PHP 7.0.0 and 5.6.16

The PHP developers recently released PHP version 7.0.0, as well as an update to the 5.6 series, version 5.6.16. We’ve upgraded PHP on our servers as a result.

The official release of PHP 7 means we’ll start encouraging customers to use it (as long as they use modern scripts like current versions of WordPress). It’s almost twice as fast as old versions of PHP. Yes, really: Twice as fast. We’re using it ourselves on this blog.

If you’d like your WordPress or other PHP-based site to seem snappier, or be able to handle twice as many visitors per second, you can easily do so:

  1. Login to our My Account control panel
  2. Click PHP Settings
  3. Click PHP 7.0 series
  4. Click Save Settings

Then test your site to make sure it works properly. If it does: Great, you’ve just made your site much faster! If it doesn’t, it’s probably because you’re using older scripts that haven’t yet been updated, and you can simply set PHP back to an earlier version for now. We recommend that you always use the latest version that works properly with your scripts.

As always, if you have any trouble, don’t hesitate to contact us.

PHP 7.0.0RC7 experimentally available

As we mentioned in a previous post, our customers can now test the next major update to PHP, version 7.0, which is almost twice as fast as the current PHP 5.6. (There is no PHP version 6: That project was abandoned by the PHP authors.)

Today we updated the test version on our servers from 7.0.0RC6 to the latest 7.0.0RC7.

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PHP 5.6.15

The PHP developers recently released version 5.6.15 that fixes several bugs. We’ve upgraded PHP 5.6 on our servers as a result.

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PHP 7.0.0RC6 experimentally available

As we mentioned in a previous post, our customers can now test the next major update to PHP, version 7.0, which is almost twice as fast as the current PHP 5.6. (There is no PHP version 6: That project was abandoned by the PHP authors.)

Today we updated the test version on our servers from 7.0.0RC5 to the latest 7.0.0RC6. This updated version also includes support for the ImageMagick extension, making it functionally complete.

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PHP 7.0.0RC5 experimentally available

The PHP developers are about to release a major update to PHP, version 7.0.

The main new feature (as far as most of our customers will be concerned) is vastly improved performance. Our testing shows it can run WordPress sites around twice as quickly, lowering the site’s CPU resource usage significantly. Sites that use it will be able to handle close to twice as many visitors per second.

Although a “stable” version of PHP 7 has not yet officially been released, a “release candidate” preview version is available, and we’ve installed that on our servers for customers who want to test it.

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PHP 5.5.30 and 5.6.14

The PHP developers recently released versions 5.5.30 and 5.6.14 that fix several bugs. We’ve upgraded PHP 5.5 and 5.6 on our servers as a result.

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PHP 5.4.45, 5.5.29 and 5.6.13

The PHP developers recently released versions 5.4.45, 5.5.29 and 5.6.13 that fix several bugs. We’ve upgraded PHP 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6 on our servers as a result.

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PHP 5.4.44, 5.5.28 and 5.6.12

The PHP developers recently released versions 5.4.44, 5.5.28 and 5.6.12 that fix several bugs. We’ve upgraded PHP 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6 on our servers as a result.

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PHP 5.4.43, 5.5.27 and 5.6.11

The PHP developers recently released versions 5.4.43, 5.5.27 and 5.6.11 that fix several bugs. We’ve upgraded PHP 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6 on our servers as a result.

In addition, ionCube Loader has been updated to the current version 5.0.14.

These changes should not be noticeable, but in the unlikely event you experience any trouble, don’t hesitate to contact us.

PHP 5.4.42, 5.5.26 and 5.6.10

The PHP developers recently released versions 5.4.42, 5.5.26 and 5.6.10 that fix several bugs. We’ve upgraded PHP 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6 on our servers as a result.

In addition, ionCube Loader has been updated to the current version 5.0.10.

These changes should not be noticeable, but in the unlikely event you experience any trouble, don’t hesitate to contact us.