To make your Wordpress (or other site built via a CMS system) run smoothly, the software or plugins you use will need to be updated from time to time. In some cases this is manual work (if you installed your CMS manually at the time), but it is also possible (if you used the tools Plesk (or DirectAdmin, at the time)) that the updates are installed automatically.
Those updates rely on PHP, the server-side database engine. Like any other software, PHP is constantly being updated, and newer versions of WordPress require newer versions of PHP.
We ensure that our servers are always up-to-date when it comes to the software offered. This means that our software (Plesk) is up-to-date and that the latest versions of PHP are available. And (if you have set that up) that your WordPress installation and plugins are updated. This works fine, until a newer version of PHP is required.
Adjusting the required version of PHP is a manual action that you must perform yourself, as such an adjustment can have an impact on the operation of the site. Especially when it comes to an update from PHP 5.x (a widely used, but very outdated version) to 7.4.x.
NB! For a small part of our customers, manual changes have been made to the hosting package in the past. It is possible that the rights to manage the PHP version have expired as a result. We can fix that if you call or email.
Plesk provides full support for the PHP scripting language, including support for multiple PHP versions and handler types out of the box.
It is also possible to change a few settings on Plesk interface.
First, you need to log in to your Plesk panel through your hosting panel or directly to Plesk as you always do.
Clicking on Websites & Domains > PHP you will see all the PHP settings that includes:
- PHP version
- memory_limit
- max_execution_time
- max_input _time
- post_max_size
- upload_max_filesize
- display_errors
- log_errors
- and others.
NB! Usually you don't need to change any of these settings, but if you need to, there is also the hosting limit. You can insert a number on PHP settings page and it is not followed by the hosting package. Contact us if you need any help.