PHP 5.6 End of Life. What’s next?

10 December, 2018

If you’re still using PHP 5.6 it is time to upgrade to a newer version. As of December 31, 2018, PHP 5.6 will officially become no longer supported.

For users of this soon-to-be obsolete version, time is running out quickly. Websites that are running PHP 5 will not only lack critical security benefits, they will also miss out on the significant performance improvements that are available within the newer versions. Contact a web development team for migration services as soon as possible and definitely before the year’s end.

Let’s discover what should be done before PHP 5.6 end of life.

What Will Happen When PHP 5.6 End of Life Comes?

The software will continue to work, however bug and security fixes for PHP 5.6 will be no longer released. If any vulnerability is found, it will have no chance of getting remedied. Older version of PHP signal the green light for hackers to target unsupported websites.

To keep your website secure, we recommend that you upgrade to PHP 7 by the end of December 2018. Why not upgrade to PHP 6? This version didn’t work the way it was envisioned to and was completely scrapped. The deficiencies with PHP 6 were all taken into consideration while creating the 7th version, which works flawlessly.

What Should You Do Before PHP 5.6 End of Life?

Drupal 7

For Drupal 7 website owners who work with PHP 5.6, a new Drupal version 7.61 was released. It entirely supports PHP 7.2. This will make upgrades from PHP 5 easier.

Drupal 8

Drupal 8 support for PHP 5 will be dropped on March 6, 2019. You should contact a web development team for updating to PHP 7.1 or, better yet, PHP 7.2, which is supported as of Drupal 8.5 (which was released March, 2018). Drupal 8.7, with a release date of May, 2019, will support PHP 7.3.

How Can WishDesk Help?

It’s our task to stay on top of new and evolving technologies. That way we can always provide the highest quality services for your digital platforms. Contact WishDesk for your site’s code review and we’ll make sure your platform is PHP 7 ready. We can easily convert all your data to meet the demands of the upcoming new era before PHP 5.6 end of life.