TheWebsiteFriend.com :: Feature Article: January 2008
When your host upgrades to PHP5 what should you do?
When your website host upgrades to PHP5 what should you do? This is an important issue to consider and a timely one at that. January 1st 2008 PHP version 4 has reached it's official EOL (End Of Life) for new releases. On PHP.net there is a notice stating new critical security releases may be released until as late as Aug 2008. However this is not for certain and it is all up to the PHP developers if any more security updates will be released for PHP4. So what does this mean for web hosting providers and all of their clients? For website hosts it means those who have not already done so will need to make the transition from PHP4 to PHP5 sometime very soon. For website hosting clients it means that they will need to make sure their PHP scripts and website features are compatible with PHP5 as soon as possible.
So how bad will it be you ask? Developers are saying it really all depends on your particular PHP scripts. A good place to start if you are someone who is still using PHP4 scripts is to check out the PHP 5 migration document which can be found on the official PHP website here: http://www.php.net/manual/en/migration5.incompatible.php. This document will go over PHP4 features which are not compatible with PHP5 so if you are using something outlined in the migration document you will need to make modifications. Are you scared yet? Don't be. Change is good and there are many great things about PHP5 and the experts say most people should have very few issues when they upgrade from PHP4 to PHP5.
I don't want to upgrade what are my options? If you really don't want to upgrade for whatever reason you do still have some options. You could get a VPS hosting account or a dedicated server. With these two types of hosting you can decide for yourself which version of PHP you will run and if you with to stick with PHP4 until the year 2030 then that is your prerogative. TheWebsiteFriend.com would't really recommend that course of action but it is available to those of you who do not want to make the change to PHP5. Really it shouldn't be that bad for the majority of those with website originally written for compatibility with PHP4. However, no matter what choice you make good luck to you and happy new year!
February 2008's article will be: What Recession in 08' means for Online Businesses