PHP 7.4 and WordPress 6.4.2 incompatible?

  • Hello Learneds,

    (Disclaimer: I admit upfront that I’m a complete luddite, but I am very good at reading & following instructions!)

    I’ve just spent most of the day working with my web host (Netfirms) trying to upgrade my wordpress site from PHP 7.3 to 7.4. My site will unfailingly crash whenever I move to 7.4 . I deactivated and then deleted all my plugins AND switched my theme after the rep told me these were probably the reasons for the crash.

    Finally, after several hours, the rep indicated that “wp_version=6.4.2” is not compatible to PHP 7.4. Surely this cannot be true?! Is there anything else that could be causing this? I understand how important it is to keep up with the latest versions.

    In the meantime, I’m afraid my site will be hammered with spam and hackers because I’ve no plug-ins to help manage security.

    Some other details:

    • I’ve maintained and updated my site on this platform for about 8 years; although lately I’ve neglected updates and missed the Nov 2023 deadline for PHP 7.3.
    • I was unable to completely delete two plugins: W3 Total Cache and Participants Database. For unknown reasons, these will not delete.
    • My web host and plan currently only offers an upgrade to PHP 7.4. (I was s)urprised to see others here reporting on upgrades to 8.0 or higher!
    • If it’s significant, the web host is running MySQL version 5.6.32 – although I’ve read on this support forum it should be 5.7. Is this correct??

    If someone could help shed some light on this mystery for me (the English major who thinks SQL is shorthand for “squirrel”), I’d be so very grateful. Many thanks,

    Cranky

    • This topic was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by cranky613.
    • This topic was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by cranky613.

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

  • WordPress 6.4.2 is very compatible with 7.4. See: https://make.www.ads-software.com/core/handbook/references/php-compatibility-and-wordpress-versions/

    What is the exact error message when you run the project with PHP 7.4? If you don’t see one at the moment, check the error log of your hosting. Alternatively, you can also activate debugging in WordPress as described here: https://www.ads-software.com/documentation/article/debugging-in-wordpress/

    Incidentally, PHP 8.1 or newer would be the urgent recommendation for today’s hosting. There have been no updates for PHP 7.4 for some time, and no more updates for 8.0. See: https://www.php.net/supported-versions.php – if your host can’t offer you anything newer, I would recommend that you change it.

    Thread Starter cranky613

    (@cranky613)

    Thanks for this — I was sure that “compatibility” should not be an issue. And I will be sure to check the debugging suggestion. I’m wondering if the option for 7.4 (and not higher) is a standard approach when upgrading from older versions – perhaps as a means of error control?? In any case, hre’s the error message:

    Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 2097152 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 32768 bytes) in /hermes/bosnacweb07/bosnacweb07ac/b881/nf.thecrankypress/public_html/thecrankypress.ca/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 3572

    I did ask the web host rep to increase the allocated memory, but they replied that it was already at the maximum. Is this just bunk? Or possibly limited by my account plan?

    Again, thanks for your insights.

    Your question to the hoster was exactly right. They should give you a larger memory_limit here. If this is not possible from his side, you only have 2 options:

    a) You would have to see what you can “slim down”. You may have to do without plugins or your theme, which are probably causing the problem.
    b) You would have to move to another hosting.

    Thread Starter cranky613

    (@cranky613)

    Thanks so much for this. It rather confirms my suspicions. Appreciate your advice.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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