Update "Supports PHP:" value for all themes

[creativecoder]

We've been adding declare( strict_types=1 ); to theme PHP files because of WP.com deploy requirements.

This mode was added in PHP 7. Currently most (all?) themes in this repo declare "Support PHP: 5.x" in the style.css header.

We need to update this to correctly require PHP 7.0+, to indicate that themes may trigger errors if used with older PHP versions.

[creativecoder]

I've restored [Type] Bug for this issue--fixing incorrect PHP compatibility information is not an enhancement.

[inaikem]

@iamtakashi, do you have a sense of who/which team this issue would be assigned to now?

@Automattic/fusion: Same question to you + how would you rate the priority of this now our minimum requirement on Dotcom is PHP 8.x?

[iamtakashi]

We need to update this to correctly require PHP 7.0+

That's good to know. We'll make sure about the themes going forward. cc @beafialho @iamarinoh

do you have a sense of who/which team this issue would be assigned to now?

Thanks for the ping. The decision that I know about is that; (pNEWy-i6e-p2#comment-57267)

• The themes launched before 2023 will be maintained by dotcom teams (Marvel? T-rex?)
• The themes launched after 2023 will be maintained by dotorg teams, including the theme designers

[github-actions]

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• pNEWy-i6e-p2#comment-57267

[inaikem]

@iamtakashi 👋 We currently support PHP 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 on WPcom. It's highly possible 8.1 will be deprecated next year.

Question: What's the best way for us to loop in your team with the most up-to-date guidance?

[inaikem]

@Automattic/t-rex, based on Takashi's comment above, are you able to pick up all pre-2023 theme updates?

[dsas]

We need to update this to correctly require PHP 7.0+, to indicate that themes may trigger errors if used with older PHP versions.

Clarification: so far as I know a strict types declaration will trigger a warning, not an error. The impact is a lot of noisy messages, not a fatal error stopping the site from being displayed.

This affects pre-2023 themes that were updated within roughly the last 12 months that are being used on non-dotcom site using a PHP version that was EOL by PHP six years ago, and widely EOL'd in linux distros more than four years ago. Unless there's something I'm missing, it seems like a very low priority for us.

@Automattic/t-rex, based on Takashi's comment above, are you able to pick up all pre-2023 theme updates?

I'd say pre-2023 theme updates in general is a marvel responsibility, certainly not just a t-rex one. I can add this specific issue to our backlog but I don't anticipate getting to it anytime soon.

[iamtakashi]

We currently support PHP 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 on WPcom. It's highly possible 8.1 will be deprecated next year.

@inaikem Oh, should we add 8.2 as the minimum PHP version going forward?

Question: What's the best way for us to loop in your team with the most up-to-date guidance?

I think a quick post on the themedevp2 should work 👍

[iamtakashi]

@mikachan Since the author might not be able to reply here, I'm asking for your advice.

I'm a little confused about the minimum version of PHP we need to state in our themes. Please advise. Thanks in advance, as always 🙇‍♂

[mikachan]

👋 As it's the minimum version that needs to be updated, I believe it should be fine to update it to anything above 7, as that's when the strict_types support starts.

For now, I think I'd recommend updating it to 8.2 based on this comment, saying that 8.1 will soon be deprecated on wpcom, and hopefully as it's a minimum version, 8.2 being eventually deprecated won't matter as much.

However, I'd also echo @dsas's comment here that I don't think this needs to be prioritised. Although, for new themes, I'd recommend using 8.2.

[iamtakashi]

Understood. Thank you, @mikachan!

[iamtakashi]

for new themes, I'd recommend using 8.2 (as the minimum PHP version.)

FYI @beafialho @henriqueiamarino