the lifetime of OS. For example, Ubuntu 22.04 comes with 8.1.2 and this version will stay there until the OS reaches EOL (until Apr 2027). This means the users don’t have to switch the PHP version every 3 years.

Your call.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by Pothi Kalimuthu. Reason: Chose the correct wording
• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by Pothi Kalimuthu.

Yes, that’s correct, I’m using Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Long-term support) which alleges that its PHP version is 7.4.3 but (I believe) backports hand-picked fixes from later versions to maximise stability and security. If your plugin works in PHP 7.4.30 the chances are excellent that it’ll work in 7.4.3 as the semantic versioning is basically meant to guarantee no breaking changes, API-wise.

Personally I’d risk it and declare that you support 7.4.3 (but of course, I would say that, as it would mean my automatic WordPress plugin updates would start working again!)

Hi guys! I lowered the requirements to 7.3.5, which is a version I could test. I had to change two lines of code (which were only working for 7.4), but I guess it worth it. Thanks for your comments and feedback ??

Great! Thanks for the help.