Answers.Body: <p>A few considerations:</p>
  
  <p>1) You want to be running a version that has security support. See <a href="https://secure.php.net/supported-versions.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://secure.php.net/supported-versions.php</a>  Both 5.6 &amp; 7.0 have support to Dec 2018.  Beyond that, you need 7.1+ (although 7.1 is not currently recommended for use with CiviCRM - <a href="https://docs.civicrm.org/sysadmin/en/latest/requirements/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://docs.civicrm.org/sysadmin/en/latest/requirements/</a>)</p>
  
  <p>2) php 7 is faster than 5.6.  See <a href="http://www.zend.com/en/resources/php7_infographic" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.zend.com/en/resources/php7_infographic</a>  Why not run the faster version?</p>
  
  <p>3) Maintaining support for old versions of php is a drain on development resources and prevents CiviCRM taking advantage of new php features.  </p>
  
  <p>So, yes upgrade to 7.0 now (providing you are on the current 4.7.* release) and expect to keep upgrading.</p>
  
  <p>[Edit: prompted by Graham's comment.]</p>
  
  <p>Php requirements links:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="https://www.drupal.org/docs/7/system-requirements/drupal-7-php-requirements#php_required" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Drupal 7</a> </li>
  <li><a href="https://www.drupal.org/docs/8/system-requirements/drupal-8-php-requirements" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Drupal 8</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://wordpress.org/about/requirements/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wordpress</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://downloads.joomla.org/technical-requirements" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Joomla!</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://backdropcms.org/requirements" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Backdrop</a></li>
  </ul>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-02-06T11:28:19.460Z
Answers.Text: Would he useful to understand, in this context, what the level of support is for PHP 7 among the host CMS systems. Anyone got that detail handy?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Graham
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-02-07T23:26:23.517Z
Answers.Text: I am running 4.7.29 and keep that updated.  But upon trying to upgrade , I ran into a problems.  I am running Drupal 7 and do not know it very well.  I tried to update to just 7.0 but I think I may have done it wrong and left some modules out.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Webmaster TheCMG
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-02-08T09:16:33.597Z
Answers.Text: Check you have the php7 version of these modules: https://docs.civicrm.org/sysadmin/en/latest/requirements/#php-extensions
Answers.UserDisplayName: Aidan
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-02-06T10:13:03.747Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-02-06T14:35:25.933Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2018-02-06T14:35:25.933Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Aidan
Body: <p>I've been running certain 5.6 for a long while and wondering if I ever should migrate to 7.0 or just leave alone. Installation instructions say 7.0 is recommended but so is 5.6</p>
  
  <p>Anyone have opinions on this?</p>
  
  <p>---Update:  I have upgraded my WordPress site to 7.2 without too much trouble.  However the Drupal 7 / Civi site when I tried to update, I got 503 errors and had to roll back.  I think there are some really tight controls the consulting firm put into place.  I kept reading about FastCGI and NGINX and had no idea.  I do not know about these and if they are used.  I know that FPM is used.  I want to update before year end but I am scared.  Anyone?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-04-22T08:58:09.180Z
Comments.Text: Thank youb to the first answer. It was very good. Read articles
Comments.UserDisplayName: Webmaster TheCMG
Tags: <php><core>
Title: PHP version matters or not?
ThreadText: # PHP version matters or not?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-06)
  
  I've been running certain 5.6 for a long while and wondering if I ever should migrate to 7.0 or just leave alone. Installation instructions say 7.0 is recommended but so is 5.6
  
  Anyone have opinions on this?
  
  ---Update: I have upgraded my WordPress site to 7.2 without too much trouble. However the Drupal 7 / Civi site when I tried to update, I got 503 errors and had to roll back. I think there are some really tight controls the consulting firm put into place. I kept reading about FastCGI and NGINX and had no idea. I do not know about these and if they are used. I know that FPM is used. I want to update before year end but I am scared. Anyone?
  
  **Tags:** php, core
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Thank youb to the first answer. It was very good. Read articles  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2018-02-06. Score: 2
  
  A few considerations:
  
  1) You want to be running a version that has security support. See <https://secure.php.net/supported-versions.php> Both 5.6 & 7.0 have support to Dec 2018. Beyond that, you need 7.1+ (although 7.1 is not currently recommended for use with CiviCRM - <https://docs.civicrm.org/sysadmin/en/latest/requirements/>)
  
  2) php 7 is faster than 5.6. See <http://www.zend.com/en/resources/php7_infographic> Why not run the faster version?
  
  3) Maintaining support for old versions of php is a drain on development resources and prevents CiviCRM taking advantage of new php features.
  
  So, yes upgrade to 7.0 now (providing you are on the current 4.7.\* release) and expect to keep upgrading.
  
  [Edit: prompted by username_2's comment.]
  
  Php requirements links:
  
  * [Drupal 7](https://www.drupal.org/docs/7/system-requirements/drupal-7-php-requirements#php_required)
  * [Drupal 8](https://www.drupal.org/docs/8/system-requirements/drupal-8-php-requirements)
  * [Wordpress](https://wordpress.org/about/requirements/)
  * [Joomla!](https://downloads.joomla.org/technical-requirements)
  * [Backdrop](https://backdropcms.org/requirements)
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: Would he useful to understand, in this context, what the level of support is for PHP 7 among the host CMS systems. Anyone got that detail handy?  
  > **username_0**: I am running 4.7.29 and keep that updated.  But upon trying to upgrade , I ran into a problems.  I am running Drupal 7 and do not know it very well.  I tried to update to just 7.0 but I think I may have done it wrong and left some modules out.  
  > **username_1**: Check you have the php7 version of these modules: https://docs.civicrm.org/sysadmin/en/latest/requirements/#php-extensions  
  
  ---
  
  