PHP is the lifeblood of your WordPress website. Roughly a year and a half ago, PHP 7 hit the world wide web. It is faster, more secure, more stable, faster (did I say faster?) than any release before it.
This month we’re going to chat about what PHP 7 is, why you need it, and how to make it happen on your WordPress website. If you want to get ahead, read our article about checking for PHP 7 compatibility here.
With Special Guest: Jason Cosper of WPEngine
Because we’re talking about PHP 7 and what it means for your website, I reached out to Jason Cosper. Jason is “Senior WordPress Technologist” at WPEngine. He’s involved with all things WordPress and the server. When it comes to PHP 7 and why you want it, he knows his stuff.
Jason Cosper gets paid to nerd out over WordPress. No, really. It’s pretty nice work if you can get it. He also spends a ton of time with his wife Sarah and two chihuahuas, Rowdy & Gomez. Jason’s passions include hanging out in musty record stores, drinking whiskey, eating barbecue, and sampling craft beers.
Jason and I also admin the Advanced WordPress Facebook group where we field lots of questions and issues related to WordPress and hosting and servers, so you can be sure the convo will go in a lot of fun and relevant directions.
This episode happened live on June 14, 2017
Event Outline:
- What is PHP?
- Why is PHP 7 so awesome?
- How to Upgrade your site to PHP 7 safely.
Resources We’ll Discuss
- Some interesting performance tests (1) (2) (3)
- Jason Cosper’s article on PHP 7 Performance
- Kinsta’s article on why you shouldn’t use outdated versions of PHP
- WPEngine’s PHP 7 Compatibility Checker
- How to upgrade to PHP 7 on WPEngine
- How to upgrade to PHP 7 on Siteground
July Topic: Preparing for your Giving Tuesday Campaign
Our next event is Wednesday, July 12, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. PST. We’ll be discussing strategies and ideas for getting ready for your #GivingTuesday campaign this year. (Read about some campaigns from Give Users last year here.)
About the Author
