PHP 7 is the next major update to the PHP programming language which offers several benefits over previous versions such as a new version of Zend Engine and faster performance.
PHP 7 has also removed several deprecated functions from previous versions. Because of this, users should not upgrade their sites until they are sure everything is fully compatible with the new version.
View the following article for instructions on how to update the PHP version of your site:
Benefits
The following list is taken from php.net:
- Improved performance: PHP 7 is up to twice as fast as PHP 5.6
- Significantly reduced memory usage
- Abstract Syntax Tree
- Consistent 64-bit support
- Improved Exception hierarchy
- Many fatal errors converted to Exceptions
- Secure random number generator
- Removed old and unsupported SAPIs and extensions
- The null coalescing operator (??)
- Return and Scalar Type Declarations
- Anonymous Classes
- Zero cost asserts
General upgrading guidelines
- You can update the PHP version of your site in your panel.
- Make sure your software and any plugins/themes/extensions are compatible with PHP 7 before you upgrade.
- Make sure your database queries are using mysqli or PDO_MySQL to connect as the mysql extension has been removed. View the "My site will not connect to my database after upgrading to PHP 7" section below for details.
One-Click Installs
Compatible One-Click Installs
- MediaWiki
- WordPress
- Zen Cart
Incompatible One-Click Installs
The most common reason for incompatibility is due to out of date MySQL drivers. View the "My site will not connect to my database after upgrading to PHP 7" section below for details.
- Concrete5
- Joomla
- phpBB
FAQs
What happened to PHP 6?
This was a development version that never became an official release. View the following links for further information:
Is PHP 7 available on Nginx machines?
No. Currently only PHP 5.6 is available.
Troubleshooting
My site will not connect to my database after upgrading to PHP 7
Previous versions of PHP offered three PHP APIs for accessing a MySQL database. They were:
PHP 7 has removed support for the mysql extension and affects the following:
- Any queries using a mysql_connect function will not function.
- PHP 7 only allows connections to a MySQL database using mysqli or PDO_MySQL.
All scripts must be updated in order to continue functioning.
