Since the release of WordPress 6.1 the HostingHosting A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web. Team has received quite a few inquiries about some of the configurations related to the ServerServer A server is a piece of computer hardware or software that provides functionality for other programs or devices. Typical servers are database servers, file servers, mail servers, print servers, web servers, game servers, and application servers. Environment.

Within the Handbook Hosting there is a page that is updated with each new major version of WordPress, or significant change, the information of the optimal and recommended configuration from the computer, in coordination with the rest of the teams.

Since last 2022-11-16 a new update of the page is available. As always, we recommend keeping the latest versions of the various services, especially for security. For example, using the latest versions of the web serverServer A server is a piece of computer hardware or software that provides functionality for other programs or devices. Typical servers are database servers, file servers, mail servers, print servers, web servers, game servers, and application servers. does not usually affect WordPress at all. In general, the same thing happens with databases, it is best to use the latest versions of MySQLMySQL MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). MySQL is free and open-source software under the terms of the GNU General Public License. or MariaDBMariaDB MariaDB is a fork of the MySQL relational database management system (RDBMS), intended to remain free and open-source software under the GNU General Public License. MariaDB intended to maintain high compatibility with MySQL, ensuring a drop-in replacement capability with library binary parity and exact matching with MySQL APIs and commands., taking into account their connection with PHPPHP PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a general-purpose scripting language especially suited to web development. PHP code is usually processed on a web server by a PHP interpreter. On a web server, the result of the interpreted and executed PHP code would form the whole or part of an HTTP response..

And we come to PHP versions, which is usually the most delicate in each version of WordPress, whether in the coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Team builds WordPress., plugins or themes.

In this table you can find the list of available, stable versions that were at the time of the release of each WordPress version.

WordPress	PHP	MySQL	MariaDB	Date
WordPress 6.1	7.4 – 8.1	5.7 – 8.0	10.3 – 10.9	2022-11-01
WordPress 6.0	7.4 – 8.1	5.7 – 8.0	10.3 – 10.7	2022-05-24
WordPress 5.9	7.4 – 8.1	5.7 – 8.0	10.2 – 10.6	2022-01-25
WordPress 5.8	7.3 – 8.0	5.7 – 8.0	10.2 – 10.6	2021-07-20
WordPress 5.7	7.3 – 8.0	5.7 – 8.0	10.2 – 10.5	2021-03-09

But, to this table, we must add the compatibility of the WordPress Core in each version.

WordPress	PHP compatible	PHP betaBeta Beta is the software development phase following alpha. A Beta phase generally begins when the software is feature complete but likely to contain a number of known or unknown bugs. Software in the beta phase will generally have many more bugs in it than completed software, speed or performance issues, and may still cause crashes or data loss. The focus of beta testing is reducing impacts to users, often incorporating usability testing. compatible
WordPress 6.1	5.6 – 7.4	8.0* / 8.1* / 8.2*
WordPress 6.0	5.6 – 7.4	8.0* / 8.1*
WordPress 5.9	5.6 – 7.4	8.0* / 8.1*
WordPress 5.8	5.6 – 7.4	8.0*
WordPress 5.7	5.6 – 7.4	8.0*

Versions with * are those with beta compatibility. To learn more about beta compatibility, you can check out WordPress and PHP 8.0 and WordPress 5.9 and PHP 8.0-8.1. WordPress 6.1’s compatibility with PHP 8.2 is pending, although it should be noted that PHP 8.2 is not yet publicly available (it is scheduled to do so in early December 2022).

How to know which is the best stable version for each version of WordPress? Use the ServeHappy API. This APIAPI An Application Programming Interface (API) is a computing interface that defines interactions between multiple software intermediaries. It defines the kinds of calls or requests that can be made, how to make them, the data formats that should be used, the conventions to follow, etc. returns the best compatibility information of WordPress with PHP.

WordPress	Minimum PHP	Recommended PHP	API JSONJSON JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is an open standard file format, and data interchange format, that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data objects consisting of attribute–value pairs and array data types. It is a very common data format, with a diverse range of applications, such as serving as a replacement for XML in AJAX systems.
WordPress 6.1	5.6.20	7.4	JSON
WordPress 6.0	5.6.20	7.4	JSON
WordPress 5.9	5.6.20	7.4	JSON
WordPress 5.8	5.6.20	7.4	JSON
WordPress 5.7	5.6.20	7.4	JSON

These values may vary depending on the different teams consider the change.

Although official support for PHP 7.4 will soon end, currently only with security support, several open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. projects have requested the PHP Foundation to extend the support of this version until all of them are updated on their new compatibility, including WordPress, which could give that compatibility in WordPress 6.2 (taking into account the current tickets).

What is the Hosting team’s recommendation to Hosting companies? Maintain, for now, PHP 7.4 as the default version for all WordPress, and test and report compatibility with PHP 8.0, 8.1 and 8.2, when available.

If you want to help the Hosting, Core, and Test teams, test new versions and future WordPress, PHP and SQL compatibility, you can use the tool WordPress Distributed Hosting Tests (Test Runner).

Props to @Crixu for review the information.

#handbook, #make-wordpress-org-core, #make-wordpress-org-updates, #php