Issues with WordPress Site Going Down When Switching to PHP 8.1 or 8.2?

Cheerag Nundlall · Nov 29, 2023

Hello everyone,

I've encountered a problem with my WordPress site when attempting to switch to PHP 8.1 or PHP 8.2. I'm currently using the latest version of WordPress. However, whenever I switch to either PHP 8.1 or 8.2, my site immediately goes down and becomes inaccessible. The only way to get it back up and running is by reverting to PHP 7.4.

I'm perplexed by this issue and would greatly appreciate any insights or suggestions on why this might be happening. Has anyone else experienced similar problems when upgrading to PHP 8.1 or 8.2 with WordPress? Any help would be immensely appreciated.

Thank you!

AlbaHost · Dec 2, 2023

You may enable the wordpress debug from false to true in wp-config and you will see all the errors coming from, either you can find them in your panel error.log. Mostly is that the theme/plugins are not compatible with higher php versions.

HostShark · Dec 2, 2023

Please enable wordpress debugging to get an error message. It is possible you are running an older theme that does not support php 8.1

ManagedCpanel · Dec 3, 2023

Enabling the wordpress debug mode will help the most. Recently I had an issue with that type of upgrade and it led me to update one function and while it wasn't clear how to fix it, googling the error led me to a post to what the fix was.

Cheerag Nundlall · Dec 6, 2023

Thanks guys, I will try to enable debug mode and see what error I will get.

cretehost · Dec 19, 2023

Most of the time when you turn on your WP debug, you notice that it's a deprecation-related error, all you need to do it to disable your plugins, and themes, upgrade them, and update your PHP version before activating your theme and plugins.

HifiveHost · Jan 9, 2024

Switching to a newer version of PHP, such as PHP 8.1 or 8.2, can sometimes cause compatibility issues with certain WordPress themes, plugins, or the core WordPress software. In this case you can contact your provider and get some error logs and with help of error logs you can get this issue fixed wordpress developer.

ManagedCpanel · Jan 15, 2024

Please message me if you still have any issues.

johnemma504 · Aug 19, 2024

I’m having trouble with my WordPress site going down when switching to PHP 8.1 or 8.2, despite using the latest WordPress version. The site becomes inaccessible, and I can only restore it by reverting to PHP 7.4. Has anyone else faced similar issues when upgrading to PHP 8.1 or 8.2? Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

connectinfosoft · Sep 12, 2024

Upgrading to a newer version, such as PHP 8.1 or 8.2, may occasionally result in compatibility issues with WordPress themes or plugins, or even the WordPress core itself. In that case, you will need to contact your provider and get some error logs, and, using the error logs, this issue can be fixed by a WordPress developer.
Please message me if you still have any issues. connectinfosoft

otto levin · Sep 17, 2024

My colleague asked me recently to help her with a similar issue. She has a website with siteground, and they sent her a message a month ago saying they will soon deprecate php 7.4 and will set 8.2 as a default version. But they found that her website is not compatible with 8+, and she has to fix it if she wants her website to keep working. She was terrified, to be honest.

So, I simply went to the plugins section and clicked 'View details' in front of each plugin. There, you can see a line 'Compatible up to' and a WordPress version. I found one plugin that was compatible with up to 5.2 version (6.6.2 was the latest version at that time). So I deactivated this plugin, then went to siteground dashboard and switched from 7.4 to 8.2 - the website was working just fine. Case closed.

P.S.: that plugin was very old and was made to automatically update plugins and themes. So it costed us nothing to remove it since WordPress is able to update everything itself. So, it might happen that you are using a similar old plugin, I recommend checking that.

Dopani · Sep 25, 2024

It sounds like you’re running into compatibility issues with PHP 8.1 or 8.2. Even though you're on the latest version of WordPress, it's likely that some of your themes or plugins haven’t been fully updated to work with those PHP versions.

I'd recommend checking your plugins and themes to see if they’re compatible with PHP 8.x. Sometimes, plugin authors are a bit slower in releasing updates for newer PHP versions. You can also try disabling all plugins, switching to PHP 8.1 or 8.2, and then enabling them one by one to see which one might be causing the issue.

If you're still stuck, the error logs can be super helpful in pinpointing what's breaking your site.

Harry P · 2024-12-23T15:31:52+0000

It often boils down to a plugin or theme conflict when upgrading to PHP 8.1 or 8.2. Here’s how you can troubleshoot and (hopefully) fix the issue:

Enable Debug Mode
- In your wp-config.php file, set:
  Code:
```
define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);
```
- Then switch to PHP 8.1 or 8.2 and check the debug log (/wp-content/debug.log) for specific errors.
Update Everything
- Make sure WordPress core, themes, and plugins are all updated to their latest versions. Many developers have released compatibility fixes for PHP 8.x.
Identify Problem Plugins/Themes
- Temporarily disable all plugins (rename the plugins folder in wp-content to something like plugins-disabled). If the site loads under PHP 8.1 or 8.2 without plugins, then you know a plugin is causing the issue.
- Re-enable plugins one at a time to see which one triggers the error.
- If it’s a theme issue, switch to a default theme (e.g., Twenty Twenty-Three) and test again.
Look for Server Config Issues
- Sometimes server-level configurations (like incompatible PHP extensions) can cause crashes. Make sure you’re running the required extensions for WordPress under PHP 8.x (e.g., curl, mbstring, json, etc.).
Check for Known Incompatibilities
- If you identify a specific plugin or theme that’s not updated for PHP 8.x, check its support forum or developer docs. You may need to replace it, find a workaround, or wait for an update.

Hope it helps!

Issues with WordPress Site Going Down When Switching to PHP 8.1 or 8.2?

Cheerag Nundlall

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AlbaHost

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HostShark

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ManagedCpanel

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Cheerag Nundlall

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cretehost

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HifiveHost

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ManagedCpanel

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johnemma504

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connectinfosoft

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otto levin

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Dopani

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