Sonic.net

Thanks, @tikvah, that's exactly what I'm seeing so far as well. Some weeks ago I tried editing the indicated configuration file to no avail. I also called Sonic Support and received no real guidance. (My first disappointment there )

Sonic needs to make PHP 7 available to its WordPress-using hosting customers. It won't solve all of the PHP or WordPress & plugin security issues (of course) but it will allow us to update our WordPress core software to the most current versions. That's the whole story. I don't understand why it's not happening.

Sonic has outgrown the stage it was in when I first joined, when it offered a dialup UNIX host and was tinkerer-friendly.

I'd welcome creation of a new tier of Support people who would qualify as geeks. Old graying bearded ones, perhaps?

Sad to say I've gotten used to being told by Support youngsters that I should "ask in the Forums" for geeky help.

I learned a whole lot in those early UNIX years, though I'v forgotten most of it these many years later.

Same! I love Sonic. I have been a happy subscriber for decades now. I've learned tons over the years by reading these very boards (remember news.sonic.net?)

This PHP 7 thing is so weird to me because they are not communicating with us at all about the update and whether or not it will happen. It's out of their usual corporate character.

Uh .... help? In today's email:

=========================
PHP Update Required

WordPress has detected that your site is running on an insecure version of PHP.
What is PHP and how does it affect my site?

PHP is the programming language we use to build and maintain WordPress. Newer versions of PHP are both faster and more secure, so updating will have a positive effect on your site’s performance.

Learn more about updating PHP (opens in a new tab)
==========================

I suppose by asking here I'm just inviting some spectator to take advantage of the insecure PHP now running, but emailing Support usually just gets me pointed to these forums.

@ankh: I got PHP updated today by using a WordPress plugin called SEO by Yoast that I found via google and linked in this post: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=14208&p=54444#p54444

SEO -- "search engine optimization"

Are you confident that this isn't an advertising tool that takes advantage of the vulnerable version of PHP to install itself and pretend to be updating your page?

It claims to be used to drive traffic to your website.

ankh wrote:SEO -- "search engine optimization"

Are you confident that this isn't an advertising tool that takes advantage of the vulnerable version of PHP to install itself and pretend to be updating your page?

It claims to be used to drive traffic to your website.

Although "SEO" is its primary function, one can choose not to enable that and just use the file editor (and then disable the plugin if you're that concerned about it, despite it's being available from WP itself). If you're really worried about it you can use one of the other two methods for editing the file that are described in the article that I linked.

So is there one PHP installation for all users, or a separate PHP file -- either one for each user or one for each website

Please explain like I'm 70. Where is the thing that has to be changed to make these PHP installation nag warnings stop popping up? And whose responsibility is it to change it? And step by step, how?

ankh wrote:So is there one PHP installation for all users, or a separate PHP file -- either one for each user or one for each website

Please explain like I'm 70. Where is the thing that has to be changed to make these PHP installation nag warnings stop popping up? And whose responsibility is it to change it? And step by step, how?

OK, sonny (I'm 73) there is one copy of the .htaccess file in each WordPress installation's configuration. That's what is pointing to the old PHP and you need to edit it to point to the new PHP 7. The SEO plugin just happens to make that easier by providing an editor that loads .htaccess for you.

What I don't follow is williamt's statements about how this is supposed to be handled automatically by WP now. It hasn't been on my site so far.