Page 24 - AeM_Nov_2018

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

By the end of the year, PHP 5.6 and 7.0 will be

shut down – be aware of the consequences

Many website operators and shop owners have recently approximately two years. In the third year the support is
received an important email regarding the PHP update - limited and serves only to close security gaps.
which shouldn’t be disregarded, but considered
important, not to make a mistake that can lead to the With the shutdown, website operators who still use an
loss of your website and consequently revenue losses. old PHP version must now decide on a new one.

Although the email informed that old PHP versions will How to update your PHP version
not be supported anymore by the end of this year - and
the new versions automatically come into force – the Experts recommend updating directly to PHP 7.2, as
consequences haven’t been explained, like what could support for PHP 9.1 will be completed by December
happen if the current system or CMS is not compatible 2019, especially since PHP 7.2 has additional
with the latest PHP version. improvements compared to the previous PHP versions:
It can, for example, perform almost three times as
Christoph Gärtner, Managing Director of the advertising many requests per second as PHP 5.
agency Pixelwerker and expert for SEM and content
marketing provides us with a brief summary of what can The conversion to PHP 7.1 or 7.2 usually requires just
happen to online shop and website operators at the end a click in the customer portal of your provider.
of the year, when PHP 5.6 and 7.0 will be shut down. Nevertheless, you should pay attention to a few things
before acting. Find out first if the current version of your
The scripting language PHP is used by most common CMS or shop system is compatible with the desired
shop systems and content management systems - in PHP version. If you update PHP, and at the same time
fact 83% of all websites worldwide use PHP. But the use an unsupported version of your CMS, this can lead
support for PHP 5.6 ends on December 31 and for PHP to failure of your website. So, make sure that all
7.0 already on December 3, 2018.The problem is that extensions and plug-ins remain functional with the
currently still more than 62% use a PHP 5 version, which conversion. If this is not the case, update them too. It
demands urgent actions. may happen that for some less used plug-ins no newer
version is available, which means you need to find an
PHP regularly releases new, better versions that can, alternative for the plugin. Before doing so, make sure to
among other things, answer more queries per second have backed up your website, database and all files.
than previous versions and closes security holes. For After the transition, check if your website is still
each release, PHP provides full support for functional. If there are any difficulties in adjusting your

24 November 2018 - Email Marketing & E-Commerce