Checking PHP Version: How to Verify Your PHP Version and Ensure Compatibility

In order to ensure that your PHP-based website or application runs smoothly, it's important to check the PHP version you're using and make sure it's compatible with your code. This article provides a guide on how to check your PHP version and ensure that your website or application is working optimally.

Updated: 11 Apr, 23 by Susith Nonis 5 Min

List of content you will read in this article:

The progress of completing a website is being updated every day. The PHP version of the site is one of the most important factors in increasing the site speed. The fact that upgrading the PHP version makes the matter of speed twice as fast as the ordinary operations; however, the procedure of how you can check the PHP version is one of the things we need to know to do so— maybe your PHP version is the latest, and you don't need to update it.

More explicitly, PHP is a popular programming language that powers many user-friendly websites and applications. Although it may not be as popular as some newfangled languages, it's still used a lot, and supported by a large population of developers. Many of the world's most successful companies use PHP so it won't die in 2023. 

Check your WordPress site files to see multiple PHP files. These files are the instructions that your server uses to create web pages that your visitors can also use in the front and admin areas of WordPress. PHP is a big part of WordPress. PHP is most web pages—about 70% of all websites use PHP. In the language of statistics, PHP is used by 77.5% of all the websites server-wise programming coding that we got used to.

Big companies use PHP due to many reasons. Firstly, PHP doesn't separate views and business logic like NodeJS/MEAN Stack combinations. PHP views and server code is deciphered and go the same way. Consequently, code maintainability and scalability are weak, and introducing new functions is often challenging; therefore, managing large code bases is difficult.

There are several ways to check the PHP version, and in this article, I will explain two ways to do it for WordPress and non-WordPress sites. According to Wikipedia, PHP 7.4 is currently the latest stable version. So it is better to install this version on your website server. Of course, we are impatiently waiting for the stable release of version 8. It was probably much faster with this version.

But let's see what the PHP version of your site is. Maybe it is 5.6, and by updating it to version 7.4, you will see an amazing change in the speed of your site. If so, be sure to let us know in the comments section of this post.

How to Check the PHP Version H3

Checking the PHP version on a WordPress site is very simple. Just go to Tools > Site Health. Enter the information tab; now, click on the server. Here you will see your web server information. Finally, see the PHP version of your site, which is displayed in the form of a number like 6.8.9. Now follow the instructions to change the PHP version. 

Checking the PHP version through the host: H4

In this method, based on the type of control panel installed on your host, there may be differences in the details, which are completely and further for Cpanel, DirectAdmin and Plesk control panels. DirectAdmin> Plesk> We have explained.

There are many advantages to upgrading the PHP version:

  • Better Security—the most obvious reason to update PHP is to increase security. For example, newer versions are more secure against hackers. For example, deprecated codes are no longer supported.
  • Faster website—new PHP versions are faster. Sites using PHP version 7.3 are 9% faster than sites with PHP 7.2.
  • New Features and Improvements—all updates and newer versions have new features and improvements related to error handling.

After checking the PHP version used by your site, you should ensure that WordPress and all templates and plugins are up-to-date.

  1. First, enter the WordPress dashboard.
  2. Then, from the "Counter" section, click on the "Events" option.
  3. On this page, check that the latest version of WordPress is installed and that all plugins and themes are up to date. 
  4. If they are not up to date, be sure to update them.

Extra tip; before updating, we suggest you make a backup and ensure that the template and sites you use are compatible with the latest version of WordPress. Go to the pages of any template or plugin. Refer to the WordPress repository section or the developer site of that template or plugin.

You can also update the PHP version through Direct Admin.

  1. Enter your direct admin.
  2. Select the desired domain to change the PHP version.
  3. At the bottom of the page, find the "PHP version selector" option.
  4. Select the PHP version in this section and then click on the save option.

For more than a day, PHP has used many versions to increase the speed and security of the site. However, many site owners still use old versions of PHP. It is recommended to update the PHP version of your site. I hope this article has helped you change WordPress's PHP version.

In this article, we tried to teach you why you should upgrade your PHP and how to do it. PHP should always be up to date. If you have experience in this field, share it with us. A short call will also link you to our friend group in Azar Online. We are ready to provide consulting services in various fields of AI. We are dispensable, and we can transform your business overnight.

People also read: 

It can be useful for large sites that are based on HTML, why not?

Processes that are enhanced by PHP have a very positive effect on the SEO category of your site.

Susith Nonis

Susith Nonis

I'm fascinated by the IT world and how the 1's and 0's work. While I venture into the world of Technology, I try to share what I know in the simplest way with you. Not a fan of coffee, a travel addict, and a self-accredited 'master chef'.