A WordPress PHP update is one thing you may have not ever considered before.
I’ve been blogging and doing online marketing for years and just today I realized I have never done a WordPress PHP update.
A fellow SEO agency owner told me about this and why I should do it, and so now I am here creating a quick post on it so I can share with you how to do it if you’re on Siteground hosting that uses cPanel, and so I can remember for myself when I go and do it on my other niche blogs.
Why A WordPress PHP Update?
For one, you most likely are on the “system default” PHP version right now.
This means you don’t have the latest PHP version.
Being up to date is most often the best thing (however, with plugins I like to let some time go by before updating. I like to make sure it’s all 100% compatible with WordPress sometimes before I click that update button).
Overall though, being up to date is important, so this reason alone is good to get it updated.
Listen to what WPTurnedUp says about having an up-to-date PHP version:
We always run the latest version of PHP, unless there are reasons not to. So far, we have only had a few instances where running the latest version caused issues. We recommend starting with the latest version of PHP and then testing all aspects of your website. Rinse, repeat, until you find the highest usable version of PHP for your environment. Newer versions of PHP are generally more secure, have fewer bugs, and in some cases run much faster.
It’s really easy to get it updated.
How To Update To The Latest PHP Version With Siteground Hosting
You just go to your cPanel and find the PHP Version Manager Tool icon:
You have two ways to check your WordPress PHP version and see if you have an update available.
- You can check your PHP versions from your phpVersionManager tool in cPanel
- Or view it via your phpinfo file
For the purpose of this quick tutorial walkthrough on the WordPress PHP update, we’re using the phpVersionManager tool in Siteground hosting’s cPanel dashboard page.
First steps:
- Go to the PHP Version manager
- And then click on the public_html link
It will be at the top of the phpVersionManager page (image shows it):
- Then select the php 7.2 (current time this is the latest version).
- And then save the changes.
Simple as that.
Your WordPress PHP update is now complete and you have the latest version.
Your “success” confirmation page should look similar to this:
Can a WordPress PHP Update Hurt Your Blog?
If you go and check your site and see that it overloaded your server and broke your site, then go back into the cPanel and revert it back to the previous PHP version and you should be back to normal.
It’s worth updating and seeing it if works. Most of the time it will be a worthy update. And if you’re unlucky, you can simply revert it back and then contact your hosting support to see why they’re not letting you do the WordPress PHP update.
Conclusion: WordPress PHP update on Siteground
Now you can enjoy having a more secure, less buggy, and possibly instantly faster website or niche blog. Enjoy:)
Just another step in the many opportunities of blog growth and performance optimization for your WordPress blog. Thanks for coming by the blog!
NEXT: How To Create “Page Jumps” or “Jump Links” For Your WordPress Blog Posts
WordPress PHP Update Info Source: How to switch to a different PHP version?
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