Unsupported on my host's outdated PHP

  • mpedersen

    (@mpedersen)


    9 years ago

    Apparently my host provider’s version of PHP isn’t good enough for the Plugin’s authors? ??

    Kudos to the authors for actually providing detailed explanation and notification – “Plugin deactivated. Your server is running PHP version 5.2.17, but WP-SpamShield requires at least PHP 5.3.21. We are no longer supporting PHP 5.2, as it reached its End of Life (no longer supported by the PHP team) in 2011, and there are known security, performance, and compatibility issues. We are phasing out support for PHP 5.3 as it reached End of Life in 2014.”

    I just wish I could actually try and rate the plugin, and not be left out the dark. Everything else I’m using works fine (as far as I know of).

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Plugin Contributor redsand

    (@redsand)

    Hi mpedersen!

    I’m very sorry to hear you had frustrating experience and weren’t able to activate the plugin.

    PHP 5.2 reached the end of its life 5 years ago, and is no longer supported by the PHP team, meaning: no more updates, and most importantly, no more security updates. It’s actually not secure to run PHP 5.2 anymore as there are known security exploits, so running it on your site may leave some open doors for hackers. (The WordPress requirements page notes this as well.)

    WordPress itself has a current minimum requirement of 5.2.4, but PHP 5.6+ is (highly) recommended – see the WordPress requirements. It’s likely that WordPress itself will not support it for much longer.

    Quite a few significant changes were made to PHP code in PHP 5.3, so it means a lot of code and plugins had to be re-tooled for maximum compatibility from PHP 5.3 on. It’s also significantly faster…that’s a good thing! ?? PHP is currently up to version 7.0 now.

    We’re definitely not trying to leave anyone out by not supporting PHP 5.2. We’re just trying to do the right thing by our users.

    After weighing all the pros and cons, we decided it would be better to have the plugin deactivate completely, instead of staying active and causing unknown problems for a user because it didn’t support PHP 5.2. Quite a few plugins don’t support 5.2 anymore, they just don’t tell you. ?? Many require 5.3 or even 5.4.

    Your web host probably already has higher versions of PHP installed on your server. (It’s not like your desktop computer that only has one Operating System version….PHP has several at once, and you just have to tell it which you want to use.) They usually have all the versions up to the current version. Almost every web host out there has PHP 5.5 and 5.6 available. You usually just need to go into your cPanel (or other control panel) and make the change. If that isn’t available, and you send in a support request, they will be happy to switch it for you. It’s just a configuration change, so it’s not like a whole new OS needs to be installed, and is very easy and quick for them (or you) to do.

    IF, and this is a big IF, your web host does not have anything higher than PHP 5.2, please do yourself a favor and leave them immediately for another web host that has up to PHP 5.6 or 7.0. Seriously. Really. ??

    I hope that helps!

    – Scott

    We do have more info on this (if you’re interested) in the plugin’s minimum requirements section.

    If you need help with this or anything else, we will be happy to help…just head over to the WP-SpamShield Support page, and submit a support request.

    Thread Starter mpedersen

    (@mpedersen)

    ?? Great Response Scott! I promise if I get this resolved with my host and I get the plugin working, high marks!

    Plugin Contributor redsand

    (@redsand)

    Thank you! ?? Sounds like a plan! Like I said, if you need any help, just let us know. ??

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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