Proposal: Remove the “beta support” label from PHP 8.3 for WordPress 6.8

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Update: This change has been agreed and implemented.

WordPress 6.4 to 6.8 are labelled as having “beta support” for PHP 8.3. The coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. software itself is compatible and has been since November 2023, but due to the acknowledgement that WordPress is rarely used in isolation (without any theme or plugins) this support is labelled as “betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. support”.

Last month, combined usage of PHP 8.3 and higher surpassed 10% of all WordPress websites. I am proposing two small adjustments to the criteria for removing the “beta support” label from each PHP version:

Remove the “for at least 3 months” clause from the “Enough sites” indicator. 10% of all WordPress sites is somewhere well north of 3 million and the 3 month clause seems unnecessary at that scale.
Allow the label to be retroactively removed from the current major releasemajor release A release, identified by the first two numbers (3.6), which is the focus of a full release cycle and feature development. WordPress uses decimaling count for major release versions, so 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, and 3.1 are sequential and comparable in scope.. There is no need to wait for the next major release to update the support status if its only remaining criteria is based on usage numbers.

With these two small adjustments, the “beta support” label for PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher 8.3 can be removed from WordPress 6.8. If there are no objections then I’ll make this change this week.

What does this change mean for users and extenders?

Declaring PHP 8.3 as fully supported will help continue to provide clarity and confidence to users and to encourage web hosts and users to continue updating to newer versions of PHP. Users and extenders of WordPress can be confident using and recommending more up to date versions of PHP when the WordPress project continues to test, support, track, and encourage use of newer versions both in the core software and throughout the ecosystem.

What about PHP 8.4?

PHP 8.4 was released in November 2024 and its usage is currently at 1.5%, therefore its “beta support” status will remain in place for now.

What about PHP 8.5?

Hold your horses, PHP 8.5 is still in development and its release is planned for November 2025.

Thanks to @jorbin for proof-reading and suggestions prior to publishing.

#php, #php-8-0, #php-compatibility

tobifjellner (Tor-Bjorn “Tobi” Fjellner) 10:22 am on July 7, 2025

Quick question: is coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. already fully compliant with PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher 8.4?
- John Blackbourn 10:44 am on July 7, 2025
  
  Its “betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. support” label will remain in place for now as its usage is below 10%. I’ve updated the post to clarify.
Brian Haas 10:54 am on July 7, 2025

Fully agree on the proposal to remove the betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. label. We’re running hundrets of sites on PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher 8.3/8.4 and coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. works great. Thanks for the great effort to the team!
David Levine 12:50 pm on July 7, 2025

Love and agree with all this 🙌….

**And** I want to propose an in-parallel effort for the long term: a `PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher tested up to` headerHeader The header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. that could allow plugins and themes to hint their compatibility.

Having that in place would make it easier for existing sites to (feel comfortable enough to) upgrade, which means getting %s up more quickly, and helping decision makers feel more confident in dropping future betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. labels sooner.

(If it doesn’t already exist and no one beats me to it, I’ll open up a TracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker.)
- Pascal Birchler 3:47 pm on July 7, 2025
  
  See #51139
  - David Levine 8:41 pm on July 7, 2025
    
    Heh thanks! Looks like I even chimed in there about this 2 years ago 😅
Jb Audras 1:01 pm on July 7, 2025

Thanks John,
I support this proposal, let’s remove the betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. support label for PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher 8.3.